Shaw football goes to Durham

School also seeks arena in Raleigh

The Shaw University football team will play the 2007 season in Durham County Stadium, while the school is negotiating with Raleigh for a new downtown home for its other sports.

The Bears will likely play the 2008 and 2009 seasons in Durham as well, stadium director Michael Turner said Thursday.

The school is in negotiations for a long-term deal, he said. Shaw has already confirmed dates for the 2008-2009 seasons and is just waiting for approval by the stadium authority, which is likely, Turner said.

Shaw has also asked the city of Raleigh to help finance a mixed-use, 4,000-seat indoor sports facility on its downtown campus that's projected to cost between $7 million to $8 million. Shaw has asked the city to include $4 million in a parks and recreation bond now under consideration.

Raleigh mayor Charles Meeker said the city will assess the benefits of the facility next week, and any city financing would depend on what other uses the facility would have.

Meeker said that having a downtown sports arena would help the city.

"At some point, the next facility we need to consider is a downtown site," Meeker said.

Shaw president Clarence Newsome, who couldn't be reached for comment, sent a letter to Meeker on Monday saying that the proposed mixed-use facility "would afford area residents year-round recreational facilities at little or no cost. ... A building this size would be ideal for hosting meets that would draw increasing numbers of people throughout North Carolina and the southeastern part of the country to downtown Raleigh."

Shaw and Saint Augustine's College had wanted Wake County public financing for a joint-use stadium in Southeast Raleigh. Meeker had been pushing for the stadium, but Republicans on the Wake County board killed the idea, saying it wouldn't be beneficial to the county.

Meeker said since then he was interested in upgrading Southeast Raleigh High School's stadium to an NCAA Division II quality venue, along the lines of Five County Stadium, to be used by the Bears. Meeker said the proposed upgrades were in the $12 million to $15 million range, but Shaw, a Division II member, decided to go to Durham County.

"We thought we made a reasonable proposal," Meeker said Thursday afternoon. "But [Shaw University president Clarence Newsome] thought it was in the best interest to go to Durham."

University spokeswoman Terry Spicer said Shaw, which currently plays its home games at various area high schools, wants more of a big-time atmosphere.

"Durham County Stadium has 8,500 seats. Universities want to play in collegiate-like venues," Spicer said. "When high school seniors leave their high schools, they'd like to play at collegiate stadiums. ... It will help with recruiting."

Spicer said Shaw is a regional university with nine satellite campuses, including one in Durham County. "For us, it was a natural progression. The Raleigh-Durham area has no walls now," Spicer said.

"We're trying to provide a better experience for our fans."

As part of the agreement, Durham County Stadium, which was built in 1959, will have some renovations, with the county chipping in $15,261 and with Shaw spending $98,719 to upgrade the facility, which is used by Northern High School.