THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 7, 1995 TAG: 9505050178
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
A public meeting to discuss The Galaxy, a project proposed by Harvey N. Johnson Jr. to put a mall and efficiency apartment complex on Effingham Street Downtown, has been set for Thursday.
The meeting, sponsored by the Portsmouth Chapter of the NAACP, will begin at 7 p.m. at Ebenezer Baptist Church, 728 Effingham St.
The meeting will bring together citizens who have followed the project for more than five years and city officials, Johnson said.
Among those invited to participate on the panel are City Councilman Ward Robinett, chairman of the Effingham/Park View Task Force for Vision 2005; City Manager Wayne Orton, officials of the city's Economic Development Department, Planning Department and the Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
Johnson, a Portsmouth man who is president of the National Institute for Minority Economic Advancement, conceived and developed the idea of Galaxy in 1990.
He envisions ``broad-based citizen ownership'' of the project which would encourage black entrepreneurship. The four-story enclosed mall as proposed would have retail shops and a movie theater on the first floor; a mixture of shops and service businesses on the second floor; a mix on the third floor which would include a dance studio, office suites, a conference center and a recording studio; a dining room and roof garden, corporate offices, a stage production company and meeting room on the fourth level.
Johnson's dream includes business incubator space and broad cooperation of business owners in using student interns. The project, he said, would create ``significant social and cultural benefits'' for the city.
The discussion Thursday will focus on the merits and possibilities of the project which would be located in the Effingham Corridor, one of the major portions of the Vision 2005 economic development plan. by CNB