BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer

From a U.S. senator, to the third man in National League history to pitch a perfect game, to John Reeber, a 37-year-old season ticket holder from Centerville, fans weighed in on the Reds' stadium debate Friday.

A new one on the riverfront? A new one at Broadway Commons? A renovated Cinergy Field?

''I'm not getting a lot of those questions,'' said John Allen, managing executive of the Reds, as he worked the crowd at RedsFest. ''What I'm hearing is 'What's going on? Why aren't they taking care of the Reds when they have 81 dates and the Bengals have 10?' Of course, it's a baseball crowd, so it's biased.''

A sampling from the two-day midwinter event for fans at the Albert B. Sabin Convention Center:

U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, who has been making the trip from Greene County to Reds games for 43 years, spoke merely as a fan against renovation:

''You could probably cut a deal where the Reds wouldn't have to put much (money) up front and it might make sense on paper. But what this community wants, I think what the baseball fans want and what people were voting for, was a competitive ballclub. If you go to re-fitted Cinergy Field, I don't think the Reds will have the flow of money to keep up.''

Former Reds pitcher Tom Browning, who in 1998 celebrates the 10th anniversary of his perfect game against the Dodgers:

''I'd like to see it on Broadway Commons. How can you wedge it in there (between Cinergy and The Coliseum)? Look what Coors Field did for Denver in a similar type of area.''

Mr. Reeber, an 11-year season ticket holder who attended RedsFest with 9-year-old son Ryan:

''I'd rather see a whole new stadium since that's what the citizens voted for. I'd like to see a new one at Broadway Commons. A renovated one would be fine, but a new one, like a Coors or Jacobs with the city in the background, would be prefable.''

Ivary Bailey, 38, of Forest Park, who's attended games for 10 years, said: ''Broadway would be ready two years earlier and it would rejuvenate the Over-the-Rhine community.''

Some fans, such as Renee Brown, 22, of Oakley, wouldn't mind renovation: ''Whatever makes the best economic sense for the city. What bothers me about a new stadium is that this one isn't all that old.''

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