Reynolds Deserves a Stadium

WS Chronicle August 30, 2012 16

It is difficult to find a sound reason for not supporting the proposed football stadium for R.J. Reynolds High School at Hanes Park.

There is plenty of room for a stadium on land that the school system owns and the bulk of the money for the project is being raised privately by supporters of the project. Case closed.

We can understand the feelings of those who live around the area. No one wants to be crowded and have green space compromised, and Hanes Park is arguably our city’s most lovely public facility. However, there are other communities that have to deal with such intrusions all the time. It comes with the territory when you’re trying to make accommodations for growth and progress.

Bowman Gray Stadium is in a residential area, as are the stadiums for Carver, Atkins and many other high schools. Unfortunately, not all of us can have a nice green park to look at every day. Some folks have to look at long-closed factories, broken down and dilapidated houses, old garages, fire stations and the like.

Also, it is not like Hanes Park is an area for a serene solitude. With the White (formerly Central) YMCA branch, Wiley Middle School, Brunson Elementary School and Reynolds’ gymnasium already adjacent to the park, it is not like the stadium will be out of place. If residents near Hanes Park are fretting about safety, they should not be. Having a stadium there would pose no more danger than having the Y and the schools nearby. Proper lighting and policing should keep disturbances to a minimum.

Reynolds is a first-class high school and deserves to play its home games in a stadium of its own. Other high schools have stadiums. Why shouldn’t Reynolds? We hope the City Council and School Board work with all those involved to clear a way to make the stadium a reality. Elected officials should not base their decisions on how many emails and phone calls they receive from both sides. They should think of the kids and all that Reynolds High has meant for this city.

TAGS » Hanes Park, Op/Ed, Reynolds football stadium, save hanes park

POSTED IN » Blogs

About the author: WS Chronicle View all posts by WS Chronicle

Paul C Shepard

To say I was puzzled by your editorial “Reynolds Deserves a Stadium” would be an understatement. In the editorial you indicate “there is plenty of room” at the same time you say you “understand the feelings of those around the area [as] no one wants to be crowded and have green space compromised.” How can a stadium crowd a park and compromise its green space, and yet still leave “plenty of room”? The plans show the outer wall of the proposed stadium quite obviously compromising the green space and tranquility of the park. The editorial goes on to point out that “there are other communities that have to deal with such intrusions,” that “unfortunately not all of us can have a nice green park to look at every day,” and that “some folks have to look at long-closed factories, broken down and dilapidated houses… and the like.” Your argument appears to be that since there are still other places in the community that have to put up with worse intrusions, the one proposed for Hanes Park should be permitted. I would think the effort should be to beautify areas needing it, not ignore the ill effects to what you concede might be “our city’s most lovely public facility.” Most important the title of your editorial totally misses the point. The issue is not whether Reynolds deserves a stadium, but, rather, whether the site selected is an appropriate place to build one. I would contend not.
Sue

Well written
Thank you for clear presentation of facts
Henry Lafferty

You said, “Elected officials should not base their decisions on how many emails and phone calls they receive from both sides. They should think of the kids and all that Reynolds High has meant for this city.”

And just who elected them?

Yes, they should think of the the kids, and the neighborhoods, and the city, and…

They represent many constituencies! With regard to the kids, I submit that a stadium will not be the aspect of their education that guarantees their future success.

This is a larger issue than a stadium. It is all about the site. The proposed stadium is not the best use for this site!
- http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000265263274 Scott Sanders
  
  There should be a voter referendum: “Yes” or “No”. The people speak through their vote and that could settle it for all parties.
Kathleen M. Ramich

I keep hearing that Reynolds “deserves” a stadium. On what basis? I have yet to hear who or what ordained this sense of entitlement. It would be good to know where to direct questions like: Does Parkland then “deserve” to absorb the repair and maintenance of the stadium that the two schools now share? Do schools “deserve” to go without adequate books (as was recently reported) and other academic necessities so the school district can pick up operating expenses of a new stadium for Reynolds? Do taxpayers “deserve” to be stuck with the $630,000 shortfall from Reynolds Auditorium – the last “privately–funded” project that Reynolds HS “deserved” and that the school district is still paying off?

