THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 9, 1994 TAG: 9412080201
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
What's bigger than a fire hydrant but smaller than the Colossus of Rhodes? The statue of an ice cream cone proposed for the Oceanfront's new 17th Street park cum Dairy Queen.
City Council approved this week a partnership between the city and the landowners to redevelop the site where the Sea Escape, a k a the Pepto Bismol Hotel, now stands. Putting this project together took some fast work, and intense work, by city staff, City Council and the property owners. How high the cone was the least of the project's woes, but instructive nevertheless on something successful private-public partnerships require: a cooperative, can-do attitude on both sides.
At different points in the process, the ice-cream cone varied from fire-hydrant height to eight or 10 times that. A tasteful, 16-foot statue of an ice-cream cone being a contradiction in terms, the statue is currently to stand at something less than eight feet. It will be surrounded (at Mayor Oberndorf's suggestion) by statues of children spaced for maximum family photo ops. For maximum goodwill, they will be (at Councilwoman Strayhorn's suggestion) of diverse ethnicities. For maximum aesthetic achievement, the property owners might consider inviting local sculptors' ideas.
The 17th Street project as a whole highlights a couple of other essentials in public-private partnerships: First, the right ratio of private to public investment; that is, a lot more private money (in this case, about $1 million) than public ($130,000). Second, a win/ win situation; that is, public and private both get something each needs from it. This project, says City Manager Jim Spore, keeps a private property productive, could spur further improvements in a corridor that needs it, adds family entertainment to a resort seeking family visits and, not least, provides the public both restrooms and a view of the ocean, which bunker-like bathrooms now spoil.
Councilman Moss lamented an expedited process that limited public input, and he has a point. But the public, most of which works in the private sector, is probably glad to learn that city procedures can be expedited. Councilman Dean opposed the expenditure of public funds on a private parcel which, being oceanfront, should never have been built on anyway. But voluntary, cooperative change that improves the Oceanfront skyline - change such as the Sea Escape owners offered and the city labored to accept - sure beats a hurricane. by CNB