Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 20, 1994 TAG: 9407200109
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER NOTE: lede
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Salem voters said yes to building the minor-league Buccaneers a new stadium in a big way Tuesday - by an overwhelming 85 percent.
The referendum was nonbinding, but City Council's approval seems assured at its Monday meeting. After that, the next step is getting construction under way to make it in time for next year's season opener.
The first step - locating home plate - already has been done to allow architects to lay out the sod on the field, which lies between the Salem Civic Center and Salem Stadium.
``It's pretty exciting to know people support us like that,'' said team owner Kelvin Bowles from Wilmington, Del., where he was attending the Carolina League All-Star game.
``We know Salem's going to do a first-class facility. We have a challenge to run a first-class operation and that's certainly what my intentions are. This is going to be what minor-league baseball's all about.''
This was Salem's first advisory referendum since becoming a city in 1967, and 22 percent of the registered voters turned out at the polls for it - in between the 13 percent who voted in the Democratic primary and the 30 percent who voted in the City Council race this year.
"There was more interest in that stadium than there was in a councilman," quipped Vice Mayor Sonny Tarpley, noting that the ballpark got more votes than he did in his re-election in May.
Approval of the stadium - to keep the Bucs from having to seek a home elsewhere - has been considered pretty much a done deal in Salem. The city hired Kinsey Shane and Associates before the vote to draw sketches of the stadium, and the firm has completed preliminary work to keep the ballpark on schedule for an April 1995 opening.
"We've been working somewhat, getting organized, hoping this [vote] would happen," said Francis "Doc" Shane of Kinsey Shane on Tuesday night. Kinsey Shane is the same company that designed the football stadium and the Moyer Sports Complex.
He said the plan is to lay down the sod in September to give it time to put down roots over the winter, and to put the design for the stadium out to bid in October.
Several city officials gathered in the registrar's office to wait for the count to come in after the polls closed at 7 p.m. The newest council member, Gary Lautenschlager, said that although he supports the stadium, if voters had turned it down in the advisory referendum he would have listened to them when it came time for council to vote on the proposal.
But, he said, "I think it's an investment in our future."
The baseball stadium can cost no more than $5 million, according to the question residents approved Tuesday, and cannot require a tax increase. It will be paid for through a bond issue this fall.
Councilman Alex Brown said the architects have assured council it can be built for $5 million, but he added that if costs go over, "we wouldn't leave a half-built stadium sitting there."
An accounting firm the city hired reported that the economic impact of the stadium could be between $1.4 million and $1.7 million a year, depending on attendance increases. The current ballpark, Municipal Field, has an impact of about $1 million annually, the accountants said.
Vote total
Salem stadium referendum
With 100% of precincts reporting
Should Salem build a new baseball stadium?
Yes 2,236 85%
No 398 15%
by CNB