THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 29, 1994 TAG: 9412290616
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MIKE KNEPLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 376 lines
IT WAS A YEAR of promise and doubt. Fresh opportunities but new obstacles.
Conciliation, anger, needless tragedy and new notoriety for Norfolk. Fame and infamy.
Some long-held dreams stirred to life, like plans for a major shopping mall in the middle of downtown.
Other plans stumbled. Nauticus opened, but revenues came up short. Construction began for the downtown campus of Tidewater Community College, but Gov. George F. Allen suddenly proposed scuttling the project.
Ideas for expanding the zoo found new support. Baseball had its troubles nationally, but local interest surged. The city celebrated its history. Yet, it continued to be haunted by its past.
Perhaps that's the nature of all cities that struggle to rebuild.
As City Councilman Mason C. Andrews said near year's end: ``We get one thing nailed down and another jumps out.''
A look back at some of Norfolk's top stories in 1994:
MACARTHUR CENTER. After years of talk, Norfolk made real strides toward its decades-old dream of reestablishing downtown as a regional shopping district.
In April, city officials announced details of a $270 million shopping mall on a long-vacant 17-acre tract in the middle of downtown.
The linchpin was Nordstrom Inc., an upscale department store chain based in Seattle, Wash. Robert B. Smithwick, the city's development director, courted the company for 5 1/2 years before getting a letter of intent this spring.
Then-Mayor Mason C. Andrews hung a Hawaiian-style lei around Smithwick's neck and declared: ``At the Kentucky Derby they usually put a garland of roses around the winner's neck. I want to do the same for Bob.''
The 1.2 million-square-foot center, rivaling Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach as the region's largest, also would feature an R.H. Macy & Co. department store.
The center's third anchor department store has not yet been announced, but Smithwick expects some news by late January.
Besides restoring downtown as a shopping hub, the mall is touted as a jobs generator - 1,500 for construction and 3,000 permanent.
Ground-breaking is expected in March, with Norfolk aiming to open the mall in October 1996.
NAUTICUS. The maritime attraction that's pegged as one of last pieces of the downtown puzzle opened June 1 on the riverfront.
Since then, thousands of residents and tourists have toured the $52 million National Maritime Center to learn about the military, the shipyards and the sea.
At Virtual Adventures, a high-tech exhibit, visitors can steer through the depths to rescue Nessie's eggs. Many exhibits are hands-on, like the shark-petting area and a lesson in navigating a ship.
Officials expected 450,000 visitors in 1994. Eventually, director Michael Bartlett hopes to have 750,000 or more people passing through the turnstiles annually.
The course has been rough at times, but city officials say it's too soon to judge.
This month, the City Council agreed to lend $5.2 million to help pay bills. Norfolk will borrow the money through 20-year bonds. Nauticus is scheduled to repay most of it.
But the move will increase the project's debt to the city.
The reason for the extra costs: Nauticus made less money than expected during its short first year. Other possible factors were the late opening of highlight Virtual Adventures and rainy weather.
DEADLY FUMES. The city was stunned Dec. 12 when four family members were found dead in their rented home in Park Place, killed by carbon monoxide.
Investigators said the four died because soot and bricks clogged the chimney, preventing the escape of deadly gases from the gas-fueled heater.
The victims were a 38-year-old mother, her 41-year-old fiance, their 5-year-old son and her 15-year-old daughter.
It was not clear who was to blame.
Within days, relatives of the victims sued the landlords (a Virginia Beach couple), the city and the gas company. The lawsuits seek a total of $20 million in damages.
The gas-fueled boiler and heater had been ``red-tagged'' by Virginia Natural Gas in March 1993, and gas to the appliances was shut off. That same month, an inspector from the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority found the red tags and ordered the landlords to fix the problem, an authority spokeswoman says.
In April 1993, the authority returned to the home at 208 W. 30th St. and found the red tags removed and the problems fixed. The house passed re-inspection.
The house also passed inspection this year. In March, an inspector found some minor problems unrelated to the furnace - a broken light fixture, a broken window pane and a smoke detector missing its battery, for example. But they were fixed, and the house passed re-inspection in April.
Relatives of the victims say they had complained repeatedly to the landlords about the furnace, with no result. But the landlords say they never knew of the problem.
PUBLIC HOUSING. For years, Norfolk political and business leaders tiptoed around the question: How would existing downtown public housing mesh with the multimillion-dollar revival of the waterfront and commercial districts?
