THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 13, 1995 TAG: 9501130511
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
City Manager James B. Oliver has appointed Samuel B. Rogers, the city's marketing director, the interim director of Nauticus.
Rogers replaces Michael L. Bartlett, who resigned Tuesday as director of the battleship-shaped attraction on the Elizabeth River.
The appointment is evidence that the city is swiftly distancing the project from Bartlett's direct leadership. On Wednesday, officials said Bartlett would stay on the project through May. But Oliver said Thursday that Bartlett would be used only as a consultant, although he would be on salary through May.
William H. Luther, who is in charge of Scope, Harbor Park and other city facilities, will help Rogers lead Nauticus, Oliver said.
Bartlett's resignation came just weeks after the City Council agreed to a package of $5.2 million in loans plus tax credits to put the attraction on sounder financial footing. Bartlett, hired 2 1/2 years ago, helped develop exhibits and the overall character of the project, a combination museum and theme park.
On Thursday, Oliver confirmed that Bartlett had differed with a majority on the National Maritime Center Authority - the council-appointed board that oversees Nauticus - over the proper course for the attraction's future. Bartlett has favored expanding or adding exhibits to make Nauticus more successful, Oliver said.
But a majority on the board believed the project should operate for a full year before any move to change its character substantially or spend a large amount of money on new exhibits.
The city has no plans to keep Rogers with Nauticus after a permanent director is selected, Oliver said.
Oliver said he had confidence in Rogers, who has experience in tourism and marketing, and as a manager. He said he appointed Rogers after the executive committee of the National Maritime Center Authority asked him to name an interim director.
Rogers was hired in June as marketing director. He led the Virginia Waterfront campaign that sold tourists on the idea of visiting Williamsburg, Norfolk and Virginia Beach. Before coming to the city, he worked in Philadelphia as an executive with Elkman Advertising and Public Relations. Before that, he worked with Philadelphia's Convention and Visitor Bureau.
Rogers will have the task of guiding Nauticus through the next two to three months before it opens for its first full season. Nauticus will open in either March or April, officials said.
``He will make some of the more immediate decisions that need to be made in the next few months,'' Oliver said.
Nauticus has not performed as well as city officials hoped. Last year, which was not a full season, 435,000 people visited the attraction - a little more than half the number needed in a full season for the project to break even. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Marketing director Samuel B. Rogers replaces Michael L. Bartlett,
who resigned on Tuesday.
by CNB