THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020475
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940602 LENGTH: NORFOLK
During the next seven hours, hundreds of tourists from London to Texas to Chesapeake forked over the $7.50 to $10 general admission and pushed through the turnstiles of the maritime tourist attraction on Waterside Drive.
{REST} Their anxiously awaited verdict?
``It's amazing,'' said Jane McConnon of Buffalo, N.Y. ``We were sailing through the area and we just happened by. But it's tremendous.''
Nine-year-old Kevin Sturm of Norfolk withdrew a dripping arm from a ``touchpool'' and said, ``Did you see? That crab was walking on my hand, I could feel his claws. It was neat.''
``It's everything we thought it would be and more,'' said Susan Williams, one of four adult chaperones accompanying 27 students from Yorktown Middle School.
Well, not everything. Virtual Adventures, Nauticus' virtual-reality ride, wasn't ready as had been hoped, and won't be until June 17, but everything else went smoothly. Nothing blew up or broke down.
Opening-day hits mirrored the variety Nauticus offers: the film ``The Living Sea,'' the AEGIS Theater, the touchpools of sharks and other creatures and the interactive computer displays.
Nationwide viewers of the ``Today'' show on NBC learned about Nauticus at 7:08 a.m., when weatherman Scott did the first of four live shots.
The long-awaited opening day started jubilantly at 10 a.m. with an outdoor dedication of the project, first conceived eight years ago among a group of Norfolk's political and business leaders. An audience of more than 1,200 invited guests held onto their hats in a brisk 15-knot breeze off the Elizabeth River.
Gov. George Allen and Sen. Charles Robb praised Norfolk's downtown revitalization.
More than a few people noted the happy coincidence that Nauticus opened the day after Macy's confirmed it will open a store in the planned downtown mall.
``We celebrate another step in the inexorable march of renewal of this landlocked old port,'' Mayor Mason C. Andrews said.
When the front doors opened at 2 p.m., 150 people had lined up on the deck outside.
Total attendance was not known, but Nauticus officials seemed satisfied.
``We opened purposely at midweek so we'd have a light day,'' said Michael Bartlett, Nauticus director. ``The last thing we wanted to do was have a day that was difficult to manage.''
Despite some fears that the ticket prices - $10 for adults and $7.50 for children - are too high, few visitors seemed concerned.
``When you're on a vacation, money isn't a problem,'' said Greg Yates, 31. ``It's a good dollar value,'' said Anthony George, a New York native who came to Nauticus with his wife, Gloria, and daughter Leighann.``You go to a movie and it's 7 dollars for 2 hours. Ten dollars is a fair price.''
{KEYWORDS} NAUTICUS OPENING DEDICATION
by CNB