By April 1, Norwood City Schools will hand over $1 to buy city-owned Shea Stadium, where high school football and soccer teams have played for three decades.

        The new owner wants total responsibility for the stadium that was built in 1972 and seats 5,000.

        Superintendent Barbara Rider said the district has a $2 million, two-year “Cadillac” improvement plan that will start in the spring and will tackle the first major repairs at the stadium since it was built.

        The sunken concrete outside the plaza will be fixed, the aluminum seating planks will be replaced, and new locker rooms will be installed.

        “The stadium needs some significant repair, as would any 30-year-old facility,” Mrs. Rider said. But, “there's incredible potential there because it's one of the best stadiums in Southwest Ohio. It's a great place to watch a sport. It was the pride of Norwood 30 years ago, and it's important that we restore it to that level again.

        “We think it's a win-win for both sides. This will relieve the city from some of the responsibility that we really should be undertaking.”

        City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday to authorize the $1 sale. A third reading and final vote is scheduled for March 12. School board members already have voted to pursue the purchase.

        Mayor Joe Hochbein said the city has been proposing a sale of the stadium since 1996. The city couldn't afford serious improvements, and the school district was the stadium's main user, he said.

        “The schools are the primary user, and they're the ones that should be making decisions about the stadium,” he said. “It's not in horrible disrepair, but it needs to be modernized for the kids.”

        In 1999, the city offered to sell the stadium for $1, but the school district then couldn't consider the offer seriously. That changed last year, when the district had enough money to finance a structural study and consider the purchase and necessary renovations.

        According to the five-page purchase agreement, the stadium will be sold “as is” and civic groups can use the stadium at least six times a year for such events as the city's knothole baseball opening-day activities.

        Purcell Marian High School will continue playing football at the stadium, Mrs. Rider said.

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