THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 9, 1994 TAG: 9410090067
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHANIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 214 lines
You still can't define it - the gray, hulking waterfront attraction that at first glance could be anything from a submarine shelter to an architectural interpretation of a beached whale.
After its debut tourist season, many people were still asking a question that was first asked more than two years ago: What is Nauticus?
At year's end, the high-tech attraction may face more questions. The reason is that some city officials want to ensure Norfolk's investment in the $52 million facility remains a good one, and that taxpayers don't have to pick up the tab.
``The City Council probably hasn't looked at it very closely, probably not closely enough,'' Councilman Randy Wright said earlier this month.
There are no guarantees that Nauticus will be able to make each debt payment - every February and August - on its $33 million in city-backed bonds, director Michael Bartlett said. But he added that over the long haul, there's ``no doubt that Nauticus can pay.''
In the first seven months of the year, Nauticus lost $3.2 million. Although that figure includes revenue from only the first two months of operation, the attraction still needs to close a $2.3 million budget gap by the year's end to meet its projections.
Most of the losses already were projected in the budget. There were hefty start-up costs and a big debt payment due last February, months before the attraction opened to the public.
``Operationally, it's paying for itself,'' Bartlett said. ``It's a little misleading to say we're losing $2.3 million.''
As for its debt, the National Maritime Center Authority so far has made five payments totaling $2.7 million.
Some have been small, beginning with $751 in August 1992. But they get much larger, climbing to an estimated $2.4 million next February. The highest payments come in the first several years as Nauticus pays off both interest and principal. It's not clear when the numbers begin to decline because only estimated payments up to August 1995 were available.
The authority's $6 million in funds, raised mostly from private donations, would cover the payments until then, and there are plans for another fund-raiser to raise $4 million or more.
But the original plan calls for ticket proceeds and other sales at the facility to pay for everything.
``How much we pay and don't pay depends on our results,'' Bartlett said.
Nauticus' results, though preliminary, haven't been what officials had hoped for. By the numbers, its June 1 debut went off with more of a muted bang than an explosion. For almost the entire month, afternoon skies turned gray and dumped buckets of rain on Hampton Roads.
In addition, while Nauticus attracted visitors from across the nation, many locals snubbed it. About 65 percent of visitors over the summer were out-of-towners, according to a survey by Bonney & Company of Virginia Beach.
While most visitors rated their experience ``worthwhile,'' according to the study, locals were more likely to complain that the $10 ticket price was too expensive.
By mid-September, after 3 1/2 months of operation, Nauticus had brought in 347,000 visitors. Its eventual goal will be between 700,000 and 750,000 a year, Bartlett said.
Boosting attendance means Nauticus will have to keep its doors open longer this autumn. Instead of remaining open three days a week this fall, it will be open Thursday though Sunday. It will re-open seven days a week from Dec. 22 to Dec. 31, and then close January and February to set up new exhibits.
During the summer, Nauticus officials cut staff. Some employees were laid off, new ones were hired. Others resigned in frustration.
``I think Nauticus is a good investment in the city, and the city as a whole and the community should have backed it better,'' said Randy Hinderer, the former operations manager who has moved to Ohio.
Hinderer said when he resigned he was unhappy at his job. He would not elaborate except to say, ``There was a lot going on.''
But he mostly blamed publicity over delays in opening the promoted Virtual Adventures, the interactive game where you climb into a fake submarine and try to rescue a sea monster's eggs, for keeping locals away.
``It's because of you guys (the media),'' he said. ``From the very inception, you picked up the negative.''
Former employees said the late opening of Virtual Adventures upset tourists who viewed it as the highlight of Nauticus.
``That was a big disaster,'' said Donna Wentworth, who said she resigned just seconds before she was to be laid off from her job as a secretary. ``They thought it would open, and when it didn't, they advertised another date, and it didn't open again.
``I got complaints every day. That was my job.''
Bartlett, the head of Nauticus, said tourists who griped got refunds. Also, he said administrators didn't make any big reductions in the work force. As they began to understand the business, he said, they made changes in staff.
``Some functions were eliminated,'' he said. ``We found we needed more people in marketing, more in electronics. We needed fewer people in cash control.''
Nauticus relies heavily on the high-tech, interactive experience, allowing visitors to learn about ships, jets, docks and sea life through computers and equipment they pull, push, press and steer.
That's the main reason Virtual Adventures' opening was delayed until August. Workers were trying to fix computer glitches in the sophisticated, interactive game.
Administrators also underestimated what children can do. After the first crowds of school children filed out of Nauticus, workers began making repairs to exhibits that were too fragile to hold up under the pressure of thousands of touches.
Electronic pens that activate computers didn't work and were replaced with more durable equipment. Springs in the periscope handles were too flimsy.
``Our first objective was to fix things that didn't work,'' Bartlett said. ``That has been a real chore.''
The repairs, which have been mostly completed, haven't cost Nauticus because they are covered by warranties, he said. Most of the exhibits are covered for a year to 18 months.
