DATE: Friday, April 18, 1997                TAG: 9704100362

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Education 

SOURCE: BY VANEE VINES, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   40 lines

SEATING DEBATED FOR NEW STADIUM AT NORCOM

Despite support for a larger stadium, the one at the new I.C. Norcom High School is being built to accommodate 5,000 people - as planned.

The school and its stadium, under construction, are scheduled to open this fall at the new site at 1801 London Blvd.

Some Norcom supporters would like to see the stadium expanded to a 10,000-seat facility, which would be ideal for football playoff games. Those games typically attract larger crowds - and more dollars.

The Norcom project's price tag is roughly $38 million. Under the 5,000-seat stadium plan, the bill for bleachers and the stadium's foundation came to about $535,000.

Expanding the stadium by another 5,000 seats would add at least $500,000 to the project's cost, city officials said.

City Council member Bernard Griffin, one of the primary supporters of expansion, said money for a bigger stadium could be raised privately.

But the School Board and the school district's central administration haven't been sold on the idea.

One reason: Stadium expansion probably would gobble up space for a nearby practice field on the campus.

Nonetheless, Griffin recently said he and some other city activists still would seek financial pledges for the effort.

A group that has pushed for expansion will soon go over plans to add more bleachers, said Griffin, one of the group's leaders.

City engineer Richard Hartman said it wasn't too late to add more seats.

But the School Board expects to review and ultimately give a thumbs up or thumbs down to any revised plans. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

[Bernard Griffin] KEYWORDS: FOLLOW UP

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