By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Organizers of the Kentucky All “A” Classic small-school state basketball tournaments are scrambling to find a new venue for next season after learning that the Frankfort Civic Center will be demolished.
Stan Steidel, chairman of the board for the classic, said he signed a contract to continue having the boys’ and girls’ state tournaments at Frankfort Civic Center for the next three years. He did not know the facility was going to be torn down until this week when he read a news story about the state government’s decision to raze the Capital Plaza complex in November.
“I haven’t had an official notice from them at all,” Steidel said Wednesday. “They may do us some damage here. They may put us out of business. How do you find somebody for five days in the middle of basketball season where their place is sitting empty?”
The All “A” Classic boys’ and girls’ state tournaments are usually played during the last full week in January. Games are scheduled Wednesday through Sunday. Frankfort Civic Center has been the site for the event since 2012. The tournaments were played at Eastern Kentucky University’s McBrayer Arena in Richmond from 1991 to 2011.
Steidel said officials at Eastern Kentucky University have expressed an interest in hosting the tournaments again, but he doubts if they’ll be able to adjust their men’s and women’s college basketball schedules for next year on such short notice. He’s looking for another good-sized arena that has open dates in January and has enough hotels in the area to accommodate 32 teams and their fans.
“We’re going to find a place to play it one way or another,” Steidel said. “I expect to have it fixed within a couple weeks. I’m just not going to let it slide. We’ll take care of it one way or another.”
The All “A” Classic began in 1990 after efforts to separate Kentucky high school basketball teams into classes for post-season playoffs failed. Steidel, who was head coach at Dayton High School at that time, created the classic to give small-school teams a statewide playoff system of their own.
There are 15 high schools in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties that compete in the boys’ and girls’ small-school basketball playoffs. Several local teams have won All “A” Classic state titles over the last 28 years.
All proceeds from the state tournaments go into a bank account and the money is used to pay expenses for next year’s event. Steidel has considered taking legal action against the state government that owns Frankfort Civic Center if moving the classic costs a lot of money.
“I’m looking for a lawyer,” he said. “I’ll give him a percentage of whatever he gets. I just don’t want to spend any of the kids’ money paying for legal fees.”