In September, the Planning Commission told the City Council it was time to put the issue on the table. The impetus was the proposed MacArthur Center shopping mall.
``We know that with these improvements, we're going to have to deal with some of the problem areas in the downtown area,'' said William L. Craig Jr., Planning Commission chairman. ``One of the things that we think will help deal with those is to improve the lot of the people who live in the downtown area.''
Commissioner Anthony Paige added: ``With the marshaling of resources . . . the right kind of creative energies and the cooperation of the community, those neighborhoods could be beautiful, attractive, safe, inviting.''
Initial response was upbeat, in City Hall, and citywide, including public housing residents.
Two weeks later, Councilman Herbert M. Collins Sr. weighed in. He expressed anger about coming within 200 feet of a drive-by shooting in Diggs Town.
``We have developed a subculture that's not acceptable,'' Collins said. ``These people are the most underemployed, the most undereducated, the most underchurched, they are the most underdisciplined people in our society.''
He also said he was concerned that public housing was not producing as many professionals, such as judges, lawyers, educators and doctors, as the neighborhoods once did.
``I don't know who is at fault, but I want to find out what's going on,'' Collins said.
He also joined Councilman W. Randy Wright in suggesting that all options be considered, including razing some public housing. Collins said he would like the replacement homes to be scattered citywide.
Tenants angrily denounced him.
Mayor Paul D. Fraim pledged to create a task force and make sure public housing improvements are included in the updated master plan for downtown development, expected to be issued next summer.
``The point is: Are we all doing all we can for the residents of public housing to break this cycle of poverty and re-introduce them into society at large?'' Fraim said. ``Breaking these cycles of poverty will probably be as important as anything we've ever done.''
The task force has yet to be appointed.
Meanwhile, President Clinton added a twist this month. He wants to shift federal funds away from public housing, instead giving the subsidies to tenants who would be able to use them on the private market. Public housing would have to compete. Cities like Norfolk are awaiting more details.
CITY JAIL. A U.S. Justice Department investigation of the City Jail that began in November 1993 concluded that the ``grossly overcrowded'' facility was a serious public-health threat where living conditions violated constitutional rights of inmates.
The report, released to Sheriff Robert McCabe in August, listed more than 50 problems that jail and city officials must correct to avoid court action by the Justice Department. Most problems have been fixed, but severe overcrowding, the root problem, remains.
The Justice Department threatened to sue McCabe and the City of Norfolk unless the jail's population is reduced to 750 inmates by October 1996. Built to house 579 prisoners, the jail contained 1,306 earlier this month, 400 of them sleeping on the floor. In July, the jail's population swelled to 1,425.
In September, prisoners revolted by setting fire to trash and linens, and throwing bodily waste on sheriff's deputies. The uprising was quelled, and no one was seriously injured, but jail officials remain concerned about future incidents.
This year, McCabe and city officials studied New York City's jail barge as an alternative for relieving crowding. Also, construction began last month on a 317-bed addition to the jail.
But that addition won't open until 1997, too late for the Justice Department deadline.
FAT PIG. Who would have thought that a Vietnamese potbellied pig from Norfolk would capture the imagination of the nation?
But that's what happened when Pinky Starlight was taken into custody and her owner charged with cruelty to animals. The essence of the charge: Pinky was too fat.
The porcine stood 18 inches but weighed more than 200 pounds - about double her ideal weight. Fat rolls from her forehead had sunk down into her eyelids, obscuring her vision. Her stomach scraped the ground when she walked.
Pinky was a real porker. Then again, she was a pig.
``How can a pig be too fat?'' TV talk-show host Jay Leno asked millions of viewers.
Pinky Starlight's case made international news. Local animal control officials received interview requests from Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and even Scotland.
Dateline NBC, radio commentator Charles Osgood and CNN also weighed in on the issue.
So did Rush Limbaugh, who saw the case as another example of government overstepping its bounds and invading the sanctity between a person and a pet.
``What I want to know,'' some caller to local radio show host Perry Stone asked, ``is what happens if a mother overfeeds her children. Will she be charged with child abuse for having chubby kids?''
Needless to say Norfolk officials were none too pleased with the pig publicity.
Three weeks after Pinky was taken away, a judge agreed to drop the cruelty charge. Pinky was returned to her owner, after Virginia Hudgins agreed to put Pinky on a court-approved diet.
