THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 27, 1994 TAG: 9409270303
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: MARC TIBBS
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
The City Council votes tonight on whether the design of the proposed MacArthur Center, the next jewel in Norfolk's downtown crown, is ``appropriate'' for the rest of the downtown motif.
It's a vote they could easily bypass as long as Tidewater Gardens and other low-income housing communities still surround the city's epicenter. They're a mile or two but a world apart from the condos on the gentrified waterfront.
High unemployment is a common thread that runs through the 660-plus units at Tidewater Gardens. Residents say ``the Gardens'' is mostly a peaceful place during daylight hours. Children play outside, their parents walk to the shops in the nearby Downtown Plaza.
But sunset brings the annoyance and dangers of drug trafficking: booming car stereos, strangers cruising the streets and gunshots that punctuate the night.
Norfolk's Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the City Council are promising that the proposed MacArthur Center mall will help break the cycle of helplessness.
City officials hope to bring 3,000 jobs to the area, not to mention the 1,500 during construction. Fifty-one percent of the jobs will be made available to low-and moderate-income residents, planners say. The operative phrase is ``made available.''
It's a song many say they've heard before.
Bertha Reynolds has lived in Tidewater Gardens more than 20 years. For most of that time she's served as president of the tenant council.
``How is the mall going to help improve public housing?'' she said. ``I'd like to see the drugs out of our community. What are they doing about that?
``We have fences out here, and it looks like we're in prison. They're supposed to keep people out, but they keep people in.''
As to the promise of jobs and prosperity, Reynolds says she'll believe it when she sees it.
To build the $270 million center, officials are relying on loan guarantees from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Nordstrom, one of the three anchors for the mall, will benefit from $33 million in public money in exchange for making the jobs available.
Reynolds and her son, Carey, 38, say they're still waiting for jobs promised during construction of Dominion Tower, the Marriott Hotel, Harbor Park and even the Berkley Bridge.
``I've had different job postings in my (tenant council) office, but I've not seen a list showing me that these people have been hired. . . . How do we know how many people have come down to apply?''
That's the catch. Jobs are made available but not guaranteed.
``It's up to Nordstrom to decide whether or not they're hired,'' Stephen Cooper, assistant director for development at the housing authority, said. ``It's not a quota thing.''
At best, the city has a public relations disaster on its hands. While officials have been meeting with retail bigwigs, little attention, if any, has been given to public housing residents, on whose backs the plan will be funded.
``This is going to be a win-win situation,'' Cooper said. ``I think the reception is very positive.''
He obviously hasn't heard from Bertha Reynolds.
``The downtown mall may be good, but we still have a crisis on our hands,'' she said. ``Why not build some homes for people to live in?
``I don't know sometimes,'' she said with a sigh. ``Sometimes I think the city runs housing, and sometimes I think housing runs the city.'' by CNB