Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 6, 1994 TAG: 9407060008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Salem Civic Center manager Carey Harveycutter and Joe Yates, director of planning and development for the city, will meet with the Division III baseball committee. They will present an architect's sketch of the proposed 6,000-seat ballpark the city may build as a potential site.
If the ballpark is not built or completed by next May and Salem is awarded the World Series, Municipal Field would be the NCAA site. Salem voters will go to the polls July 19 in a non-binding referendum on construction of a $5 million ballpark, to be built with no tax increase.
Salem has been the site for two Division III championships in the last seven months - the Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, which will return in 1995 and '96, and the Division III women's softball championship tournament.
Salem and the civic center also have bid to become the site of the NCAA Division III men's basketball Final Four, starting in 1996. The basketball committee is expected to recommend a site in two weeks, pending approval of the NCAA Council.
Harveycutter, who has been the coordinator of NCAA events for the city, said Salem is one of six locales bidding for the eight-team Division III World Series, a six-day event played annually around the Memorial Day weekend.
The other cities bidding are Battle Creek, Mich., which has held the last five championships, Albany and Elmira, N.Y., Sussex County, N.J., and Marietta, Ohio, which hosted the Division III national tournament from its inception in 1976 through '87.
Harveycutter would not reveal Salem's financial bid, but it is believed to be less than $7,000. The Old Dominion Athletic Conference is Salem's bid sponsor with NCAA membership.
Harveycutter said the city probably should be considered a longshot for the World Series on this round of bidding, but Salem is hopeful that with its NCAA ties and the potential for a new ballpark, Salem would have an opportunity to stage the event in the future.
The NCAA decision on the site for 1995 and beyond is expected next month.
by CNB