Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 2, 1995 TAG: 9508020031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAMES C. BLACK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That was the decision on Tuesday as Salem Avalanche owner Kelvin Bowles announced the $10.1 million Salem Memorial Stadium will open Monday for the Avalanche-Frederick Keys baseball game.
"We are going to open in the new Salem Memorial Stadium on Aug.7," said Bowles as he stood with his back to the baseball diamond at his team's new home.
Monday is the fourth opening day of the new facility announced to the public. But Bowles said this is the last such announcement and it is worth the wait.
"When people walk in here on Aug.7, people will see a spectacle they haven't seen in Salem in quite some time.
"They have built such a facility that it couldn't be ready in April," said Bowles.
Unfortunately, the stadium couldn't be ready in May, June or July either.
The ballpark was initially slated to be ready on April 14, opening day for the Avalanche. However, delays in construction of the stadium and in the delivery of materials postponed the opening. The team subsequently announced June 16 and then July 25 as the next two openings, but both dates turned out to be unrealistic.
The most recent delay was for safety reasons - the railings for the stairways had not been installed because they were not delivered until last week. But as of Tuesday, many of the railings were in place.
"It was nobody's fault," said Salem Assistant City Manager Forest Jones. Jones was the only city official present at the press conference Tuesday.
"We worked hard to get those railings in. But it's a big place, and this was a big order," said Jones.
The Avalanche has 21 games in 20 home dates left (Salem and the Durham Bulls play a doubleheader on Aug.11) on the schedule until the end of the season Sept.2. Bowles said tickets will go on sale starting noon today at the stadium's ticket office.
Bowles said the decision to make Tuesday's announcement was a delicate one. He met with city officials on Monday night to discuss the issue, but a definite "go-ahead" was not decided until after Bowles talked with an inspector himself Tuesday morning.
Still, everything will not be up and running Monday. Two of the stadium's six concession stands won't be operating. Two stairways won't be ready and the stadium's elevator won't be running, either. But while Bowles acknowledged the ballpark isn't 100 percent yet, he feels comfortable with the situation.
"It will be a lot more functional than a lot of the stadiums I have been to in the last three years that weren't quite ready," said Bowles. "You have to go a long way to find a stadium like this - especially in Class A."
Colorado Rockies owner Jerry McMorris and general manager Bob Gebhard, representatives of the Avalanche's major-league affiliate, visited Memorial Stadium last weekend and were very impressed with what they saw, according to Bowles.
"When they walked into the press box, they said this was much better than what they had dealt with for two years at Mile High Stadium," said Bowles. The Rockies, which shared Mile High Stadium with the NFL's Denver Broncos, now have their own ballpark, Coors Field.
At Salem's stadium, the press box includes two levels and has separate areas for the radio broadcasters, camera crews and print journalists.
The stadium's long-awaited opening will come without the ceremony and fanfare the team originally had planned for the April opening. Instead there simply will be an unveiling of the team mascot.
"The plans we've shelved for this year, we'll probably bring back for next year," said general manager Sam Lazzaro.
However, the most important thing is opening the park on Monday.
"Any frustration I had is over," Bowles said.
- Staff Writer Kimberly N. Martin contributed to this story.
by CNB