By Michael D. Clark
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DEERFIELD TWP. - George E. King Memorial Stadium will have to be demolished as part of a toxic lead cleanup, leaving Kings High School football without a home for a second consecutive season.

Kings Board of Education members were told during a presentation this week that every part of the 2,000-capacity stadium - including the playing field that is also used by the soccer and lacrosse teams, and the track, concession stand, restrooms and bleachers - must be razed so U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials can remove contaminated soil discovered there in August.

School officials had hoped that the closing of the stadium, which forced the Kings football team to play its home games last fall at nearby Galbreath Field, would be temporary.

But Kings Superintendent Charles Mason told board members that demolition of the site, as well as adjacent baseball and softball fields, is necessary to remove lead that leached into the grounds from the spent ammunition of a shooting club that operated in the 1960s at the site of the senior and junior high school.

A local architectural firm presented the board with options for a new stadium complex. But Mason and board members stressed that any substantive discussions of what configuration a new stadium will take must first be held with community residents.

"The community will have a big say in this," said Mason, adding that public meetings will begin in February.

The school board is inviting the public to a 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday at Kings High School, 5500 Columbia Road, to hear EPA officials explain the lead cleanup process, which stems from last month's tentative agreement that could mean federal monies may cover at least part of the school ground's nearly $2 million in reclamation costs.

Both school and EPA officials will be available for questions from the public.

E-mail mclark@enquirer.com