Do the neighborhoods around the park “deserve” the eyesore, noise & traffic congestion of a stadium because other areas have to deal with unsightly views? Are people in those other areas likely to feel better about their views knowing that Hanes Park will be scarred too? Wouldn’t it be preferable to begin beautifying those areas instead of making sure we spread the “intrusions” around? And why not address both problems by building a stadium (if they must) someplace where the construction would improve the appearance of one of the eyesores you mention instead of compromising “the city’s most lovely public facility,” which, for the record, serves the informal exercise and relaxation needs of citizen groups throughout Winston-Salem? Why not keep Hanes Park “the people’s park,” and tell RJ Reynolds boosters that they’ve already carved out more than their fair share of it? These are just a few of the questions that “deserve” answers before the case is closed.

Kathleen M. Ramich
Kirk Fry

Thank you.
Your first two paragraphs summed it up perfectly.
The school campus is the perfect site for the R. J. Reynolds High School stadium.
J Myers

Thank you for stating the facts and helping us get our stadium. It will help a lot with extracurricular activities that will support our educations and give us a sense of a team atmosphere for our lives ahead. This stadium should be built for everyone. If the neighborhood doesn’t like it then they shouldn’t have moved near a school RJR has been there for years and will stay. Weather or not the stadium is built is dependent on the decision making of the school board, which will hopefully choose the more intelligent option to invest in the kids, our country’s future.
R. Neal Fin, ASID

I find it amazing that just this week, I heard about the intrusion that 3 days of the Air Show would have on a Winston-Salem neighborhood. But now its okay for the residents of West Highlands, Buena Vista & West End to endure the noise, lights, trash and traffic as well as the helicopters, medical and fire traffic that we now endure. Is that not stacking a little too much in one area?

We hear a lot about impervious surfaces such as a Stadium would cause. Especially in Hanes Park that just had major flooding that could have been a disaster. It makes no sound reasoning to protest a Stadium in Hanes Park? Are you kidding? Your are kidding, right?

We should accept Football, LaCrosse,, Bands, Band practice, Soccer and Concert noises and traffic in our backyard and not be incensed? Are you Kidding? You have stated we already deal with the YMCA & 3 Schools and Tennis Courts. Of course it makes no sense to support an added Stadium and its noises in a Historical neighborhood! Did I mention School property is owned by the taxpayers? You are kidding, tell me you are kidding?
R. Neal Fine, ASID
Kirk Fry

Mr. Fin-
Nobody is saying that you can’t have an opinion or can’t protest or that there are not issues to be worked out. You even have the right to panic and jump to conclusions. But as soon as you say the stadium is IN Hanes Park or IN a historic neighborhood you loose credibility. It sounds like you don’t like living in town.
R. Neal Fine, ASID

Mr. Fry
My house has been here longer than Wiley School, I think that qualifies me to say that School property that belongs to the taxpayers IS indeed in a Historical neighborhood! What Planet?
R. Neal Fine, ASID
Kirk Fry

Mr. FIne-
I’m from Planet Stadium.
I don’t get your logic on how your house being six years older than Wiley School makes you an expert on the boundaries of West Highlands or the difference between historic and just plain run down, as in the current condition of the stadium site.
It is a stretch to say that the R. J. R. Stadium site is IN your neighborhood. Fries Moravian Church is IN your neighborhood, surrounded by houses with sixteen parking spaces on site. SInce every house in West Highlands has a private driveway I don’t think overflow street parking is a problem for people who live close by. Our churches and schools are good neighbors. We share our space with them. They don’t tell us what to do with OUR backyards.
You chose to live between three schools and a hospital. They were all in place when you came to West Highlands in 1995. If the hospital, the Y, the schools, the tennis courts, the Air Show and the helicopters are already stressing you out, there are quieter neighborhoods and you are free to weigh your options.
Almost half of the children at Reynolds High School play at least one sport. Half of the children at Reynolds don’t drive. None of the children at Reynolds had a say in where in town they live and a high percentage of them don’t have it nearly as nice as you and I do. But that is out of their control. They attend Reynolds and the least we can do is try to give them and all of the student athletes (future taxpayers) something other students in the School System have. Greater and equal opportunity and a level playing field.
- R. Neal Fine, ASID
  
