THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 22, 1995 TAG: 9501200019
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
Construction of the long-delayed downtown-Norfolk campus of Tidewater Community College can proceed as scheduled now that Governor Allen has agreed to withdraw a proposed budget amendment that would have killed the project.
The governor's reversal of position is a relief for all who see TCC-Norfolk as a boon to Norfolk and Hampton Roads, as it is already proving to be in its embryonic stage. But it is not a complete reversal: Mr. Allen looks to the private sector to come up with $1.25 million for design and engineering work needed to get TCC-Norfolk off the ground. He approved that sum last spring, when he signed the state budget.
The governor did the right thing when he promised withdrawal of his proposed amendment to cancel the lease-back arrangement that calls for Norfolk to build the TCC-Norfolk campus. The project was too far along to be axed. Buildings had been demolished or gutted. The private sector had pledged $1 million for the campus. Norfolk was on its way to the bond market. If Virginia had killed the campus, it would have reneged on a bargain signed, sealed and delivered. That would have been a breach of good faith as well as contract.
Norfolk's next step is to sell $15 million in bonds. These will be guaranteed by the state's commitment to lease the projected TCC-Norfolk facilities for 20 years for a sum ``not to exceed $1.3 million annually.''
For now, TCC-Norfolk is emerging in rented spaces. Some 850 students are enrolled in classes. Sixty-eight percent are female (compared with 57 percent at TCC's Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Virginia Beach campuses); 49 percent are minority (compared with 28 percent at the other campuses).
TCC-Norfolk's job-training programs for low- and moderate-income people were a persuasive element of Norfolk's winning application for a $33 million U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development loan for MacArthur Center (to build the Nordstrom department-store component). The link that TCC-Norfolk will provide between inner-city residents and jobs at the $270 million regional shopping mall and elsewhere is a reason for the city's gaining a $3 million federal enterprise-zone grant last month (the only city in Virginia to get one).
The governor says the meritorious case made for TCC-Norfolk by city officials and the campus' private-sector supporters explain his turnabout. The Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, Greater Norfolk Corp. and Norfolk Southern Corp. are among TCC-Norfolk's most influential champions; they appreciate the important contribution the campus can make to economic growth in the region.
Old Dominion University and Norfolk State University and the Virginia Community College System endorsed the campus because of the void it will fill by preparing current and future generations for the workplace.
But Mr. Allen asks the private sectors to come up with funds already promised by the state. That is an unwarranted switch in signals. Absent compelling circumstances, Virginia should follow through on promises written into law, as the $1.25 million is. The private sector is already in quest of $3 million for the college. The state should honor its word. by CNB