THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 5, 1996 TAG: 9604050618
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JAMES C. BLACK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Norfolk State president Harrison B. Wilson could not have been much happier than he was Thursday morning.
With students, alumni and fellow faculty on hand, Wilson and other administrators discussed what had been a long quest for the university - building an on-campus football stadium for the Spartans.
``What was yesterday just a dream of Dr. Wilson and the athletic department here at Norfolk State is now a reality,'' James Holley, chair of the student affairs committee, said during Thursday's ground-breaking ceremony. ``It will serve as a rallying point for our alumni throughout the nation.''
The $12.2 million, 30,000-seat football stadium, which remains unnamed, is the third and final phase of the university's new athletic complex. The stadium includes a recently completed eight-lane polyurethane track and will be adjacent to the school's baseball and softball facilities, which are still under construction.
Norfolk State's athletic face lift comes as the school prepares to move to Division I and the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference in the fall of 1997.
The Spartans, currently in the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, play their home games at Old Dominion's 26,000-seat Foreman Field.
The new stadium, however, is more than just about adding to Norfolk State and moving to Division I. It's also about reaching out to the community, Wilson said.
``I would like to have our football stadium and athletic facilities open to all the citizens of Hampton Roads,'' Wilson said. ``We want people to know you don't have to wait for a professional team.''
But Norfolk State had to wait awhile to make this dream a reality.
In January, five construction bids exceeded the $10.6 million allotted to the new complex. But a few compromises in construction and finance made Thursday's celebration possible.
``We had some money of our own that we saved for this project or any other project,'' Wilson said of the extra $1.6 million the school is now willing to spend.
The bulk of the funds will come from 20-year revenue bonds, with another portion coming from university reserves.
But the school also had to scale back the plans, deciding to add a field house later on.
Norfolk State will open the new stadium against Virginia State on Sept. 6, 1997. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
BETH BERGMAN/The Virginian-Pilot
Norfolk State's marching band played at groundbreaking ceremonies
Thursday.
Drawing
Norfolk State's new football stadium, shown in this artist's
rendering, will seat 30,000 spectators when it opens in the fall of
1997.
by CNB