VALDOSTA — Welcome to the Stadiumville Classic.

The football is near midfield. It’s fourth down and Valdosta State University has chosen to go for the first down.

Pass or run? Not an option in this scenario.

In this game, there are two choices: a renovated Bazemore-Hyder Stadium (Cleveland Field) where Valdosta High and Valdosta State play football in a facility run by a stadium authority, not the city schools, or a new football/soccer stadium built by and for Valdosta State on the former Sunset Park property.

And in this game, the fourth-down play may be called soon.

Valdosta’s Board of Education meets at 7 p.m. Monday, and the last item on the agenda is a discussion of a joint project with VSU at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.

If the BOE makes a move toward the “joint-use facility,” then work could begin toward completing the details for work on the historic stadium.

If the BOE doesn’t make a move, Valdosta State most likely will. The athletic department was ready last month to announce a capital campaign to fund construction of a new stadium.

Currently, Valdosta State pays $1,500 a game rental to the Valdosta City Schools. The Blazers began their program by playing at Cleveland Field, then moved to Martin Stadium (Lowndes High) in the late 1980s. Valdosta State returned to Cleveland Field in 1992.

“I hope (Monday’s meeting) is fruitful,” said VSU athletic director Herb Reinhard. “We’re not pounding the table and giving ultimatums. But there is a time, and we’ve reached that point, where the university does have to move forward in one direction or another on what we’re going to do about a football/soccer stadium.”

Reinhard said he was ready to announce a VSU stadium campaign during Homecoming week in October.

“It was requested of us (by the feasibility study committee) to hold off for one more attempt to make this joint facility work,” Reinhard said. “We agreed to do that.”

What could happen Monday?

“I don’t know what they plan on talking about in regards to the stadium,” Reinhard said. “What we have passed along to the school board through the feasibility study committee is that we have to have a signed agreement by Dec. 1 stating we’re going to do this.

“There will be literally hundreds of details that will need to be worked out. At that point we’ll start working out the details. We’ll have to go back and dust off the stadium authority plan we worked on two or so years ago. We need to get that authority in place and work on the details.”

And if the school board says no?

“I would expect very soon after that Valdosta State would announce a full-blown campaign to build a VSU facility located on Sustella behind the recreation center,” Reinhard said. “It will allow us to start getting out and raising the funds it’s going to take to do this.”

Valdosta State has already done some work toward securing funding for a stadium program.

“We’ve worked behind the scenes, visited people, even gotten some pledges and gifts,” Reinhard said. “But we haven’t been able to tell people what we’ve been asking for. Until we make a decision, we can’t crank up a campaign.”



At Cleveland Field?



Recently, representatives from Ingram Parris Group Architects presented ideas to the members of the Valdosta Board of Education regarding solutions to the current stadium situation. Their suggestions were based on input from a committee consisting of VSU and Valdosta City School representatives.

“They did not recommend a renovation of the old stadium,” said Joe Crane Sr., board chairman. “They suggested a new stadium be built … “

The architects’ first proposal was estimated at $11 million.

“That’s a lot of money,” Crane said. “However, we do want a nice, safe facility for the kids and the spectators.”

During the board’s Monday meeting, a final decision will not be made at that time.

“We are going to take into consideration the needs of all those who use the facility,” said Crane, referring to the community, the band boosters and the coaching staff. “We want input from everyone involve





d regarding what they think is best for us and VSU before we make a decision.”

Personally, Crane said he would love to see VSU continue to use the facility.

“It is more feasible to work together,” Crane said. “So far it has worked out real well.”

Reinhard has estimated that work at either site could cost $9 million to $10 million. A Bazemore-Hyder project would be a more generic design, he said, while a VSU stadium would fit into the Spanish Mission-style architecture found on campus.

The VSU project, which could seat 10,000, would include a multi-purpose fieldhouse and a practice area. He says the cost to increase capacity to 15,000 seats would add another $1.5 million.

“Either proposal allows for additional seating to be added at a later date,” Reinhard said. “That’s part of the overall vision.”

Any project cost would be lessened by gifts in kind.

“That’s a very important part of it,” Reinhard said. “How much? We are nowhere near the point of saying that.”



Where’s the money?



“If the school board raises funds, that’s their decision,” Reinhard said. “If it’s VSU, we already have a plan in place. We’ve done some preliminary fund-raising. We do have cash and pledges and gift-in-kind pledges already committed. We have support from large corporate sponsors who are already a part of program.”

From there?

“Our campaign would be targeted toward the corporate sector, the private giver and a very visible campaign toward our alumni,” Reinhard said.

“There are alumni out there who could greatly help,” said Blazer Athletic Boosters president Chuck Dunmon. “How well have we kept in contact with them?”

Both men admit a VSU stadium project would be by far the department’s most aggressive project, much more than renovations at the baseball stadium or the new softball stadium.

“We can’t do it $50 to $100 at a time,” said Dunmon, who’d like to see both schools take on the project.

How about state money? “It’s a possibility either way we go,” Reinhard said. “I’m not looking for state money right now. Possibly a year or two from now the state could step in and give assistance after the fact.”



Quick-strike offense?



Popularity is at all-time high for the Valdosta State football program, which has been ranked No. 1 nationally and has won back-to-back Gulf South titles for the first time.

Could that translate into enthusiasm toward the stadium?

“There are certain windows of opportunity that you have to take advantage of,” said Reinhard. “We’re in a window now. There’s an amazing amount of support for our football program now.”

In his recent travels with the football team, Reinhard has seen stadium improvements at North Alabama, Central Arkansas and Harding.

Last week, he saw the first stages of improvements at Ouachita Baptist. It will build a new home seating area plus other amenities after this season.

“I look at what other schools have done, and I look at what we have planned, and we’re still talking apples and oranges,” Reinhard said. “The facility we have planned I have absolutely no doubt will be the talk and envy of any (non-Division I) program. It’s that nice of a facility.

“Our community will be incredibly excited to be a part of it because it will open so many doors for us.”

One door? The addition of men’s and women’s intercollegiate soccer programs.

“It’s something we need to have at the university,” said Reinhard. “We don’t have a place to play in Valdosta. Once a stadium decision is made, we’ll have a direction, and we’ll put together a timetable to start the programs just like we did for volleyball.”



(Reporter Jessica Pope contributed to this story.)