THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410270174
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
If you were planning to come out and watch the city bulldoze Frank D. Lawrence Stadium, don't mark your calendars in ink - because demolition isn't certain.
After the city's intent to tear down the stadium became public this week, two city council members put the brakes on the project until the city planned for an alternative football field for I.C. Norcom and Wilson High students.
Vice Mayor Johnny M. Clemons and Council member Bernard D. Griffin said that by tearing down the stadium at the end of this year's high school football season, students would have nowhere to play next year. They opposed the city manager's idea to have the city's three high school teams play at Churchland High School with one game Friday night and two games on Saturday. Both council members said inner-city kids would have no way to travel to Churchland.
``I have not been a part of any decision to tear down the stadium,'' Clemons said as more than a dozen Norcom supporters listened. ``This is a change in direction. The previous council made a decision to renovate the stadium and now we're talking about tearing it down.''
But other council members said that discussion on Downtown revitalization included talk of building the new I.C. Norcom High School on top of the football field.
``If we're talking about a $30 (million) to $35 million school, then the position of that school shouldn't be predicated on the location of a 40- to 50-year-old stadium,'' said Council member P. Ward Robinett.
During the council's retreat last summer, council members discussed the construction of the new Norcom, at the same time they talked about options for the Frank D. Lawrence Stadium. Several council members said they thought if a new school was being built, the old stadium should be demolished.
Even though discussion over construction of the high school was heated, no one voiced opposition to the idea that the old stadium be demolished. It seems that's where some of the confusion began.
The council agreed to talk with the School Board to discuss the cost of constructing the new I.C. Norcom and to compare those costs with other regional projects. The council also wanted to review alternative plans for school building.
After The Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger-Star ran an article saying the stadium would be demolished at the end of the school year, Griffin began questioning City Manager V. Wayne Orton .
``How could you make that statement when the council didn't vote on it?'' Griffin asked the city manager at Tuesday's council meeting. ``If we want to play back-door politics, then let all of us play that way and we'll be as disruptive and divisive as we can be.''
Mayor Gloria O. Webb was angry and demanded that Griffin prove his charges.
At Tuesday's council meeting Griffin was adamant that he didn't recall any of the discussions involving the old Norcom stadium during the council retreat. Clemons said he also didn't recall the conversation and said he never realized the council had reached a consensus on tearing down the stadium.
Clemons and Griffin said they would agree to tear down the stadium at the end of the football season only if a new field could be ready by the beginning of the next season.
In the end, the council agreed to meet with the city manager and the school board before they take a formal vote on the stadium. by CNB