Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 20, 1990 TAG: 9005200274
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK WEAVER LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Long
Gone between 20th and 25th streets is the maze of business signs, utility poles and overhead wires that for years cluttered the Oceanfront skyline.
The wiring is underground; the signs flush against storefronts. The once-narrow sidewalk is wider now and edged in brick. New streetlights and trees line the curb. Wooden benches, not yet bleached by the sun, invite visitors to dawdle, to take a break from the Boardwalk and sand.
It has taken four years, longer if you consider all the study and planning, but here the resort has shaken free from a long downward spiral of neglect and decay. Even last summer, while Oceanfront innkeepers and merchants suffered through a dismal season of fickle weather and a Labor Day weekend of destruction and violence, a part of the beach was being restored.
"We've done a lot," said restoration project manager Barry Frankenfield. "There's still a lot to do."
These five blocks of Atlantic are only the beginning. The project is part of a 10-year, $63 million plan to restore the faded glory of the Oceanfront from the Rudee Inlet all the way to 42nd Street.
The city has spent nearly $7 million since last October alone for the Atlantic Avenue improvements and others: new benches, signs, lighting and landscaping along the Boardwalk, more bike trails, the renovation of 21st and 22nd streets in the block between Atlantic and Pacific avenues, and a new visitor information center at the end of the expressway leading to the Oceanfront.
Much of that work should be done by Memorial Day weekend, the traditional beginning of the summer season, though the information center probably won't be completed until July, Frankenfield said.
It's going to be close. Just two weeks before Memorial Day, pickups outnumbered pedestrians on the Boardwalk as brick layers and landscapers worked hard to put the finishing touches on improvements before the hordes of tourists and sun-seeking locals arrive.
But merchants, even those whose business was disrupted by torn-up roadways and sidewalks, seem impressed with the results.
"It's been a long time coming," said Terry Wright, owner of Ali Baba Handwrought Jewelry at 19th Street and Atlantic Avenue. "I think all the merchants are pleased. The customers are remarking" on the improvements.
"We were just in plain old bad need of a facelift," said Kal Kassir, chairman of the Virginia Beach Resort Leadership Council. "I have never seen merchants so understanding. Some of them took a beating. I know one restaurant is off 30 percent."
Meanwhile, construction crews are moving on. Workers this year replaced underground water and sewer lines and installed conduits beneath the sidewalks along Atlantic Avenue from 15th to 20th streets.
Next year, those five blocks of Atlantic Avenue and a block of 17th and 19th streets between Atlantic and Pacific avenues will get the same streetlight, park bench, landscaping and sidewalk improvements.
The year after, the restoration will engulf another five blocks until the entire strip has been renewed. Funding for the project is coming from the city general fund and a hotel and restaurant tax.
In addition to the Atlantic Avenue improvements, the city built landscaped walkways this year on what had been stub streets leading from Atlantic to the beach at 5th, 27th and 35th streets.
Other improvements included bike path extensions, landscaping and new lights, benches and signs along the Boardwalk between 3rd and 10th streets and between 33rd and 38th streets.
Visitors to the beach also will see new water fountains, trash receptacles, footwashes and signs that push special events instead of rules.
"The (old) signs all said `No, No, No,' " Frankenfield said. "Now we've completely reversed the approach . . . The beach regulations are very subtle and at the bottom of the sign."
The revitalizaition project is not without its tradeoffs. First there is the loss of business during construction.
"We were down half of what we would normally do," said Betty Hughes, who owns six retail shops along the beachfront. "Once it's over with, I'll be happier."
Then there is the parking. About 50 parking spaces have been eliminated each year to make room for the walkways and other improvements on connector and stub streets, Frankenfield said.
Along its improved stretch, Atlantic remains a four-lane road. But the center turn lane has been removed to allow for widening of the sidewalk on the west side of the street.
And winter parking along Atlantic is no longer allowed. The old strip is giving way gradually to the slower pace of the promenade.
Individual merchants along the strip have been making improvements of their own in preparation for summer: installing awnings, painting and generally sprucing up. Aside from a handful of empty storefronts, there is no sign of the havoc caused by rioting last Labor Day weekend.
"I only know of one or two locations that have `for rent' signs," said Linwood Branch, president of the Virginia Beach Hotel and Motel Association. "If you came down right now and hadn't heard about it, I don't think you'd know that event had ever taken place."
Few merchants, however, have made use of the low-interest improvement loans offered by area banks, either because the rates were not low enough or shopkeepers could not meet lending requirements, said Timothy Barrow, chairman of the Virginia Beach Resort Area Advisory Commission.
"It really wasn't used like we hoped it would be," Barrow said.
There have been other changes this year. Nearby Ocean Breeze Festival Park, now called Ocean Breeze Fun Park, is offering five new children's rides and a program of weekend nighttime entertainment this season. The park also has new hours and a new ticket pricing structure.
And Branch said Oceana Naval Air Station is offering tours by bus from the beachfront every Saturday.
"The thing we can hope for now is to reap the fruits of this labor," said Joe Hawa, president of the Virginia Beach Resort Retailers Association. "I have a very positive feeling for this summer."
by CNB