Parking at new stadium will be limited

The Cherokee County School District will have to spend more than $150,000 on road improvements as part of ongoing construction projects at Gaffney High School.

Southern Management, the district's building program manager, was recently informed the state Department of Transportation will require additional turning lanes and road improvements. Principal Architect Tom Baldwin said the road improvements are needed near the entrance to the school's ninth grade addition and track project by the Twin Lakes Road bridge.

While no cost estimate is immediately available, Baldwin said it typically costs between $150,000 to $250,000 for additional turning lanes and road improvements at new school construction sites.

The school district has $1 million in building funds available to spend on the new Gaffney High track and additional stadium parking.

"This could have a major impact on the cost of the projects," Baldwin said. "We just hope it won't be too costly."

The district will be hard pressed to find enough parking spaces for football fans when the 8,000-seat Gaffney High stadium opens next fall. The school will have an estimated 2,000 parking spaces for football games if all available parking options are approved by the school board.

The district will open bids Oct. 23 for a Gaffney High track and additional football stadium parking. The project calls for a new 300-space parking lot with an alternate that would increase the stadium parking to 450 spaces.

Gaffney High School lost 250 spaces for student parking this summer when construction started on a ninth grade addition, Baldwin said. The additional stadium parking is being bid to offset the loss of parking spaces.

At an average of two people per car, the 2,000 parking spaces would barely accommodate normal attendance for Gaffney High home football games.

School figures showed an average attendance of 5,000 during the 2006 football season. Attendance was 10,500 for a nationally televised game against Byrnes last year.

Baldwin acknowledged Gaffney High could have a problem with stadium parking next year, citing the lack of secondary roads around the school to park cars.

"There will never be enough parking," Baldwin said.