THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410140265
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 13 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
LENGTH: Long : 245 lines
Gertrude Raynard had yet to hear the news. When told there'd be no race track for Portsmouth, she put both hands up to her cheeks in relief.
``Oh good,'' she said. ``I've lived here 42 years today. This is my roots.''
Raynard and her husband raised eight children in the two-bedroom house on Normandy Street in Fairwood Homes.
But she had not worried about the race track, she insisted, standing in her yard, an American flag flapping in the breeze.
``If they put it here, they put it here,'' she said. ``I can't fight City Hall. You can't fight City Hall at all.
``If I could, I'd get out there and box them,'' she said raising her fist in a playful gesture. ``Because I don't want no race track here.''
- Janie Bryant
Robert C. ``Bobby'' Brooks, owner of The Lobscouser Restaurant on High Street, was not upset that Portsmouth had been passed over in favor of New Kent County.
``It doesn't bother me - if we have other things going on,'' he said. ``I just hope they didn't put all our eggs in one basket.''
Brooks, one of the pioneers in the resurgence of downtown, said the money set aside for the race track could be spent better in other ways.
``I dreamed we would put a trolley all the way out High Street from the water out to Midtown,'' he said. ``I think that would attract people and attract businesses.''
Brooks emphasized the need to get on with other projects now that the race track decision is made.
``I hope they have something else going,'' he said.
- Ida Kay Jordan
Willie Davis pulled no punches when asked his reaction to Portsmouth not receiving the state's first license for a horse track.
``Not getting the track is a big blow to Portsmouth. It seems like the city is always getting the short end of the stick,'' said Davis, a Mount Hermon resident and a part-time employee at the Food Lion in the Churchland Shopping Center.
``I think with a little more pushing from City Hall, Portsmouth would have been chosen. I'm greatly disturbed with the direction Portsmouth is going in . instructor at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard's Apprentice School.
``There's a lot of dead areas in this city, and this would have really helped Portsmouth economically. The track would have provided jobs for people. Maybe it would have even helped some people get off welfare,'' Davis observed.
``It would have really benefited the people living in Fairwood Homes. They'd have gotten better housing. Now what are they going to get?'' Davis, a Mount Hermon resident, wondered.
``I really wanted Portsmouth to get the track. We've missed a big opportunity to turn this city around.''
- Judy Parker
Eva Gavin, who has lived in Fairwood Homes for 18 years, already had heard the news from her son.
``I think it's wonderful,'' she said.
The 88-year-old's Normandy Street home was immaculate - pink ruffles around kitchen shelves and chairs, her walls filled with dozens of collector plates.
She stepped out onto her porch. It was the same aging white-shingled and black-shuttered house as the others found in the low-income neighborhood. But where so many looked bare and bleak, Gavin's years of tree-planting and gardening made her corner home look like a trim little dollhouse.
``I like it here all right,'' she said. ``I'd like it if it was in a different neighborhood.
``It's not,'' she added simply.
Gavin said she didn't worry about what was going to happen.
``I'm not a worrier. I say if this place is sold, I'll find someplace else.''
But, she added, ``I was glad.''
``I think the city's better off, in a sense of speaking, without it,'' she said. ``I don't believe in gambling. Not that I'm an angel, but I don't believe in gambling.''
Gavin believes sooner or later that something will come along to replace the race track and she will have to move.
But meanwhile, she said, ``I'm going to keep right on raising my flowers.''
- Janie Bryant
Dorothy Walden answered the door, the phone to her ear as a friend told her the news.
``I have been here for 42 years and I really don't know where I would go,'' said Walden, who lives on Fairwood Homes' Quantico Street.
The same friend told Walden that even without the race track at some point her home would give way to some type of development.
But for Walden, a reprieve from the moving might be all she needs. She knows eventually she will have to move from a neighborhood that has gone down around her.
She has been knocked down and robbed at gunpoint in front of her home. Her house has been broken into twice. Her van was stolen once and another time it was hit outside her home by a man trying to get away from police.
``I just wish it were somewhere I could spend the rest of my life,'' she said. ``My memories are here.''
- Janie Bryant
A historic theme park, similar to Six Flags Over Georgia, would be the choice use for the proposed race track site, Louise ``Sis'' Walden said.
Walden, owner of Olde Towne Flower Market on High Street, said the city should go after Disney or some other developer interested in historic theme parks.
``It would be the logical thing in this region,'' she said.
Walden thinks the loss of the race track should not be a negative.
``This is no time to be saying `woe is me,' no time to be upset,'' she said. ``The whole community worked together so well on this project that it could give us a jump start on something else, a tool for motivation.''
The effects of the loss of the race track ``should not be taken lightly,'' she said, even by those who are not unhappy about it.
``This city put a lot of energy into the proposal and many people are going to be hurt and upset because we didn't win,'' she said. ``But I think we can go for something else with the same energy and same money.''
