City approves stadium plan

SANDPOINT — In a whirlwind wrap-up to years of ideas, advisory groups, planning and professional renderings, Sandpoint officials gave the stamp of approval to final plans for the renovation of Barlow Stadium and War Memorial Field.

Due to the activism of residents in the surrounding neighborhood, some last-minute changes added a touch of drama to the proceedings leading up to Wednesday evening's City Council meeting where council members would decide whether to approve the plan.

After officials revealed the final architectural drawings for the gateway and stadium at a public open house May 11, several neighboring property owners came forward to express their reservations.

"The number one most inflammatory issue is related to the banners, and people feeling that they (the banners) blocked the open air," said Jennifer Stapleton, city administrator, at an noontime Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. "We're presenting plans for approval with those out."

Omitting the eight proposed banners would save approximately $25,000, Stapleton said, leaving room in the budget to add new lockers to the gateway and stadium construction phase. The savings represent about 50 percent of the locker cost, she said.

The planning committee put forward its revised version for the council's approval that evening. Designer Tom Runa of Sandpoint was on hand to answer questions about the final drawings.

"I wondered how the perspective of the size of everthing was developed relative to the stadium," asked Councilwoman Deb Ruehle.

"We think about proportion a lot -- how it relates to human scale and how it relates to the context of the project (i.e., the neighborhood)," said Runa. "We look at the proportionality to create a transition between human scale and the grand scale of the stadium."

The residents who came to the meeting to offer their opinions, however, thought the scale of the plan to be overly grand.

"I live right down on Florence Avenue near the football field," said Rob Harrison. "I first saw the (plans for) the entryway at the end of 2013, and it was huge. I expected there to be more meetings, but all of a sudden, here's the final plans for the gateway. I would request that the City Council approve the grandstands but that we step back and take a little time to get public input about the gateway. It's late in the process, but it doesn't feel like the community was involved in the process early on."

"I compared the height of these towers (at the entrance) to known landmarks," said Iris Harrison, who also spoke at the meeting. "It's massive. It blocks the view. I also request that you look at the gateway plan again."

"I live on the corner of Florence and Ontario, so I have a vested interest," said Susan Born. "I do agree that the pillars, the gates and the walls are too big. I also think the currently proposed design is stark. I would like to see a more organic transition from street to field."

Parks and Recreation Director Kim Woodruff addressed the requests to rethink the gateway portion of the project.

"We’re on a pretty tight schedule. I really feel strongly that we keep (both projects) intact. We have the bid documents ready. The project has had a lot of public input, there has been a process," he said. "It would increase costs if we had the design team perform additional work, and it would certainly increase cost by splitting up the project and not take advantage of economies of scale."

Stapleton pointed out that a delay would destroy city officials' careful planning designed to avoid stadium construction during the field's busy sports seasons.

Councilman Bill Aitken added that separating the gateway and stadium projects would require separate electric and sewer installations, further compounding costs.

Residents also expressed their concerns that the long brick walls flanking the gateway would not only block more of the view but also invite mischief. They suggested that vandalism or other behavior going on behind the walls could cause the field to be locked when not in use.

Runa addressed these worries by suggesting they replace the brick walls with a more transparent material.

"Would it be possible to make (the towers) shorter without compromising the functionality of the entrance sign?" said Councilwoman Shannon Williamson.

"Yes, you possibly could lower (the height of the gateway), but I think it is in scale now," said Runa. "Again, you are ascending to a bigger scale of the stadium beyond."

"At this point in time, how feasible is it to make changes?" asked Councilman Bob Camp.

Jeff Jenson, project engineer, fielded that question.

"We can make these changes, but the big key is whether is has to go back to council before we put it out for bid. We have about a week," he said.

City Attorney Scot Campbell said that the council could vote that evening on the plan with some suggested changes, and then let the designer and engineer take responsibility for altering the final blueprint accordingly.

Mayor Shelby Rognstad suggested that the council vote to proceed with the bid process, and Councilwoman Ruehle made a motion to amend the plan to shorten the towers and make the brick walls more transparent.

The City Council voted unanimously to approve the renovation plans and put the project out for construction bids.