  Mr. Planet Stadium:
  I did not arrive in West Highlands in 1995. I have been in this house much longer than that, and if you would like to compare credentials, I am all for it. I have worked in Historical neighborhoods for 40 years, with a BFA degree, NCIDQ and ASID. Yes, that makes me an expert!
  
  I believe that puts me right on top of other people in my field of expertise. If you had anything to do with Historical preservation, you would already know the name. And what are your credentials on the subject? I don’t recall seeing your name listed or any credentials. Did I miss them? Have
  you been working in the field undercover? Do you have the background and it’s just coming to light?
  
  And if you don’t think you will hear the noise in your own house, you are mistaken. Maybe not the lights or the trash or the parking, but noise from Football, LaCrosse, Bands, Band practice, Soccer & Concerts(note the supporters web site and their plans for its use).
  
  If they can bus football players and children to the City/County Planning Board, they can bus them to Deaton-Thompson!
  
  And by the way, I am nearer the Stadium proposed site than I am Fries Moravian. What Planet?
Kirk Fry

Mr. Fine-
I was just humoring you with your Historical neighborhoods argument. Your fantastic credentials are meaningless to me to be honest. The children of our historic High School, that’s the issue here. But I am happy to have given you another opportunity to talk about how awesome and important you are.
I will welcome the stadium noise. The sound is that of a happy, healthy and vibrant community. Have you ever seen the massive crowds at a field hockey game? When you put your house up for sale, if the price is right, a might buy it to be closer to the action.
Students drive by my house, to and from school everyday. Sometimes they drive too fast and sometimes they throw trash into my yard, big deal. I pull my pants up, pick up the Hardee’s cup and put it in my trash can. I choose to live in a great city, in a great neighborhood (you tell me if it is historic) near a great high school. I take responsibility for that.
So you have a car and can drive yourself to the Planning Board meeting and because the children take a bus, you are more entitled to be there? I see a pattern here. Don’t these children and the hundreds and thousands to come count in your book? Or are you “on top” of them all?
- R. Neal Fine, ASID
  
  Kirk Fry
  
  Saw your house, realize why you are not interested in historical preservation. And to tell you the truth, you just don’t have any reasoning within. It doesn’t pay to engage someone who doesn’t even know what a Historical neighborhood is, what are the present boundaries and even look up a house to see when it was last sold.
  
  You are definitely the one that is awesome. You just continue in you own world! And I don’t think you would be interested in this house after seeing your house and knowing why a stadium wouldn’t bother you. I hope you are not an example of any group that would be for it! Good bye and enjoy life on that other planet! Been great seeing the real you!
Kirk Fry

Ok Mr. Fine. It has been fun talking to you.

—K
Linda Hill

I want the stadium to be built! That said, I do understand the arguments, but the need to support the students of Reynolds High School is more important to me than any noise their activities will cause. I am using the term “noise” loosely since I think that the sound of kids having fun is a happy sound.
Sports play a very important role in developing the whole student. The recent arguments about education dollars versus sports dollars is a moot point to me because, in my opinion, they are equally important.
I do not profess to have the “credentials” that some of the responders have, but I will put my experience as a mother of 4 student athletes up against any credentials. During my 12 years as volunteer at Reynolds HS, I saw many kids struggle to stay in school, despite overwhelming odds against them. in lots of cases only the opportunity to play a sport put them on the highway to graduation. Those are the ones who need a stadium on their campus. Let’s build it!

Reynolds Deserves a Stadium

About the author: WS Chronicle View all posts by WS Chronicle

Related »