Alfred Dowe and Sherman Lea spend a lot of time talking up sports-related economic development at a time when Roanoke's long-running stadium issue continues to perplex and frustrate.

The city councilmen represent as sports-minded a political duo as Roanoke has had in years, but the two have yet to team up to become a driving city force behind some needed athletic improvements.

Dowe and Lea talk a lot about sports in part because of their own experiences. Dowe, 39, is a former intramural track athlete at James Madison University, and he's employed as a mentor for the NBA's developmental league. Lea, 53, played college football at Virginia Union University, has refereed high school and college games, and was a founder of the Western Virginia Education Classic, a Roanoke-based college football game that raises money for a dropout prevention program.

The two men have been outspoken about Roanoke's lack of adequate athletic facilities and their desire to put the city in a stronger sports marketing position. However, the two men differ on specifics, mainly Victory Stadium. Their divergent perspectives - even among the council's two sports boosters - highlight the city's plight.

Meanwhile, people like Pete Lampman, who runs the Roanoke Valley's annual Commonwealth Games, sit and wait.

"The city needs to improve its facilities," he said.

Dowe said he tried to do just that. He was the swing vote in a 4-3 decision two years ago to build a new football stadium and amphitheater off Orange Avenue instead of renovating Victory Stadium.

Lea was swept into office last year on a save Victory Stadium rallying cry - a political issue that caused the council to abandon the Orange Avenue plan and create a citizens committee to re-evaluate its stadium options. The committee recommended that the city demolish Victory Stadium and build a new smaller stadium in the same general area. The city council has since ordered a new engineering study of Victory Stadium because it had some reservations about the committee's recommendation.

The committee also recommended that Roanoke make a number of other athletic facility improvements.

Some committee members were blunt about the council's need to get on with business.

"Frankly, we have broader needs that could address more youth and citizen recreational opportunities than simply focusing on the stadium issue," member Greg Feldmann said. He said the committee recommended track facilities, softball fields, multi-use fields for soccer, lacrosse, etc.

"The numbers of citizens to be served by the addition of these amenities is far greater than the numbers playing high school football," he said. "Council needs to be mindful of that as they allocate resources."

Dowe sees Victory Stadium and the exhaustive debate that surrounds it as a symbol of the city's overall sports shortcomings: An outdated, oversized, poorly maintained shell of its former self that's sitting and decaying due to indecision.

Dowe points out that the city could be opening a new facility for high school football this fall if the council had stuck to its decision to build the new stadium and amphitheater. Instead, council members, after approving almost $3 million on the now abandoned Orange Avenue plan, agreed to spend another $130,000 or more in mandated temporary repairs to Victory Stadium just so high school football can be played there this year.

"The stadium issue would be more frustrating for me if I would have taken it personally - and so many people do take it personally," he said. "But people need to understand that there is not a perfect site in this town for a stadium."

Lea, on the other hand, sees a restored Victory Stadium as the impetus for a sports reawakening in Roanoke. Lea believes the city, through an expanded marketing effort, could host events to take advantage of the stadium's 24,000 seats.

The Western Virginia Education Classic, which has been played to about one-fourth of that capacity since its inception, could grow into a major event to fill Victory Stadium, Lea said. With a newly renovated large stadium to fill, Lea said the city could potentially lure major black college football powers such as Hampton University and North Carolina A&T to play in the Classic.

"I'm for making Roanoke a top-notch city for high school and college athletics," he said. "And I think Victory Stadium, if marketed properly, can be successful."

Dowe and Lea don't see eye-to-eye on some regional sports issues either.

Dowe said Roanoke should be happy with the much talked about sports successes of its neighbor, Salem, and should be glad that it gets direct economic benefits - hotel stays, restaurant spending and shopping - from Salem's multiple annual events.

Dowe says Roanoke should applaud Salem for what it's done and seek to carve a completely different niche of its own, such as a hub for soccer events. He said he'd like to see a new sports authority formed so that all regional localities will be "working together for the common good."

Lea, though, says Roanoke should be competing head-to-head with Salem for college and amateur tournaments, and he said he'd be willing to help make Roanoke's pitch to groups that sponsor such events.

Lea said he's embarrassed by Roanoke's condition, including the Civic Center's loss of several major high school basketball events. One is now played in the Salem Civic Center.

Lampman said a main difference between Roanoke and Salem is their differing approaches to negotiating events. Salem understands it will make money on the "back side" of events when tourists and customers buy concessions, pay for hotel stays and eat meals at its restaurants. Roanoke focuses more on upfront charges to event organizers, Lampman said.

Lea said he's concerned about Roanoke's reputation. He said he's also concerned about the $541,000 the city gives the regional Convention & Visitors Bureau, and may suggest to the council that it take some of that money and redirect it to specific sports initiatives.

Dowe and Lea, both Democrats, say they're aware that they sit in an influential place to get some things done, but they're in very different places in their council careers. Dowe is finishing the last year of his initial council term and has not decided if he'll run again in May. Lea just recently finished the first year of his first term.

"I've been learning," Lea said. "Next year is a different picture."

If he runs again and gets elected, Dowe said, "People will see visible leadership. If you don't effect change, then how good are you?"

Sherman Lea

• Co-chairman of 2003 citizens group that opposed the Orange Avenue project; elected to the city council with Brian Wishneff in 2004 on a save Victory Stadium platform.

• Sees a Victory Stadium restoration as the start of a sports renaissance in Roanoke.

• Wants Roanoke to compete head to head with Salem for college and amateur tournaments.

Alfred Dowe

• Supported the now abandoned 8,000-seat stadium-amphitheater proposal off Orange Avenue. Was the swing vote for it in 2003.

• Sees outdated, overlarge and poorly maintained Victory Stadium as emblematic of Roanoke's athletic failures.

• Favors a regional sports authority so local governments can work together in marketing the region's athletic resources.

Stadium committee recommendations

In the spring, a months-long study concluded with major policy recommendations to Roanoke City Council. The council opted for more study. The panel's recommendations included:

• Tear down Victory Stadium and build a new, small facility in the same general area of Roanoke.

• Address citywide recreational needs outlined in a 2000 study, such as 15 to 20 additional soccer fields and 25 softball fields. Address some of these needs in the design of the area around the new stadium.

• Build day stadiums on the campuses of William Fleming and Patrick Henry high schools with seating for 500 to 1,000 people and including fields suitable for use by multiple sports.

• Build all-weather, eight-lane tracks at each high school.

• Develop new management policies to ensure that a new stadium and other facilities are properly maintained.