While the exhibits have been ``child-proofed,'' Bartlett is still looking for ways to improve Nauticus displays and add, over the next few years, to what has been successful. These are a few of his ideas:
Expand the shark-petting area. The small sharks get worn out from ``over-petting,'' so lines often form when they're taking a break from visitors' touches. Bartlett is considering adding a tank and several sharks.
Add more exotic fish.
Strengthen the popular interactive exhibits and adding extra ones.
Introduce new software for Virtual Adventures, possibly with aliens instead of sea monsters. The theme might be from the movie ``Alien.''
Improve Aegis Theater, the interactive presentation on modern warfare. ``I'd give it a seven on a scale of one to 10,'' Bartlett said. ``Interactively, it didn't succeed as much as I would have liked.''
Replace the flight simulator with another one, possibly an F-18 simulator. ``It didn't live up to expectation,'' he said. ``You can buy a simulator for a PC at the video store. Our job is to be beyond that - to provide what can't be obtained readily.''
What to make of Nauticus' early struggles?
It's too soon to rate the city's fledgling attraction, city officials say. And early support, they add, is crucial.
Because the city's investment already has been made, even those who have criticized the project say it must be heavily backed to be a success.
``I've been very candid, and I never was a proponent,'' Councilman Wright said. ``But I'm 100 percent committed to its well-being.
``It's kind of like undergoing an operation,'' he said. ``You don't want to have it. But once they're inside you, you're 100 percent on their side.''
Officials from Nauticus and the city point out that the maritime center is geographically well-positioned for the future, given the opening of Tidewater Community College, which will bring students downtown, and the planned MacArthur Center shopping mall, which will attract shoppers.
Already, Nauticus has stimulated the local economy. Restaurants, hotels and local retailers have benefited from the extra tourist traffic. And the dollars those people spend in turn bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes to the city.
``The Waterside numbers are up 20 percent,'' Mayor Paul D. Fraim said. ``The Marriott - you can't get a room over there.''
Also, if Nauticus can draw visitors to Hampton Roads, other cities and their attractions may benefit. Many out-of-towners who came to Nauticus over the summer also visited Colonial Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, the naval base and other spots, the Bonney & Company survey showed.
That makes promotions with the two Williamsburg attractions desirable, Bartlett said. ``They would do the most for us.''
As the colder months set in, however, Nauticus is trying to lure locals with special discounts. Residents can buy a ticket for the regular admission price and get a pass good for one year. It entitles them to free admission when they bring in friends or half price when they visit alone. To sweeten the deal, Nauticus has offered discounts in the gift shop and restaurant.
Other promotions include an educational comic book featuring the hero Captain Nauticus, which has been distributed to thousands of children in Hampton Roads.
However, no one is counting on the comic-book hero to ultimately bring crowds to Nauticus. They're looking to Michael Bartlett and his vision, a vision that came with a big pricetag: $150,000 in salary and $50,000 in benefits. Bartlett has a five-year contract with three years remaining. But the authority that hired him had confidence in him at the outset - and still does.
``I think he's a professional and he knows the business,'' said board member Joseph Leafe, a former mayor of Norfolk. ``I think he, when he was hired, was recognized as someone who's well thought of and has experience in the business.''
Of the public scrutiny and politics associated with opening a new, multimillion-dollar attraction - Bartlett is well aware of them. After all, he helped build Expo '86, the world's fair in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the Universal Studios Florida theme park. He was fired from the first and left MCA/Universal Studios after a dispute with top management.
But this is the first time he has rented in the community where he's worked instead of purchased a home, perhaps an indication that he's not here to stay.
``My goal is to do the project here to the point where it's a healthy, thriving business,'' he said. ``I don't know where I'll be five years from now. . . . I don't like being bored. I like excitement all the time.''
So far, Bartlett says he feels like Nauticus has been 50 percent successful. ``But that's 100 percent more than anyone else has done.''
Privately, some city officials and Nauticus employees say Bartlett was hired too late - after plans for Nauticus were already in the works. Many of the static exhibits left over from the ``old regime,'' they say, are the ones that aren't successful. Bartlett, they add, wants more of a theme-park atmosphere.
Another problem is that selling Nauticus may be difficult because it's so hard to describe.
``I was concerned about that,'' said Bill Lindley, former director of the Norfolk Convention and Visitors Bureau.
So what is this Nauticus?
``It's not a museum,'' said Haig H. Pakradooni, director of finance and administration, seemingly shocked at a reporter's error.
An aquarium?
No.
The answer is that there is no one word to describe the attraction by Norfolk's waterfront.
``Our biggest single problem is there is nothing like Nauticus out there,'' Bartlett said.
Indeed, some summer tourists didn't know what they were getting.
``I thought there would be more aquarium stuff like at Sea World,'' said Debbie Morris of Ahoskie, N.C., who visited in August with her son and husband. ``I was kind of expecting that.''
``I think it was great. It was amazing,'' said Louis Saunders of Charlottesville. ``It's hard to explain.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
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NORFOLK'S TROUBLED NAUTICUS
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