THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 26, 1994 TAG: 9406240251
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940626 LENGTH: Medium
It is the distillation of 10 years of work by a special citizens panel, and some of its recommendations already have been acted upon.
{REST} Some are nearing completion, such as the Atlantic Avenue Streetscape, which should be finished in 1996. Others, like the expansion of the Virginia Marine Science Museum, the building of a major amphitheater and new golf courses and the expansion of the Pavilion Convention Center, are about to get under way or are in the planning stages.
Still other proposals, such as the marketing of the Dome site, Rudee Loop and Pavilion areas as future entertainment, flagship hotel and mega-convention sites are still in the visionary stage.
A proposal to create more public parking and link it with a resortwide trolley network has reached its initial stages with the construction of a park-and-ride at 25th Street and Pacific Avenue.
A move to extend bike and pedestrian walkways along scenic city waterways and public beaches also are part of the package.
The items are part of a 49-page document called the ``Oceanfront Resort Area Concept Plan,'' which was compiled by the city's Planning Department in the last year.
It contains all the elements of an ambitious tourism enhancement plan created by the Resort Area Advisory Commission, a citizen's panel appointed by the City Council 10 years ago to oversee improvements and activities along the oceanfront.
The Council already has approved a $93-million Tourism Investment Growth Fund, fed from special taxes and fees, to pay for a half-dozen of the items proposed in the Oceanfront Resort Area Concept Plan. Included are the amphitheater, the golf courses and the completion of the streetscape projects. The comprehensive plan is aimed at consolidating what already is on the drawing board and throwing in a few new concepts.
The entire package will require four basic and comprehensive steps. The first calls for the development of a series of centralized parking lots and garages in the resort area. They must be located near key entrance routes. Coupled with the lots and garages would be an inexpensive trolley system to ferry visitors to any point in the resort.
Secondly, city officials want to step up economic development on the Laskin Road area, the Dome site at 19th Street and Pacific Avenue, Rudee Loop at the south end of Atlantic Avenue and the Pavilion area.
The third phase calls for beautifying and enhancing ``gateways'' into the resort. These include Laskin Road, 21st Street, the 5th Street-Rudee Bridge area and the 19th and 17th street corridors.
Fourth, planners call for continuing the Atlantic Avenue Streetscape theme to Pacific Avenue and possibly westward into the adjoining residential-commercial areas.
``The Oceanfront resort area performs a vital role that contributes to the overall economic well-being of Virginia Beach,'' say authors of the plan. ``Over 2.5 million people visit our resort area each year. They spend over half a billion dollars . . . which, in turn, yields approximately $40 million in local tax revenues.''
{KEYWORDS} VIRGINIA BEACH DEVELOPMENT
by CNB