Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 30, 1994 TAG: 9409300062
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-6 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: KAREN WEINTRAUB AND MYLENE MANGALINDAN LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But at 6 a.m. on Thursday, he was on the phone with colleagues at the Chesapeake Corp., shaping a proposal to lure Disney's America theme park to New Kent County.
By 7:30 he was negotiating with county leaders. He had completed his work on the proposal well before noon.
At 2 p.m., as Johns drove back from lunch, he breathed a sigh of relief. About that moment, the company's proposal was to have landed on Gov. George Allen's desk.
``If Disney is willing to talk to us, we're more than willing to sit down and work out an agreement,'' said Johns, special projects manager with Chesapeake Corp.'s Delmarva Properties Inc. subsidiary.
Executives of Chesapeake Corp., one of the state's largest landholders, said their 2,300-acre parcel off Interstate 64 in New Kent County, east of Richmond, is perfectly suited to Disney's concept.
New Kent is also in the running for the state's first horse track, which would be located on property also owned by the company.
In his offer to the governor, Johns rattled off New Kent's assets: available water and sewer access, good roads, close proximity to the Richmond airport, an absence of major historical sites or battlefields, already completed environmental studies and appropriate zoning.
With so much back up for grabs, there is no shortage of suitors for Disney. All day Thursday, speculation ran wild about where Disney would turn next.
Front-runners?
``Let's see, how many counties are there in Virginia?'' joked David Schulte, executive director of the Williamsburg Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.
Competition for Disney within Virginia will be fierce.
The Richmond area's Metropolitan Economic Development Council, for example, is ``sending out a letter that is aggressive but demonstrates the location and matchup we have with Disney,'' said its president, Gregory Wingfield.
"There are a lot of synergies here with all the existing attractions, culture and heritage that would make it work,'' said John Lawson, chairman of the Virginia Peninsula Economic Development Council.
Roy Pearson, an economist who directs a research bureau at the College of William and Mary, said the most important thing is to not lose Disney's America to a neighboring state.
``We've lost it for 1998,'' Pearson said, referring to Disney's intended opening date in Haymarket. ``Hopefully, they'll stay in Virginia ... but just with a later starting date.''
by CNB