THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 5, 1995 TAG: 9512050276
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
The city will delay plans to break ground this month on the long-awaited MacArthur Center mall until January to allow for more public comment, Development Director Robert Smithwick said Monday.
Several citizen leaders have begun questioning whether Norfolk was putting taxpayers unwisely at risk with its public financing of the project. The City Council held a town meeting Monday night and another is scheduled for tonight, leading to the delay.
It would not be fair to start construction while the public is still coming to terms with the project, Smithwick said.
``It would be ludicrous to have a town meeting and then say, `By the way, we're breaking ground in a few days,' '' Smithwick said Monday.
Councilman W. Randy Wright will lead a second town meeting on the mall tonight from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Lafayette Winona Middle School at Alsace Avenue and Tidewater Drive. City staff and council will answer questions.
The city has postponed construction several times. It planned to begin originally in 1994. Construction was then scheduled for the spring of 1995. After that deadline passed, Smithwick vowed to begin construction before 1996.
The chief delay until recently was signing a second anchor. Dillard's department store was signed in September to accompany Nordstrom, the luxury department store chain. The city and The Taubman Co., the principal mall developer, are still looking for a third anchor store.
Despite the search for a thirdanchor and the recent flurry of disgruntled citizens, Smithwick said the project has no serious hurdles ahead.
``There is no question about the center, whether we will go forward or not, unless the City Council changes its mind,'' Smithwick said Monday.
Vice-Mayor Paul R. Riddick led Monday's town meeting at Ruffner Middle School. About 50 people attended, many of them city staff and officials from the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
Most speakers wanted more facts: How much would the project cost? How much was the city at risk? What were the exact terms of the contract between Nordstrom and the city? Will the mall pull business away from the city's other retail centers?
Before taking questions, several city officials spoke on aspects of the project. Deputy City Manager Darlene L. Burcham led a slide show on the mall.
One topic of concern was why the city plans to close Fire Station No. 1, which sits on the edge of the mall site. The city plans to build a new fire station, administration center and training center at two separate sites at a total cost of $6.2 million. Although it acknowledges accelerating those plans because of the mall, the new fire station and training center are badly needed, said city officials Monday.
Tommy White, president of the Norfolk Federation of Civic Leagues, said the cost of moving the fire station should be included under the cost of the mall. The city had not put any plans to replace Fire Station No. 1 in the capital improvement budget until after the announcement of the planned mall, White said.
The City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on closing Fire Station No. 1 and building a center on Tuesday, Dec. 12.
The city is backing the project with $97 million in public funding, most of that in loans which the city says will not put the public at risk.
But after the city failed to live up to pledges that Nauticus would be self-supporting and had to schedule payments of about $1 million annually on the waterside museums, some community leaders say they fear the mall will also require city operating funds.
With the presence of Nordstrom, the mall is expected to draw shoppers from around the region and generate thousands of jobs and millions in new taxes, city leaders say. The developer and Nordstrom have pledged to give special attention to hiring low-income residents for the mall jobs.
Smithwick said he expects to break ground in January. More serious construction would not begin until ``April, May or June of next year,'' Smithwick said, which is when the site should be turned over to Taubman ``to really drive pilings into the ground.''
Smithwick said the center should open in the spring of 1998. ILLUSTRATION: [Color aerial photo of downtown area]
by CNB