Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407170014
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Salem voters will head to the polls Tuesday to decide whether to approve building a multimillion-dollar minor-league baseball stadium to keep the Salem Buccaneers in town.
At least, city officials hope voters head to the polls.
There hasn't been an advisory referendum in Salem since before 1970, when City Manager Randy Smith began working for the city, so "I haven't got a feel for the turnout," Smith said.
Registrar Georgia Firebaugh is predicting a pretty good turnout, nearly as high as the 32 percent who voted in the City Council election in May.
"If absentee voting and conversation is any indication, I hope for at least 25 percent turnout," she said.
That's double the 13 percent of registered voters who showed up to have their say in the Democratic U.S. Senate primary. Absentee ballots in Firebaugh's office last week already had surpassed the number cast in the primary.
"I hope she's right" about turnout, Smith said. "I'm concerned a lot of people who are for it assume it's going to pass and won't come out to vote."
Smith said he has heard from a few people who are opposed to building the stadium because of the cost or because they aren't baseball fans. The question asks if residents want to spend up to $5 million, on the condition it require no tax increase, to build the stadium.
The city mailed registered voters fliers with information about the stadium and where the money to pay for it would come from, along with artists' renderings that were commissioned ahead of time, to give the city a jump on construction.
The stadium needs to be ready for an April 1 opening day, since Major League Baseball says the aged Municipal Field cannot be used beyond this year because it's not up to modern standards.
If the advisory referendum passes, as word on the street predicts it will, City Council will make the final decision. Its next meeting is July 25, and work on the stadium could begin "the next morning," Smith said.
"The architects are at the point, if they're given the green light, they know what happens next," he said.
Architect Francis "Doc" Shane presented artists' renderings to City Council on Monday night and explained that the first thing to be done is seeding the playing field. Construction would then be done on the structure and stands without disturbing the field, allowing the grass all winter to build a root system.
Because the city already owns the parking facilities and the land on which the stadium would sit - the same site as the football stadium and civic center - part of the work already has been done for the contractor.
The city would pay for the stadium through a bond issue that also could include money for a new ladder truck and school renovations.
by CNB