Budget Gives W-S State Chance to Purchase Stadium, Race Track | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Dan Way, who is an associate editor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

$7.5 million deal would be funded by charging WSSU students higher fees

    WINSTON-SALEM     A surprise 11th-hour deal to restore a funding mechanism for Winston-Salem State University to purchase an iconic stadium sparked heated debate in House budget votes but failed to derail the deal.

    The debate centered over whether it's in the taxpayers' best interest for the city to keep Bowman Gray Stadium and adjacent Civitan Park, sell them to the historically black university that is one of the poorest in the UNC system, or sell them to private investors.

    The debate included concerns about potential state liability for costly environmental cleanup if the university bought the property, because the park sits atop an old landfill that may be a health hazard.

    Senate Bill 480, a $459-million capital projects measure including eight other UNC system campuses, included $7.5 million to purchase the recreation complex and $20.8 million to build a residence hall at Winston-Salem State.

    The Senate passed the bill, but the House Finance Committee stripped out the funding mechanism for Bowman Gray/Civitan Park. It was not in the budget conference committee report negotiated by House and Senate leaders. But House and Senate conferees restored the funding mechanism in the closing days of the session. Gov. Pat McCrory has not signed the measure into law.
View from the North Carolina General Assembly in May, 2013: Above.     photo by Stan Deatherage    Click on the image to expand.

    "What assurances do you feel that we can have as the trustees of the state that there's not going to be any future liability given the fact that there apparently is some contamination on this property?" asked Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, asked during budget debate. Moore supported removing the funding provision.

    Rep. Donny Lambeth, D-Forsyth, said during budget debate that the property has been on the Winston-Salem State master plan for several years, and the plan was vetted and approved by the UNC Board of Governors.

    "There will be no liability that will be shifted over to the state" as a result of any potential contamination, Lambeth said. The city would maintain cleanup responsibility.

    Bowman Gray Stadium's quarter-mile asphalt track has hosted NASCAR races for 65 years, and was featured for two seasons in The History Channel's series "Madhouse." The hillside facility also has been home to Winston-Salem State University football for some 30 years.

    There are no state appropriations under S.B. 480. The funding is self-liquidating debt. Winston-Salem State would pay the $7.5 million stadium/park purchase by assessing an additional $110 annually in student fees.

    "I was very surprised" the stadium/park provision was restored to the bill, said Harold Day, a Winston-Salem construction company owner, entrepreneur, and racing enthusiast who has served on various municipal boards.

    Day opposes the sale to Winston-Salem State and has been assembling investors who would make an offer for the 17,000-seat stadium and park. City Manager Lee Garrity said the city would be required to allow such an "upset" bid on the property if Winston-Salem State completes its purchase offer.

    "I was in Maine [recently] talking to a prospective buyer," Day said of his investment group. "I talked to a promoter and a banker up there. The students at Winston-Salem State, why should we put a burden on them of $7.5 million for the next 25 years?" Day said. "Let's make it as cheap as we can for them and not add another burden."

    Winston-Salem State had four home games on the 2011 schedule and drew an average of 7,141 fans per game. It had four home games in 2012, and hosted five additional conference championship and NCAA Division II playoff games, with attendance averaging 7,712.

    The stock car races roughly break even most years, city officials said. Average attendance is between 10,000 and 12,000 weekly during a 20-week season.

    Day said he would prefer that the city keep the complex, with racing and university football sharing the site. Most people in town don't want it sold, he said. But if it goes on the block, he and his investors hope to place an upset bid.

    "For a working man, somebody who makes $400 or $500 a week, he deserves a place for entertainment," and racing is "a part of our culture and lifestyle in Winston-Salem," Day said.

    "For 10 bucks he can get in, kids under 7 or 8 are [admitted] free, they can bring their own Cokes or hot dogs," and parking is free, he said. "He can't go to these big concerts that cost $50 or $70 to get in, and $10 to park."

    Day said that "racing is a big economic thing for this state," and fans "come from miles around. They get to whooping and hollering, you'd think they were at the Daytona 500 they get so involved."

    He said the council was abandoning its fiduciary duty to city residents and is pursuing a special interest deal with the university, Day said. He worries that financially strapped Winston-Salem State will take on a larger responsibility than it can afford, jeopardizing the stock car races.

    During the House budget debate, Rep. George Cleveland, R-Onslow, spoke of his longstanding opposition to "universities continuing to grow at the expense of their students, raising fees so [they] can keep building [their] palaces. But buying a race track is really disturbing."

    If there are financial problems with the track, "if the city wanted to pawn it off, why didn't they find private individuals to buy it, because that's what it appears like to me," Cleveland said. "The race track isn't making money so the university can take it over and do whatever they want with it," and the state ends up on the financial hook.

    "I think it's irresponsible to say we've got ... into something that we couldn't afford," Garrity said.

    Wake Forest University and Winston-Salem State approached the city with offers to buy facilities three years ago and "it seemed like a good win-win for our community and for our taxpayers," Garrity said.

    Wake Forest plans to buy the city-owned Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum for $8 million. It is the home site for Demon Deacons basketball.

    City Council entertained those offers "because of the ongoing cost, particularly the [outstanding] debt costs," Garrity said.

    In addition, "we have several million dollars of capital needs projected over the next few years for Bowman Gray Stadium," Garrity said. A sale would erase outstanding debt, eliminate future capital payments, and maintain and upgrade the facility for racing and football.

    Nancy Young, Winston-Salem State director of public and media relations, said university officials "were a little baffled" by the opposition to the university purchase based on fear that racing would be eliminated or otherwise impacted.

    "We have bent over backward to ensure that NASCAR can continue to survive and thrive there. Again, not just because we appreciate the heritage and history, not just because we appreciate the fact that we have coexisted for 50 some years, but we need the revenue stream" from racing to make the deal work, Young said.

    She defended both the increased student fees to pay for the sale and the university's ability to manage the complex.

    "That's very normal in how universities can expand and progress, and most of the schools in the university system have student fees to help to retire debt," Young said.