Anchorage Daily News

Other than crowd noise and the crunch of football pads, Anchorage Football Stadium was a quiet place last weekend.

A $16,000 sound system that belonged to the city-owned stadium is gone, stolen months ago, which put the municipality and Anchorage School District in a dispute that is now resolved over who should replace it.

The school district is the main user for the venue that hosts high school football, flag football and soccer, ASD spokeswoman Heidi Embley said. So it has decided to replace the sound system that was ripped off inside a vacant and locked press box last spring.

"What do we do this weekend?" asked Embley. "We are trying to make it happen."

No sound system means no national anthem, no introduction of athletes, no play-by-play descriptions and no announcing to fans their parked car in a fire lane will be towed.

The municipality rarely used the sound system, said Rod Hill, special events and sports field coordinator for Anchorage Parks and Recreation. That's one reason the city isn't willing to replace such an expensive piece of equipment, which consisted of an amplifier, CD player, mixer and microphone.

"It's up to the school district," Hill said. "It's a bad deal."

Early on, the school district said it had a partnership with the city and would like to see the two combine funds to replace the stolen goods. But now the school district has decided to go its own way as fall sports began last week.

"This is something that helps out users (of the stadium)," Embley said.

One option may be to rent a sound system for the rest of football season. But in the long run, buying a replacement is cheaper.

Rentals cost about $200 a day, Embley said. Flag and tackle football teams have 21 days in the stadium from Friday to Oct. 11, when the flag football championship is scheduled, so rental could cost $4,200.

Regardless of money, Hill said the stolen equipment is useless unless the burglar owns speakers meant for a rock concert or sporting event. The amplifier isn't meant for your home or car stereo. It pumps power through multiple speakers around the stadium.

"It would be like Aerosmith trying to play a concert with home components," Hill said.

The burglary happened sometime before the Cook Inlet soccer tournament in April, Hill said. The burglar took the $16,000 worth of equipment and left only the system's wires and the rack it rested on. Hill called the move a "slash and dash."

When tournament officials noticed the equipment missing, they thought the municipality had taken it away. Hill knew nothing and went to the stadium to investigate. When the sound system was nowhere to be found, he called the police.

The police have not yet found the thief or thieves, Hill said.

Hill said he suspects the press box's door lock was picked. The burglar took the sound system -- the only objects of value in the press box.

"It didn't look like a forced entry," Hill said.

The press box doesn't have a dead bolt and only a half-dozen keys for the newly remolded press box exist. Hill doesn't believe the key holders would be suspects because they are the people who use the equipment for sporting events.

If the school district ends up purchasing a new sound system, Embley said it won't be a permanent fixture in the press box.

"We can't have a $16,000 piece of equipment sitting in a press box," she said. "People know you can break in now, so chances are it could happen again."

Find Kevin Klott online at adn.com/contact/kklott or call 257-4335.

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