THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 1, 1994 TAG: 9408300157
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
The MacArthur Center downtown shopping mall could open as early as October 1996 instead of spring of 1997.
Also, preliminary plans for the 17-acre enclosed mall call for several full-scale restaurants, at least a dozen movie theaters and an array of security features in its parking garages.
The mall, announced last spring, will be built in an area of gravel parking lots generally north of the MacArthur Memorial. It will feature the upscale Nordstrom and R.H. Macy & Co. department stores as two of the three anchors.
While details of the $270 million, 1.2 million-square-foot shopping center are far from complete, a team of public and private officials are preparing the basic concepts.
The officials hope the mall can open in October 1996, in time for the Christmas shopping season.
If that proves infeasible, construction would return to its original track for a spring 1997 opening.
``We're pushing to open in October 1996. We're going to do everything possible,'' said Dennis Richardson, director of design and engineering for the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority. ``If we don't make it, then it's back to the spring of 1997.''
The schedule now includes the city capping underground utilities this fall, a spring 1995 construction start for the mall and public infrastructure work beginning in fall of 1995, Richardson said.
Some ideas being worked on by the development team include:
The mall as well as its Nordstrom and Macy's anchors will be three stories high, but the third department store - still unidentified - probably will have only two floors.
The southern half of the Freemason Street Garage on Monticello Avenue will be demolished to allow for restoration of Freemason Street as a through street.
Several restaurants, possibly three to six, will be on the ground floor of the mall's northern edge, along restored and landscaped Freemason Street. Some of these eateries will face the historic Moses Myers House. They would be situated to accommodate patrons of events at nearby Scope and Chrysler Hall.
The third floor of the mall's northwest corner, at Monticello Avenue and restored Freemason Street, would house a food court and 12 to 17 movie theaters.
There could be an overhead pedestrian bridge connecting the mall to the remaining portion of Freemason Street Garage. This would allow night-time access to the food court and movie theaters after the rest of the mall is closed.
The remaining section of Freemason Street Garage will be renovated.
The development team also is looking to make shoppers feel safe when parking in the mall's two main garages near the Nordstrom and Macy's stores.
``Part of the magical trick of getting people here and keeping them happy while they're here and keeping them coming back is going to be exactly how they get in and out of these garages quickly (and) safely,'' Richardson said.
Some proposals by Alexius Conroy, the mall's principal developer, Richardson said, include:
Building the main garages with 12 to 18 inches more floor-to-ceiling height per floor than in most parking garages.
Painting the interior walls of the garages in a light color instead of leaving them in gray concrete.
Arranging interior lighting to minimize shadows.
Having roving security vehicles patrol the garages and be equipped to repair minor breakdowns of customer cars.
Providing valet parking and package-carrying services for Nordstrom and Macy's customers.
The Planning Commission will vote on the mall's zoning conformance on Sept. 22, with a City Council vote scheduled for Sept. 27.
The Design Review Committee and planning commission will consider some of the mall's aesthetic features at subsequent meetings. by CNB