War Memorial Stadium
GREENSBORO -- Officials in Greensboro are weighing the costs of renovating an aging city landmark.
Built in 1926, War Memorial Stadium is showing its age, with peeling paint, restrooms and locker rooms in need of a fix, and a more serious issue that pokes through the surface in some places.
"Construction processes back in the 1920s when the stadium was constructed are not what they are today," said Butch Shumate, Greensboro facilities engineering division manager. "And just exposure to the elements has led to the steel inside, steel reinforcement inside the concrete deteriorating."
Voters turned down a $5.5 million renovation measure in 2006 and Shumate says based on a new study from engineering consultant Sutton-Kennerly and Associates, that might not have been enough to do the same job now. "Once we would have got in and found the level of deterioration, rapid deterioration that we have at this point," said Shumate.
News 14 Carolina’s Ed Scannell has more on War Memorial Stadium and what its future might hold.
The city approved spending $1.5 million, which would have bought the stadium another 10 years, or so. The new study is forcing the city council to rethink what Greensboro can afford.
"Some options would be to restore with some demolition," said Bob Morgan, Greensboro deputy city manager. "Some would be to look at more major type of improvements. It depends upon what the cost of those are."
War Memorial plays host to about 200 baseball games a year, including the home games of Greensboro College and North Carolina A&T State University.
"We spend a great deal of our time in our athletic section trying to place teams and kids at various locations around the town," said Parks and Recreation director Bonnie Kuester. "To lose any field in any sport is particularly bad."
Kuester says War Memorial Stadium is an important part of Greensboro's history that must be preserved.
"It's all about Greensboro, the commitment that many of our citizens made in the 20s, 30s and 40s to make sure that it was there," said Kuester. "It meant what it was supposed to mean and that was as a memorial to our veterans."
Sutton-Kennerly will present its latest findings on the cost of renovating the stadium to the Greensboro City Council on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.
The council is not expected to take any action.