
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994                    TAG: 9406280137 
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS                     PAGE: 06    EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: MIKE KNEPLER 
DATELINE: 940630                                 LENGTH: Medium

AWARD RECOGNIZES LINDSAY'S LEADERSHIP

{LEAD} Most people know the name Harvey Lindsay from real estate signs around Hampton Roads.

Some also associate the name with development of the Waterside and Dominion Tower landmarks.

{REST} But others recognize that Harvey L. Lindsay Jr. means more to Norfolk than the downtown skyline he helped create.

That's why the Downtown Norfolk Council honored Lindsay last week as Downtowner of the Year.

``What may not be so apparent. . . is the impact that Harvey Lindsay has had on the social fabric of our city,'' Chris Cook said for the downtown council.

Lindsay helped create the Urban League of Hampton Roads. Yet, his involvement goes beyond lending his name to advisory boards.

In the 1950s, Lindsay spoke out for integrated public schools and against Massive Resistance.

He's raised money for the inner-city Southside Boys & Girls Club.

Last year, he labored for compromise when the Calvary Revival Church zoning dispute began turning into an ugly racial controversy.

Lindsay has been honored many times. The Downtowner award won't be his last. He doesn't walk away from community needs.

Sure, Lindsay comes from a long-established family and had opportunities not readily available to most Norfolk residents. His father founded the real-estate company; uncle Colgate Darden was a Virginia governor, and uncle Pretlow Darden was a Norfolk mayor.

But Lindsay's life has lessons for civic leadership. Cook said:

``We read in history books the stories of great men who accomplished great deeds, and we think, `Wow, these people must be so different from everybody else around them.'. . . Harvey Lindsay shows us that greatness is attained not by having it thrust upon us but rather through diligence, tenacity, and steadfast commitment to a cause.''

Lindsay's still at it. He's on a steering committee that oversees Norfolk's bid for a federal empowerment zone. The application could win a $100 million grant to fight inner-city social ills.

Members include business, government and inner-city leaders.

After receiving his Downtowner award, Lindsay said: ``There's a need to bring in everybody, people from all walks of life, particularly people who live in those distressed neighborhoods, to hear them talk and to work with them.''

Making leaders. Harvey Lindsay's award and the work of the empowerment zone committee illustrate the importance of citizen leadership.

But Norfolk has a problem. Too often, leaders are culled from the ranks of blue-blooded families or top corporations, but arise haphazardly from the grassroots, only after much struggle.

That's strange in a city that prides itself on community partnerships. Norfolk does little to cultivate fresh leadership.

Ironic. The empowerment zone application proposes a bevy of nonprofit community development corporations to carry housing and social programs to inner-city neighborhoods. How will these organizations spring into being?

Even if Norfolk does not get an empowerment zone and the $100 million pot of gold, it's time to create a leadership institute that is accessible to the entire community.