COMMUNITY COLLEGE. Construction began on Tidewater Community College's campus along downtown Granby Street, once the commercial heart of the city.
But in December, Gov. George F. Allen's proposed budget threw the $18 million project into disarray.
The governor proposed cutting the $1.25 million in construction money already allocated for 1995-96 as well as the annual $1.3 million in rent payments from the state.
Angry Norfolk officials vowed to fight, noting that millions of dollars already were committed in renovation and construction contracts.
Before Allen's announcement, projections called for a 5,000-student ``academic village'' along Granby, Market and Freemason streets.
If plans get back on track, a remodeled Woolworth's building would house culinary arts, computer labs and classrooms. A renovated theater would include a large lecture hall with a teleconferencing center, computer labs and lecture halls.
The campus was scheduled to open in July 1996 with a $5 million operating budget for 100 faculty and staff.
THE ZOO. Norfolk began a major expansion and redesign of its zoo, aimed at making the facility a true regional attraction.
Using the same architect and firm that redesigned New Orleans' famous Audubon zoo, the city and non-profit Virginia Zoological Society crafted a master plan to put the animals in settings that resemble natural habitats.
Bears will scuffle around in marshy Great Dismal Swamp. Zebras will gallop on African savannahs. Tigers will pad along amid the boulders and waterfalls of an Asian jungle.
All this costs money. So, the zoological society launched a campaign to raise $15 million for the first phase of expansion.
``We have a campaign committee that is approaching local corporations, foundations and individuals,'' said Glenda Nelson, the society's development director.
Also, the City Council pledged to matching funds. Zoo advocates hope to convince the state to kick in $5 million.
But private individuals must give a lot to make the effort succeed. That's one reason the zoo is trying to emphasize its regional appeal.
EAST OCEAN VIEW. Barbara Caffee, a three-decade resident of the upper bay streets of East Ocean View, vowed to hold onto her small white house in the face of city-approved plans to raze her neighborhood.
Her home sits in the middle of a 90-acre redevelopment project, generally east of Shore Drive in East Ocean View.
Caffee's vow and city plans clashed in December when the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority brought in famous architect Andres Duany to redesign the neighborhood. The agency placed in Duany's hands the question of whether some homes might be saved.
Duany devised a design that showed walkable streets gently sidestepping existing streets. It showed a central shopping plaza within walking distance. It mixed narrow townhouses and big mansions on the same street. It was meant to be a new kind of urban neighborhood, with people of many income levels living together in a villagelike setting.
But Duany's plan did not answer the question of whether owners like Caffee could keep their homes. At first, Duany suggested guarantees to some homeowners.
Ultimately Duany and redevelopment officials only said it might, or might not, be possible to save some homes. They said they would help those whose houses were torn down stay in the new neighborhood.
INNER-CITY BASEBALL. The future of Major League Baseball may be in doubt, but the big leagues managed to increase local interest in the sport before the season-ending strike in August.
Major League Baseball gave Norfolk $30,000 this year to join a network of communities in the nationwide RBI program - Reviving Baseball in the Inner Cities.
The program seeks to reverse baseball's declining appeal among young blacks by organizing leagues for inner-city kids.
The effort seemed to pay off.
In March, the Department of Parks and Recreation put out a notice for players and volunteer coaches. It drew more than 300 youngsters and 39 adults, enough to stock 33 teams in two leagues for boys and one for girls.
Many youngsters said they started watching pro baseball on television and developing a better appreciation of the game.
On July 4, the organization held regional playoffs at Harbor Park, drawing teams from Washington, Pittsburgh and Richmond, all battling to go to the RBI World Series in Anaheim, Calif.
HISTORY BOOK. Never say ``You can't change history.'' All it takes is $292,873 and six years of research and writing.
For Norfolk, that meant a new history book, ``Norfolk: The First Four Centuries,'' published in November.
The project began several years ago when the Rev. John H. Foster, then a city councilman, complained that the official history, ``Norfolk: Historic Southern Port,'' by Thomas Jefferson Wertenbaker, ignored contributions of African Americans, women and others.
Norfolk hired three professors - Thomas C. Parramore, Peter C. Stewart and Tommy L. Bogger - for the assignment.
The result: a more inclusive history that not only features accomplishments of minorities and women but also highlights many of Norfolk's warts as well as its splendors.
