District 7 trustees voted unanimously Tuesday night to partner with the city of Spartanburg to use Duncan Park beginning this fall for practices and games of softball and baseball teams. Cross country runners will also use the park for practice, and the public will have access to the fields.

The Duncan Park deal goes hand in hand with a new $5.5 million athletics complex, which was also approved by trustees on Tuesday after two years of proposals and discussions.

The softball and baseball fields on the high school campus will be eliminated, freeing up space for more grassy athletic fields and new tennis courts, among other things.

"This is a serious symbol of the commitment District 7 is making in Spartanburg," board chairman Chip Hurst said. "I'm not aware of a high- school baseball facility in the country that will rival this one."

Donnie Love of the McMillan Smith & Partners architectural firm showed trustees several aerial shots and schematic drawings of the stadium. The complex will include a new main entrance, updated facilities for the disabled, updated locker rooms and batting cages.

"The entire Duncan Park stadium will be completely renovated and restored to a level that reflects its historic identity, and it will be a 21st- century stadium," Love said.

City officials decided in summer 2006 to close Duncan Park stadium, citing safety issues at the aging facility, which opened in 1926.

The Spartanburg Stingers were the last team to play at the stadium. The team moved its games to the Russell C. King field at Wofford College and has since announced plans to move to Forest City, N.C., playing its final game in Spartanburg last Saturday.

The district and the city have come to the table on several occasions during the past year and a half to discuss using the park, and they're still finalizing their recent agreement. Hurst said costs to renovate Duncan Park have yet to be determined, as it depends on the type of renovations and additions the stadium will undergo. He said he expects it may be a minimum of $3 million. The city is willing to commit a certain amount, as is the district, and the two entities will have to find a way to fill in the gap, Hurst said, not disclosing specific dollar figures.

"We're excited about this," City Manager Mark Scott said. "We have been looking long and hard to figure out the best use for Duncan Park stadium. We're anxious to sit down and finalize the agreement."

Parent and businessman William Renfrow said use of the park was needed. "I'm extremely proud to see this investment in our kids," Renfrow said.

Lenny Mathis, president of Friends of Duncan Park, said his group has been waiting for a while now to see what would come of the partnership, and he's "glad to know it was still on the burner.

"It's going to be a great competitive advantage - not only for Spartan High, but for the whole community," said Mathis, whose group committed to raise funds to save the park.

Athletic complex

Spartanburg High athletic director Myles Wilson said the move to Duncan Park allows the perfect opportunity to expand and upgrade facilities at the high-school campus.

The approved plan includes four multipurpose fields that can be used for soccer, band and possibly lacrosse in the future; six new tennis courts; an eight-lane track; a walking path and playground for the community; and possibly artificial turf on the football field. A press box will be added to overlook the football field.

Only Spartanburg High's junior varsity and freshman football teams play at the on-campus football field. The varsity team plays in Gibbs Stadium at Wofford College.

District 7 business services director Glenn Stiegman said the project will cost between $5.5 and $6 million. The sum of $1 million has already been allocated to it, and bonds will be sold over the next 18 months, he said, which is the amount of time it should take to complete the project. The first phase will be to convert the student parking lot across from the school, known as "the pit," into a multipurpose grassy field, complete with 300 seats and a small press box for the band director. Stiegman said that work could begin within the next two months on this conversion, and that there will still be plenty of parking space on campus for students.

Stadium plan to benefit city and schools

"There are all kinds of possibilities, and we're all extremely excited," Wilson said.

All but one of District 7's board members met with City Manager Mark Scott Thursday to discuss the proposal in what appears to have been an illegal closed session.

Trustee Rick Gray was absent.

Scott said no arrangements have been made, but he thinks officials are "very close" to working out a deal that could include renovating Duncan Park stadium. Scott said there have been no discussions on who would finance the renovation work to the stadium, which would have to be done for players to use it.

"We're anxious to have these discussions move forward, and we're hopeful that the decision will be made soon," Scott said, adding District 7 trustees will meet again Tuesday to discuss the matter. "I'm excited about it, and I think it's a real possibility now that the district would be able to use the field and put it back on our radar. We'll both be winners if we can make it happen."

District 7 Superintendent Thomas White wouldn't divulge any details, but he said whatever is decided regarding the stadium will affect the district's athletics master plan for the high school since the two issues are tied together.

Jay Bender, an attorney and expert on the Freedom of Information Act, said closure of the meeting - which the district said was a discussion of a contractual matter - was, in his opinion, illegal because the city manager was allowed to sit in.

"It seems to me they excluded (from the meeting) only the people who would be footing the bill," Bender said, referring to the public. Governmental bodies are allowed to enter into closed sessions to discuss contractual matters, he noted, but there's no point in closing the meeting if the other party involved in the matter is present.

It is unclear why discussion of the district's use of Duncan Park stadium is now resurfacing, since talk of a possible partnership between the city and the district dwindled late last year. School Board Chairman Chip Hurst declined comment on the matter.

Friends of Duncan Park President Lenny Mathis said he wasn't aware of Thursday's meeting, but said he would be in favor of a partnership between the city and District 7 that allows the stadium to be used. The Friends of Duncan Park is a nonprofit organization formed to raise money and awareness of the historic stadium.

"We're all for anything that brings vitality back to the ballpark," Mathis said. "Potentially, it could be a great marriage to bring Spartan High games to that field."

City officials decided in the summer of 2006 to close Duncan Park stadium, citing safety issues at the aging facility, which opened in 1926.

The city has agreed not to demolish the stadium while the Friends of Duncan Park raise money.

The Spartanburg Stingers were the last team to play at the stadium. The team moved its games to the Russell C. King field at Wofford College and has since announced plans to move to Forest City, N.C.

The Stingers' last game in Spartanburg will be Saturday.

School fields valued

District 7 administrators have created several athletic complex proposals in the past year. In one of the older proposals, the use of Duncan Park would eliminate the need for current baseball and softball fields at the high school. This would provide more land on campus for extra athletic fields, which are needed because the existing football field is overused, officials say.

The fields are valuable to community residents during non-school hours, said Terry Haselden, a District 7 parent who was invited into the board's closed meeting on Thursday.

Haselden's son is a senior at Spartanburg High and member of the baseball team. He said parents practice year-round with their children at the fields as many other public fields have been closed or don't have adequate access. For instance, Haselden said his son used to practice behind Jesse Boyd Elementary, McCracken Junior High and at the South Carolina School for the Deaf and the Blind, but renovation and construction projects at all three schools eliminated the fields.

"Every kid who plays for Spartan High was probably on these fields since age 6," said Kit Jennings, whose son is a junior baseball player at the high school. "If there's no place to play baseball, then there are no baseball players."

Although Haselden is a member of the Friends of Duncan Park and supports use of the facility, he wouldn't want the high school fields eliminated.

"If we scaled down from two fields to one, my concern is about access," he said. "Here, the kids leave the school and hit the field."