School trustees emerged from Tuesday's workshop on the Gaffney High stadium ready to take action on the project at their March 13 meeting.

School board chairman Willie Crosby said the board will vote on several cost scenarios presented by building program manager Southern Management. School trustees will also entertain a motion from board member Lindley Auton to hold a voter referendum on whether the stadium should be located at Gaffney High School or W.K. Brumbach Stadium.

"I'm ready to vote tonight," school trustee Mike Ellis said. "All we are doing is wasting time and money."

Southern Management Principal Architect Tom Baldwin presented several scenarios at the workshop for building a 7,000-seat stadium, ranging in cost from $4.8 million to $6.1 million.

Each option would result in a stadium with all aluminum bleachers, two aluminum bleacher press boxes, four restrooms on the home side, three concession stands, and a stand-alone building that would contain a ticket booth, first aid and security stations, Baldwin said.

The school board could increase the project's cost by keeping the original 4-story press box design, adding concession stands and changing the design and/or location of the halftime houses.

Baldwin recommends the school board let architects move forward with redesigning the stadium at the March 13 meeting. This would allow the stadium to be bid in June and completed in time for the 2008 football season.

Under the different cost scenarios, Baldwin said the bid package would include alternates to increase the stadium capacity to 10,000 seats, add a team meeting room and landscaping. Stadium lights would cost an estimated $250,000 and be funded through the furniture and equipment budget included in the district's $35 million building program.

Gaffney High football coach Phil Strickland had little problem with the proposed design changes.

"I'm a little concerned about a 7,000-seat stadium, but I'm more scared of building a 10,000-seat stadium. My fear is we would not be able to fill it up on a regular basis," said Strickland, who noted home game attendance averaged 5,000 last year. "I would rather have a full stadium where there is standing room only."

Strickland suggested a new 8,000-seat stadium would be an ideal size. He passed along the Gaffney High band program's request for 250 additional seats in the proposed stadium so the band members could sit near the end zone.

This would allow the band to be heard clearly by the home crowd and could be done at minimal cost, Strickland said.

The workshop ended with a suggestion from superintendent Dr. Bill James that a bond sale of $2 million this spring would allow the district to supplement the current stadium budget and address the need to provide state-of-the-art technology for schools. Another possible revenue source for the stadium is $105,000 that has been collected from a $1 surcharge on Gaffney High football tickets for the past three years.

School trustees had little discussion on the topic of tapping into new stadium revenue sources.

But board member Billy Blackwell said he does not favor holding a voter referendum on the stadium location.

"We need a new facility, and it needs to be at the high school," Blackwell said.   "I'm ready to vote tonight."                   - Trustee Mike Ellis   "I'm a little concerned about a 7,000 seat stadium, but I'm more scared of building a 10,000 seat stadium. My fear is we would not be able to fill it up on a regular basis."             - Coach Phil Strickland   "We need a new facility, and it needs to be at the high school."             - Trustee Billy Blackwell