The overall theme was that Norfolk has a long tradition of overcoming problems, even those of its own making.
MACARTHUR ``RETURNS.'' Thousands of spectators turned out to Ocean View Beach in October to witness a man dressed as Gen. Douglas MacArthur wade ashore and proclaim he would lead them to victory.
The event was a reenactment, part of Norfolk's 50th anniversary celebration of the World War II general's return to the Philippines. The three-day celebration included a Filipino festival and the annual MacArthur symposium.
``He was one of the greatest generals out there,'' a tearful Robert P. Rusbuldt said at the reenactment.
On Oct. 20, 1944, MacArthur made his historic return to the Philippines with the most powerful naval force assembled by that time or ever since. His speech included the famous line: ``People of the Philippines, I have returned.''
Where better, local officials figured, than Norfolk to stage the nation's largest commemoration? Norfolk is home to the MacArthur Memorial, the final resting place of the renowned leader, who died in 1964.
The event was orchestrated by Lyman Hammond, director of the downtown memorial. Hammond said he wanted to honor the general in a big way.
And he did. Several hundred turned out for the opening ceremony and more than 1,000 emotional viewers - at least a third of them Filipino - attended the Ocean View ceremony.
CALVARY REVIVAL CHURCH. This year produced the first major political firefight of the city's ward system - a dispute over whether Calvary Revival Church should be allowed to build a new chapel on 10 acres along East Little Creek Road.
They happened to be the 10 acres that contained Mick Shaw's farmers market.
The City Council approved the church's application in November 1993, by a 5-2 vote. Within two weeks the neighborhoods around the proposed location organized a petition drive, spearheaded by Councilman W. Randy Wright, to overturn the council vote.
Behind the motto ``Save the Farm Market,'' the drive quickly collected more than enough signatures to force a citywide referendum. Council members and city businessmen, however, feared that a referendum would be too divisive and began negotiating.
Church supporters maintained that racism was motivating opponents. Petition organizers said the church was simply too large for the site, would take the property off the tax rolls and would oust the farm market. Negotiations broke down.
Finally, the search for a resolution centered on finding another site for the church. In February, with a possible second site on the table, the council avoided the referendum by reversing its vote.
In the aftermath, the city paid $40,000 to the original landowners to avoid a possible lawsuit. Ironically, the church bought the land anyway, but it can't build a chapel there, and the congregation hasn't disclosed its plans. And the farm market still had to move - it re-opened recently on Military Highway.
GRAFFITI. Norfolk saw the handwriting on the wall. Make that the scribbling.
Graffiti got so bad this year that the City Council looked for new ways to get tough on the vandals.
Several measures were proposed, but owners of small businesses feared the cost of remedies as much as the vandalism.
One idea would require businesses to be responsible for graffiti cleanup or face financial penalties.
Vice Mayor Paul R. Riddick, a funeral home operator, proposed that each business pay an annual $10 fee to create a citywide fund for graffiti cleanup.
Other ideas included making parents responsible for their children's graffiti.
A major problem was that most graffiti vandals elude arrest.
Police, however, did catch two teens from Virginia Beach. The kids said Norfolk was better for graffiti because laws in Virginia Beach were too tough.
At year's end, Norfolk still hadn't enacted a new law.
The issue was assigned to Councilmen W. Randy Wright and G. Conoly Phillips. They are expected to make recommendations or at least list the options in January, said Kristen M. Lentz, assistant public works director. MEMO: Staff writers Larry W. Brown, Marc Davis, Joe Jackson, Alex Marshall,
Karen E. Quinones Miller, Stephanie Stoughton and Tony Wharton also
contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
An artist's rendering of MacArthur Center amid downtown.
Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
Councilman Herbert M. Collins' comments sparked debate.
Staff photo by MOTOYA NAKAMURA
The overcrowded City Jail remains an ongoing problem.
Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
This block of Granby Street is now what will be TCC.
Staff photo by JIM WALKER
Norfolk's zoo is slated for an elephant-sized renovation.
Staff photo by BILL KELLEY
The RBI baseball program turned out to be a big hit.
File photo
Thousands have toured Nauticus since it opened in June.
Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
The story of Pinky Starlight was told from coast to coast.
Staff photo by PAUL AIKEN
Architect Andres Duany unveiled his East Ocean View plan.
by CNB