Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 7, 1995 TAG: 9508070082
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A few seconds later, Craig Wright, announcer for the Salem Avalanche, walked down from the press box with a cordless microphone.
"Check 1-2-3," Wright said again. "No feedback," he said to a technician, surprised because he was standing directly under a speaker.
Wright was checking out the new sound system at the stadium, which will open tonight at 7 in a sold-out game against the Frederick Keys.
"We're primarily finishing up," said Sam Lazzaro, the club's general manager. "It's a lot of minute detail work."
Concession stands were being stocked with non-perishables such as bagged peanuts. Most of the food would arrive today, Lazzaro said.
About 90 kegs of beer were stored beneath the stadium. And souvenir stands had been stocked with Avalanche merchandise, from team jerseys to teddy bears that donned the jerseys.
Finishing touches were being made to the facility as workers washed concrete stairs with high-pressured sprayers.
Crowd-stimulating sound effects blared over the speakers as Wright played with a computer that makes the sounds with the touch of a function key.
Shattering glass will be played for straying foul balls, Wright said. Air-raid sirens will go off when someone hits a home run. At the old stadium, Wright had to use a cassette player to provide the sounds.
Beneath the stands, workers vacuumed new carpet in the home-team locker room.
And stadium employees were given a grand tour of the facility, which included a lot of "how-to's'' for today's game.
The 80-90 employees, about half of whom worked at Municipal Field, were eager to see the place filled.
"It should be a good time," said Hank Goforth, an usher who worked at the old stadium.
Mary Anne Spielman, who worked the ticket booth at Municipal Field, said she will be much happier in the new booths.
"If you could only see the ticket booth I'm coming from and the one I'm going to," she said, adding that the booths at the new stadium are much more spacious and quiet.
Chris Rhodes, a sports marketing intern for the Avalanche since May, said working at the new stadium should look a lot better on his resume than the old one.
"I can say I worked at a $10 million stadium," he said.
Most of the stadium will be in full swing today. All but two concession stands will be operating. There will be no ice cream for about a week, though, because the soft-serve ice cream freezers have not been set up.
"But I don't think that's going to keep people from coming out," Rhodes said.
by CNB