DATE: Wednesday, November 26, 1997          TAG: 9711260527

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JOHN MURPHY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   54 lines

$472,000 OK'D TO FINISH STADIUM BEACH WILL RAISE FUNDS BY SELLING SURPLUS CITY LAND

The city's 6,000-seat soccer stadium, soon to be the home of the Hampton Roads Mariners, received a financial boost Tuesday when the City Council voted to allocate $472,000 to cover current and potential construction overruns.

The measure passed, 6-4.

``We have agreed to disagree,'' Councilwoman Louisa M. Strayhorn said in an interview after she voted against the allocation.

Joining Strayhorn were council members Nancy K. Parker, Reba S. McClanan and Barbara M. Henley. Councilman William W. Harrison Jr. was absent.

Those who voted in favor of the allocation were Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf, and council members Harold Heischober, John A. Baum, Linwood O. Branch III, Louis R. Jones and Vice Mayor William D. Sessoms.

Strayhorn said she had disagreed with the stadium's $9 million price tag from the start.

``I felt we had other important, pressing needs like schools,'' she said.

But on Tuesday, she said, the City Council decided to be ``mature'' about its differences.

Sessoms defended the costs of supporting the projects, arguing that the money was a small fraction of the overall cost of the stadium and necessary to make the facility a city treasure.

``Everybody knows it's important that we maintain quality in Lake Ridge,'' where the stadium is under construction. ``It's something we are all going to be proud of,'' Sessoms said.

The $472,000 will cover $272,000 in current overruns and a $200,000 contingency fund, which will be used to pay any other unexpected expenses before the stadium is complete in May.

Mark R. Wawner, the city's project development manager for the Department of Economic Development, told city officials that the overrun was attributed to improvements to accessibility for the disabled, a concrete deck on the second level, increased foundation costs due to soft soils, and steel reinforcements so the facility could withstand extreme wind conditions.

The $472,000 will be raised through the sale of surplus city land.

The overruns come as the city is experiencing its own budget shortfalls. In a report last week, budget officials predicted that the Beach will receive $3 million less than expected in personal property taxes in 1997-98. A sluggish new-car market and stagnant used-car prices have created similar problems throughout the state.

The sports arena is being built on about 150 acres between Landstown and Princess Anne roads about three-quarters of a mile southeast of the GTE-Virginia Beach Amphitheater. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

STADIUM MONEY

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]

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