Shaw brings home games to Durham

Breaking news: Shaw University of Raleigh is bringing its home football games... to Durham. Durham's oft-maligned County Stadium, to be precise. A short-term deal is in place for fall; long-term use of the stadium will depend on an accord over signage, among other questions. Sounds like the deal may help grease the wheels for more renovations for the stadium, too.

As great as it is to have the business and money this will bring in, it's worth noting this is only happening because Raleigh's proven too short-sighted to build a better stadium for Shaw's and St. Augustine's. The same backwater pols like Philip Isley who are trying to shovel tax incremental funding cash down John Kane's throat (North Hills' developer) faster than a fat man at a hot dog eating contest were the first ones to say, nope, we have no cash to support historically-black colleges like Shaw.

Here's the story, from WRAL:

Shaw University has reached a deal with Durham County to use its stadium for its football games.

Durham County Manager Mike Ruffin said a short-term deal is already in place with play starting this fall. Four games will be played this season at the 8,500-seat stadium. The stadium, built in 1959, is currently used by the Northern High School football team.

According to Ruffin, Durham County Stadium was a good location because there are currently students from Shaw University in Durham and the I-85 corridor would provide better access for alumni to watch the games.

Shaw University originally approached county officials in April and the Durham County Stadium Authority helped to broker the agreement.

Durham County officials also want to make renovations and upgrades to the stadium. The stadium upgrades could include a new kind of astroturf, 8-lane track and a possible presidents' box. The deal would also enable Durham to host other events like state high school championship games and track meets.

The deal comes as a major blow to Raleigh who had hoped to secure a deal to keep the university's games in the capital city. Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker said he was surprised and caught off-guard to hear about Shaw's plans to play in Durham. He said he had even earmarked money in the parks/recreation budget to assist Shaw University.

Full story here.

Comments

[Michael Bacon]

Hey, maybe if Raleigh continues to ignore its HBCUs, we could get the whole University to move to Durham... (okay, that's kind of silly...)

Fun fact: the image of the Durham Stadium in Google Earth shows the carnival in town.