Byline: Todd Archer Post staff reporter
GEORGETOWN, Ky. -- There was something different about the applause. It wasn't just polite clapping. It was purposeful, serious and prolonged, and Doug Pelfrey knew it.
''I feel like Richie Farmer or Rex Chapman when they signed their letters of intent to UK,'' the Bengals kicker told the crowd.
Kentucky is basketball, and Pelfrey, an Edgewood, Ky., native and University of Kentucky graduate, knows how to grab attention in the Bluegrass State. From former UK stars Farmer and Chapman to coach Rick Pitino and his defending national champions, most Kentuckians live for basketball year around.
Now, there may be room for another sport, at least in Scott County.
The Bengals and Georgetown College agreed on a deal for the NFL team to hold its training camp at the school of 1,340 students some 70 miles from Cincinnati. The contract is for seven years, beginning next July, provided the facilities are completed in time. If not, Bengals president Mike Brown said the team will find a temporary home for a year.
''Kentucky's going to have to be a football state sooner or later,'' said Don Gillespie, owner of Scott County Sporting Goods on Main Street.
For 29 years, the Bengals called Wilmington College home. Wilmington's sleepy downtown and quiet nightlife in Clinton County, Ohio, about 50 miles north of Cincinnati, were the antithesis of the bright lights of the NFL, but at the same time were a perfect fit.
Georgetown's downtown is similar to Wilmington's. You still can park on Main Street for free while visiting the antique stores, the two pharmacies or the diner in this town of fewer than 13,000.
Bengals fever has not yet gripped Georgetown, but in Gillespie's store he was selling a Bengals T-shirt, albeit from the 1989 Super Bowl.
''Besides the school,'' said John Plymire, a sophomore defensive lineman on the Georgetown College football team, ''there's not much in the town.''
Scott County is dry. No alcohol is sold. It will be football, football, football for the four weeks the Bengals are in town.
''Being a player myself briefly and around it all my life, (players) are going to find whatever it is they're going to find,'' Bengals coach Dave Shula said. ''But we keep them pretty busy. If that's their No. 1 priority, we tend to find that out pretty quickly.''
While Georgetown College and Scott County rejoice in their newfound fame, Wilmington College is disappointed. School president Daniel DiBiasio made two proposals to the team, but Georgetown's offer was better.
''They assess the needs of their organization just as we assess ours,'' DiBiasio said. ''There's nothing but good will and good feelings from both sides. We hold the Brown family in high regard, and I'm sure they have similar feelings for Wilmington College.''
Brown said it was difficult to leave Wilmington, the team's home since 1968.
''They've been friends of ours for years,'' Brown said. ''It was hard, but it's time to start fresh.''
It can't be much fresher than the location of Georgetown/Scott County Stadium. At the facility's dirt road entrance, a sign welcomed the Bengals to their ''new Kentucky home,'' a play on Stephen Foster's state song. A tree marks where the 30-yard-line will be located next summer. Construction could begin as soon as today, but ground preparation has been going on for about two weeks.
Where now lie green grass and wildflowers, a 4,500- to 5,000-seat stadium and two practice fields will be built. In addition, the school will build a Leadership Center and Residence Park where the Bengals will be able to work, sleep and eat without interruption.
The Scott County Fiscal Court and the Georgetown City Council each kicked in $500,000 to the deal, while the Scott County School District was reported to give $1 million. The college was to contribute $1.25 million.
The facility, which will be named Georgetown/Scott County Community Stadium, will have an underground training facility complete with weight rooms, locker rooms, offices and conference rooms.
The college plans to spend another $3 million to build a 100-room dormitory, 125-seat auditorium, six new classrooms and a 150-seat cafeteria - things that Bengals officials want for a training camp and college officials say the school needs anyway.
To the area businesses, the Bengals arrival could mean a boon. More than 500 people would show up at Wilmington for practice each day, bringing added money to the community.
''There are no negatives,'' Gillespie said. ''Only positives. What it's going to mean to people like me I'm not sure yet, but on the entire community, it's going to help.''
The impact training camp will have on the college is obvious. A fine arts building is being constructed now and a $12 million learning resource center project will get under way soon. With the addition of an NFL team, Georgetown College will enhance its visibility.
Not only is the college growing, but so too is the county. And that may be of more importance to the Bengals. Ten years ago, a Toyota plant came to the area, spawning several businesses, including malls along Cherry Blossom Way off of Interstate 75.
From the Bengals' point of view, Scott County is a potential source of additional revenue, particularly when a new stadium is built.
Communications between the club and Georgetown College began in April. School president Bill Crouch pushed hard for the Bengals to come to his liberal arts school, located about 12 miles north of Lexington.
''We heard they were beginning to look ahead and that's all we needed to get our foot in the door,'' Crouch said. ''We put together a sophisticated marketing plan, showing them the impact Kentucky can have on Cincinnati in terms of selling seats and sky boxes.''
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JIM OSBORN/The Post - The proposed football stadium and training facility to be built for the Cincinnati Bengals in Georgetown, Ky.
JIM OSBORN/The Post - First the Toyota plant. Now the Bengals training camp. Once tiny Georgetown, Ky., is now a hub for shoppers, a major employer and a football town.
CAPTION: Bengals' kicker Doug Pelfrey - a Northern Kentucky native - addresses a crowd in Georgetown.
