Residents of the West End and West Highland neighborhoods criticized a proposal to build an all-sports stadium for Reynolds High School near Wiley Middle School, saying they are worried about its effect on traffic, parking and noise.
Other residents said they were opposed to building any stadium next to Wiley, which is across the street from the high school's campus off Northwest Boulevard.
The stadium proposal took center stage at Tuesday's meeting of the West End Neighborhood Association. About 40 people attended the meeting at the White Family YMCA on West End Boulevard. Many of them had questions about the proposal.
Kathryn Spanos is leading the effort among Reynolds boosters to raise $5 million to $6 million for the stadium.
She spoke to the group for about an hour.
The stadium, which would seat about 4,000 people, would be built on land owned by Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools and money for its construction would come from private donation, Spanos said.
"It will be beautiful," she said.
Robin Voiers, a West End resident, said the stadium is a bad idea.
"This stadium will not represent all the people," Voiers said, adding that Reynolds athletes and fans would benefit most from it. "It will take away green space that people enjoy. I don't want anything there."
Reynolds supporters have talked for years about building a stadium, but none of the plans has had widespread support.
The stadium would have a turf field and could be used for several sports, Spanos said. It would be beside Hanes Park and open to the public.
School Board members gave tentative approval to the plan in mid-December during a meeting of their buildings and grounds committee. The board must approve the project again before construction could start.
Wiley's gym would be demolished and the group would pay for a replacement, which would cost about $1.5 million, Spanos has said.
Reynolds plays its football games nearly 5 miles from campus at Deaton-Thompson Stadium, which it shares with Parkland High School.
Spanos addressed the residents' concerns about noise, saying the site should be quiet after games end around 9:30 p.m. on Fridays, she said.
She admitted parking would be an issue. Fans attending games at the stadium likely would have to park along city streets within the neighborhoods.
"We want this to be a plus for the community and not something that's going to divide us," she said.
Jacob Wharton discussed how building a new stadium would affect plans to build a new Brunson Elementary School. The current school, about two blocks from the site, is in a floodplain and can't be rebuilt or expanded at its current location.
Wharton is member of citizen committee looking at options for Brunson.
"This elevates one interest above a broader interest," he said of the proposed stadium.
School officials tentatively approved plans last year for students in the Brunson residential area to be reassigned to Cook Elementary School, which is off Thurmond Street, beginning this school year. Brunson Elementary would become a magnet school. Many Brunson parents balked at that plan, saying they would like to keep the school in the neighborhood or build another school downtown.
"It shouldn't be a choice between a (football) stadium or an elementary school," Spanos said, adding that many Reynolds parents want a stadium near the school.
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