THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 11, 1994 TAG: 9412090327
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY GARY NEWSOME, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
Local officials say that the impact of losing Fort Story would be felt in a number of ways throughout Virginia Beach.
Army officials said the annual payroll for all personnel at Fort Story is about $111 million and another $5.8 million is spent on contracts, mostly for services.
That represents less than three percent of the total earnings in Virginia Beach, according to the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, which reported that total earnings in Virginia Beach passed $4.1 billion in 1992.
``We can't afford to lose any base in Virginia Beach,'' said Bob Matthias, assistant to the city manager for intergovernmental affairs. ``But if we had to lose Fort Story it would probably be least painful of all.'' However, Matthias said some of the effects of closure would be lower rents, wages, tax revenue and jobs.
John W. Whaley, director of economic services for the planning district commission, said each soldier the Army stations in Hampton Roads creates another 1.6 jobs in the local economy. An Army civilian employee creates two private-sector jobs.
Those jobs would not disappear overnight, he said, because closing Fort Story would take several years and the creation of new jobs would help balance the impact. Whaley also said the Hampton Roads economy responds faster to increased defense spending than to reductions.
``After the Vietnam War, the city lost 40,000 jobs but created 80,000,'' said Matthias. ``But I don't think our local economy is as robust as it was then.''
Losing the base would also hurt the city's school system because federal payments to ease the impact of teaching military dependents would disappear.
Mordecai L. Smith, the school system's director of budget development and interim chief financial officer, said it would take a year to make up the lost funds, between $800,000 and $1 million. The result, he explained, could be a decline in services systemwide and higher property taxes of one-quarter to one-half a cent.
Matthias said it is impossible to forecast any changes to tax rates for the city overall if Fort Story closed.
Other services provided to the city by the base have no measurable price tag.
Fort Story's troops provide local emergency services with specialized training, such as land navigation and shipboard firefighting. The base fire department has a mutual assistance agreement with the city's firefighters. And the base provides land for the Shamrock Marathon, the bike segment of the Sandman Triathalon and local Scouting activities.
``They've been a good citizen and always contributed to the welfare of Virginia Beach,'' said City Councilman W.W. ``Bill'' Harrison Jr. MEMO: [For a related story, see page 18 of The Beacon for this date.]
ILLUSTRATION: FORT STORY HISTORY
1914: The General Assembly donates land to the federal government
to build a fort at Cape Henry. The base was named for Gen. John
Patton Story, a famous coast artilleryman.
World War I: Fort Story's 16-inch guns are part of the Coast
Defenses of the Chesapeake Bay.
1925: Fort Story is named a Harbor Defense Command.
1941: Headquarters of the Army's Harbor Defense Command are moved
from Fort Monroe to Fort Story.
1943: The federal government condemns adjacent 727 acres of
Seashore State Park and purchases it for $131,350.
1944: A military hospital opens at the base that handles more
than 13,470 patients before its closure in 1946.
1946: The fort's mission changes from coast artillery to
amphibious training following lessons learned in World War II.
1961: Fort Story is declared a permanent installation.
1962: Fort Story is redesignated a Class I sub-installation of
Fort Eustis.
Today: The 1,451-acre base is the Army's only facility for
training in amphibious operations and joint
logistics-over-the-shore. It also hosts the testing and evaluation
of new equipment, concepts and doctrine.
KEYWORDS: HISTORY FORT STORY BRAC MILITARY BASES CLOSURE by CNB