Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 6, 1995 TAG: 9508070097
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: E-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Salem city fathers now may beam and present showpiece Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium to the citizens.
Killjoys say it's anticlimactic.
The chief tenant, the Class A Carolina League's Salem Avalanche, says it's about time.
Maybe the happiest of all that the new ballpark was going finally to be opening for business Monday was the man who stood on the front lines of the whole process for the city: Assistant City Manager Forest Jones.
"Yes I'm relieved,'' he said. ``It's been a long summer.''
The Avalanche would like Mayor Jim Taliaferro to throw out the first pitch. He has not yet committed. City officials and contractors, primary among them architect Kinsey Shane and Associates and general contractors J.M. Turner (second phase) and Avis Construction (first), will have the broad smiles.
The baseball people may have traces of forced ones.
As one delay, then a second, then a third pushed opening day until Monday, Avalanche owner Kelvin Bowles said all summer that he knew the city was doing everything it could. He's said that with the possible exception of the Durham Bulls $16 million palace, there would be no Class A facilities in the country that could match Salem's splendor.
What Bowles didn't say until the end, after the latest holdup of the opening, was how much he wished they'd get on with it.
Promises had been made to the Carolina League, the Colorado Rockies and the governing National Association of Professional Baseball Teams that Salem would be in its new digs opening day April 14.
Extensions had been granted.
The last of three postponements scratched a July 25 opening. Safety railings, absent because of shipping delays, were the announced cause.
The baseball people then started to get testy. Bowles and league president John Hopkins openly discussed the possibilities (big fines mostly) should the governing bodies of baseball have their patience tried to the breaking point.
We may suppose that everybody is going to be getting over all that rather quickly once the gates open to the rich green lawns of the Memorial Stadium outfield and the mountain panorama beyond.
Colorado Rockies owner Jerry McMorris and team general manager Bob Gebhard were in town last week.
``Jerry McMorris was beside himself,'' Bowles said. ``He said, 'Give me the name of that mayor. I want to write him a letter.'''
A month ago, the only letters being composed were of the what's-the-holdup type.
Officially, the reason was safety railings. ``Railings are custom fabricated,'' Turner president Lee Wilhelm said. ``We knew from Day 1 that we wouldn't be getting them in until midsummer and that they would be one of the last items put in.''
And it wasn't just railings. Many jobs were going on inside the $10.1 million big job, which was more than double the original estimate. Although Turner and its subcontractors had the biggest part of the last phase, the field surface, lighting, scoreboard, and other jobs were being handled by the city and others.
Everything didn't work like clockwork as it would have had the original schedule been met. But as the mayor was quick to remind people, the stadium was still built in less than a year. Turner had 210 days on its contract that started March 30. The work likely will be finished quicker than that.
All concerned have discussed the act of assigning blame in any of this - ``finger pointing'' is how they all describe it - as a fruitless and ungentlemanly exercise.
What of the anticlimax? The baseball season is coming to a close ,even though the Avalanche will have 21 games in the new park. The mind of the sporting public may be diverted elsewhere, the coming football season perhaps.
``I think they'll walk through that gate and forget about all of the that,'' Bowles said.
One thing that will not be forgotten will be the increased ticket and advertising prices the Avalanche charged under the assumption that they would be in a new facility. Bowles said anybody who has a complaint will be given a pro-rated rebate or have the difference applied to next year's bill. Bowles said all but a negligible number of both ticket holders and advertisers are taking the latter option.
And what of the unsung martyrs in this whole affair, the field management and players of the Avalanche? They've had to share tight and humid quarters at Salem Municipal Field after being promised a brand-new facility.
``This is going to be a lot of fun for us,'' said Salem manager Bill Hayes, whose club is chasing Kinston for the second-half Southern Division title. ``The crowds that I think are going to be there are going to give us a real shot in the arm. If the fans get behind us, then I think it will really help us in this race.
``One thing I do know: We won't be hitting any more 310-foot home runs, and neither will the other guys.''
by CNB