BOTETOURT COUNTY, Va. – The Botetourt County Sports Complex was quiet Wednesday, and it will be at least a few more months before you hear the crack of a bat or the cheers of fans there again.
“Obviously, regionally, we’ve had some events canceled because of the pandemic until we got to phase 3. That was the crux of the decision,” Botetourt County Recreation and Facilities Director Jim Farmer said.
The county has decided to keep the complex closed for the fall sports season. All fall sports have also been cancelled.
Farmer said the decision was not made lightly.
“Typically, (in) a normal season we’ve got folks coming from 25 to 30 different states, 18,000 to 20,000 people, and Botetourt is relatively safe compared to other areas. We are just trying to gauge that risk factor in our decision making,” Farmer said.
It was too early Wednesday to say when the complex will reopen and what, if any, changes will be made to try to stop the spread of the virus.
“I’ve never seen anything change so quickly and so frequently over such a long period of time. I wish I had a crystal ball that we could look into probably more so than I’ve ever wanted one in my life,” said Farmer.
Henry County has a similar sports complex.
The executive director said guidelines in Phase Three of the governor’s plan to reopen the state are being followed and there is currently no plan to close it.
On Wednesday, 10 News was told decisions about organized events will be made as opportunities arise.
Botetourt County officials had not done a financial assessment as of Wednesday to gauge how much money the county could lose by not having the sports complex open.