The Elizabethton City Council approved a roughly 25-cent property tax increase Thursday night, but did not allocate funding for a new football stadium. Rain water leaks through the concrete bleachers at T.A. Dugger Field and has destroyed the locker rooms below. Superintendent Ed Alexander hopes council members will reconsider.
Click the play icon above to watch a video report.
TRANSCRIPT:
GEORGE JACKSON, reporter: "But if the city council doesn't deliver a new stadium in the next couple of years, should they worry about losing you?"
SHAWN WITTEN, head football coach: "Not just me, but a number of coaches."
NARRATION: In about a month, this stadium will be packed for the Cyclones home opener against Daniel Boone. The paint is new. The grass is green. But the foundation is crumbling.
MIKE WILSON, athletic director: "I'm not an architect, and I'm not an engineer. But I'm not really sure how you're going to fix that."
NARRATION: Athletic Director Mike Wilson says these bleachers drain the wrong way. Add rain and cracked concrete for a hot, humid mess. Moldy ceilings, rusty beams, and cracked cinder abound.
ED ALEXANDER, superintendent: "We cannot use the dressing rooms, but it appears for this year they have determined that it is safe for the outside to be used."
NARRATION: Superintendent Ed Alexander wants to replace this stadium with a sports complex at Elizabethton High and expand classrooms at T.A. Dugger.
ED ALEXANDER, superintendent: "We hope that, on the second reading of this, they will reconsider. with the possibility of giving us, at least, 10 cents."
SHAWN WITTEN, head football coach: "We feel that we're doing what we need to do on the field and would like to have some city council support."
NARRATION: Mayor Curt Alexander does not favor a property tax increase -- period. He says the stadium needs to be rebuilt, but not at the expense of the city's credit rating.
CURT ALEXANDER, mayor: "We're replacing all nine of our electric substations. We're getting a new water source.... We also did a bond issue for the school system last year to upgrade all of their facilities -- add classrooms, add gymnasiums -- and that was close to $7 million."
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