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BLACKSBURG -- All the dominoes that constitute the long and twisting path to developing the old Blacksburg Middle School have been laid out in a neat row by Montgomery County supervisors and the school board.

But the push that would start the necessary chain reaction belongs to Blacksburg Town Council, which has the power to approve or deny a new Blacksburg High School stadium project. And intertwined with the fate of that project is the future of a $1.3 million land deal that could provide space for a new Blacksburg High School in the next decade.

In the balance hangs the future of several neighborhoods.

For years, residents of Blacksburg's historic downtown neighborhoods have worried about what development of the old Blacksburg Middle School, which sits on 20 acres of prime real estate, might mean for their quality of life.

Now that nervousness has spread to neighborhoods off Prices Fork Road, residents of which are worried about the traffic, noise and other issues a new Bruins stadium and eventually a high school might bring if they are built on 86 acres of the old Kipps family farm.

Supervisors have the 86 acres under contract from Blacksburg developer Georgia Anne Snyder-Falkinham, but the sale will only go through if Blacksburg Town Council approves the stadium.

If the stadium project is approved, it will satisfy a major condition established by the school board for sale of the old middle school, which could pump millions into the school's budget and ease pressure on county taxpayers, said Supervisor John Muffo.

Glenn Earthman has lived near the proposed stadium and school site for 30 years. He's seen Prices Fork Road change from a two-lane country road to a major thoroughfare. Two schools -- a new Blacksburg Middle and Kipps Elementary schools -- have been built there in recent years.

But Earthman worries that the proposed 3,000-seat football and soccer stadium will put more pressure on the road and on nearby neighborhoods. Add a new high school there in the next decade or so, as school officials hope, and all those new students "will be riding the bus or driving the car" to a site "far away from the population centers of the town," he said.

Others such as Clay Nichols worry about the placement of the new high school on the land. A tentative site plan exists, but it could change drastically over time.

County officials are "saying please vote for this, but we're not going to commit to the design and location of the high school," Nichols said. Some houses along Tall Oaks Drive sit very close to the school site.

Other neighbors who attended a meeting this past week about the plan expressed concerns about lighting and noise as well as issues with mixing high school students with younger children on a large campus.

Schools Facilities Director Dan Berenato responded that a similar centralized campus in Riner and has worked well.

Responding to some of the concerns, school board Chairwoman Tacy Newell-Foutz said she understands how neighbors feel. But the site is "not going to stay a field," and a school will be better for residents than a commercial development, she said.

In the next few weeks, Blacksburg Town Council is expected to begin considering the special use permit for the stadium project.