[FONT=Verdana]A legal challenge to the demolition of Victory Stadium was dropped Wednesday as City Manager Darlene Burcham gave the go-ahead for a Richmond company to tear the stadium down.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]As the result of a competitive pricing process, Burcham said S.B. Cox Inc. of Richmond submitted a low bid of $486,714 -- well within the city's $1.2 million budget.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Because the bid is within budget, the city council does not have to act on its approval, and Burcham can authorize the work herself. She said she informed Cox on Wednesday that it's been awarded the contract.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Asbestos removal from the stadium structure is already under way based on another contract, and that part of the demolition should be complete by early next week at the latest, Burcham said. The actual tearing down of the stadium structure could begin in the next few weeks.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Meanwhile, some of the most fervent Victory Stadium backers dropped a lawsuit Wednesday that sought to save the 64-year-old facility. One other lawsuit filed by a Roanoke citizen is still pending, but the city will ask that it be dismissed on the same grounds the other was dropped Wednesday.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]The dropped lawsuit had been filed by members of a pro-Victory Stadium citizens group, and was tied to a deed covenant passed to the city when it obtained the site for the stadium from a railroad holding company in 1941. The covenant required the city to maintain a stadium on the property. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]The holding company, now part of Norfolk Southern, released the city from the deed obligation on Friday for $1, according to court documents. [/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]"The railroad has told us for several years that it would be willing to release that property at the right time," city attorney Bill Hackworth said.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]Another covenant remains that the city uses the property for armory and park and recreational uses.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Richard Cranwell, the attorney for the group that filed the lawsuit, said the release of the stadium-related deed requirement effectively quashed the legal challenge.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]"It would have been too big a hill to climb," he said. "These are people who feel passionately about a historical landmark. I hate it. But there's a time for everything, and I think it's time for these people to move on."[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Winfred Noell, one of the organizers, acknowledged begrudgingly Wednesday that the fight to save the stadium is over.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]"Our hope was the election -- and we blew that," he said in reference to May 2 when pro-Victory Stadium candidates lost out to those who want to tear the facility down and build high school stadiums instead.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Too many pro-Victory Stadium candidates were in the race and they diluted the vote in favor of the candidates who won, Noell said.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]"It's a sad state of affairs," he said. "I know I'm devastated."[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]But the current city council majority -- and one that will remain when the new council takes office July 1 -- is now moving fast to get Victory torn down while planning of stadiums on the Patrick Henry and William Fleming High School campuses continues. There's a legal challenge pending to the Patrick Henry stadium, which is to be built first.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]Also ongoing are discussions among sitting and incoming council members about what should be done with the vacated Victory Stadium site and when that should occur.[/FONT]
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[FONT=Verdana]The three winning candidates on May 2 -- Councilman Alfred Dowe, Gwen Mason and David Trinkle -- campaigned on a plan to replace the stadium with a community concert facility, such as a covered amphitheater.[/FONT]