Stopgap repairs to Victory Stadium to prepare for the upcoming high school football season should be done in time for the season opener between crosstown rivals Patrick Henry and William Fleming on Aug. 26.

"We will be ready for that," City Manager Darlene Burcham said at Monday's joint meeting of the Roanoke City Council and the Roanoke School Board.

The city locked the stadium down for safety reasons in March after an engineering review determined the 63-year-old structure was unsafe.

A month later, a council-appointed committee recommended by a 10-4 vote that the city tear down the crumbling 25,000-seat stadium and replace it with a new 15,000-seat facility in the same general location off Reserve Avenue.

But in May, the council decided instead to commission another engineering study, and to pay about $130,000 for sufficient repairs to keep the stadium in business for another football season or two.

Large portions of the bleachers had already been roped off after spectators began slipping on the deteriorating steps last fall.

Workers are shoring up the steps and risers to allow spectators on the first nine rows of each side of the stadium, providing seating for up to 4,000 people, reported Jim Grigsby, the acting assistant city manager. The remaining stands are fenced off, except for a temporary press box being constructed on the west side.

Fencing will also keep spectators entering the stadium a safe distance from the brick facade, which engineers found was at risk of pulling away from the structure behind it. All people must enter through a single gate at the southwest corner of the stadium near the footbridge from Wiley Drive.

Other fixes include:

• Four additional cuts in the concrete wall at the foot of the stadium, which allow for handicap access.

• Potholes are being repaired and striping added to the parking lot.

• Portable toilets and wash stations have been ordered, and will be placed at the south end of the playing field near the fountain. Concession stands will be set up there, as well.

• Provisions have been made for teams to use the National Guard Armory at the north end of the field for locker rooms. In the event the armory is needed for emergency purposes, the teams will use a nearby school for locker room facilities.

• The playing field has been aerated, seeded, fertilized and weeded. Two scrimmages planned for the field were moved to allow the turf to fill in before Aug. 26.