- Ida Kay Jordan
Denise Washington, sitting on a sheltered TRT bench at the edge of the Churchland Shopping Center, was waiting for a bus to take her back to her Mount Hermon home when she learned Portsmouth's track application had been denied.
``What? Portsmouth didn't get the track? I can't believe it.
``I think the mayor and Mr. Orton fought hard for the track, and we deserved it,'' Washington said, her voice rising.
``I was sure we'd get it because Virginia Beach doesn't have any water, and those other places are in the middle of nowhere.''
Washington also voiced what was becoming a consistent litany concerning the future of Fairwood Homes.
``Now, I'm not criticizing the people who live in Fairwood Homes, but there's high crime there, and the houses are very dangerous. There's always a fire out there,'' Washington said.
``I am very hurt we didn't get it, because I think it's a slap in the face of the people of Portsmouth who are trying hard to make this a better place to live.
``If we'd gotten the track, I'd have been right there.
``But, if you ask me if I'll go to New Kent? The answer's no!
- Judy Parker
George Habit, a Portsmouth resident who works at Crockin Furnture Store downtown said the race track would not have been a big boon to the city.
``Race cars would have gone over better here,'' he said.
But Habit, who has worked here for 30 years, said the city should be concentrating on bringing some retail businesses back to the city.
``They need to get somebody in Economic Development who knows something about retail to get some stores here,'' Habit said. ``They need the retail for a steady tax base.''
Most people who live here would prefer to shop in Portsmouth rather than driving to Chesapeake and other area cities, Habit said.
``But all the stores have moved out and there's no place to shop,'' he said. ``That's what they need to work on.''
- Ida Kay Jordan
Betty Ingwall, who lives in Siesta Gardens, raised a question in the wake of the race track decision.
``Tell me, was it a political decision, or was the site chosen really the best choice? I'm very curious about that,'' the retired General Electric secretary said.
``Portsmouth needs more recreational places for people to go. As it is now, whether it's shopping or entertainment, you have to leave Portsmouth and go to one of the other cities that surround it. I don't see that situation changing anytime soon. But I think the track would have helped.''
- Judy Parker
Wanda Irby, a nursing assistant, was bringing groceries into her house on Gygax Street in Fairwood Homes.
She stepped over her granddaughter's toys and sat down.
``I just put it in God's hands,'' she said. ``I was praying that they didn't (get it).''
Irby didn't think the race track actually would take her unit, but did not want it nearby.
She began making plans to move to Churchland Square apartments, but now plans to stay.
Irby doesn't think Portsmouth needs a race track.
``They need more factories, like sewing factories,'' she said. ``They need to develop some type of jobs for the people.''
- Janie Bryant
I don't think it's bad,'' said Maury Cooke, a businessman and developer. ``I was not a proponent of the race track although I found myself cheering it along because of the incredible energy put into the project.''
Cooke said he anticipates the city will move to deal with aging housing in the area proposed for the track.
``Look what can come out of this for housing,'' he said. ``That would be good fallout from this. But the biggest thing is the way this has brought the city together.''
- Ida Kay Jordan
Joe Belamarich, a retired General Electric engineer and Churchland resident, was an early opponent of the track, but not because of concerns over increased crime.
``I was never in favor of the track. Anywhere gambling's been introduced into a community, the community hasn't been helped.
``Look at Atlantic City. All those beautiful casinos sitting in the middle of slums.
``Just where does all the extra money go? I don't think much of it finds its way back into the community.''
Belamarich also voiced disapproval over plans to tear down Fairwood Homes.
``They said that the people who would have been displaced would have gotten help from the city in finding new places to live.
``I never believed that. I don't trust what (City Hall) says.''
- Judy Parker
Pat Kersner stood in the freezer aisle of the Be-Lo near Fairwood Homes.
Asked how she felt about the race track going to New Kent County, she had three words:
``I don't care.''
Australia Joseph, a shopper, expressed a similar view.
``It don't make too much difference to me,'' said Joseph of nearby Cavalier Manor.
``A lot of folks were watching, but I'm not interested.''
- Janie Bryant
City Manager V. Wayne Orton appeared cool moments after the announcement was made.
``I'm disappointed and surprised,'' he said. ``But we do have alternative plans for the site.''
As he left the building where the announcement was made, Orton turned to his deputy city manager, asked for a cigarette and then immediately lit up. It was the one thing that belied his calm - Orton had quit smoking about two years ago.
- Toni Whitt ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by MARK MITCHELL
Gertrude Raynard and her husband raised eight children in Fairwood
Homes.
Eva Gavin has lived in Fairwood Homes for 18 years. She did not want
to lose her immaculate home to make way for a race track.
Dorothy Walden has lived in Fairwood Homes for 42 years, watching
the community go downhill. Nevertheless, ``My memories are here,''
she said.
Wanda Irby, a nursing assistant, says the city needs more factories,
not a horse track.
``A lot of folks were watching, but I'm not interested,'' said
Australia Joseph, a Cavalier Manor resident.
KEYWORDS: HORSE RACING RACE TRACK
by CNB