THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 4, 1996 TAG: 9512300148
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SERIES: 1995: YEAR IN REVIEW
SOURCE: COMPILED BY SCOTT McCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 420 lines
THE PAST YEAR came and went with an array of big events, and many of the top stories of 1995 reflected a city hard at work to put on a new face.
As cities go, Norfolk is no spring chicken, and with its ongoing efforts to rebuild and reshape itself came both growing pains and promise.
After progress, setbacks and uncertainty, ground-breaking for MacArthur Center now is scheduled for Jan. 26. Nauticus, however, needed a tax-funded life preserver. A plan for a downtown Tidewater Community College campus was first scrapped by Gov. George F. Allen but restored after pressure from state legislators and city leaders.
In the midst came a ``Phantom'' showing the promise of a growing cosmopolitanism. The city scored a professional football team. And a new home for two Siberian tigers gave the zoo something to roar about.
Election fireworks, a fatal police chase and a hurricane that wasn't also commanded much interest.
So now, a look back at some of 1995's more memorable events:
MACARTHUR CENTER: The super-duper mall planned for the heart of the city proceeded on a regular schedule of two steps forward, one step back. As 1995 closed, the project seemed ready to get under way, but Nordstrom lovers should keep their fingers crossed.
As people should know by now, the basic facts are: Norfolk has agreed to back the mall with $100 million in loans and direct spending. In return, the developers will build a $300 million mall with a luxury Nordstrom department store as its centerpiece. It will go on 20 acres in the heart of downtown.
The big problem in the spring was that Macy's, the venerated New York department store, had pulled out of the deal, leaving the mall without a second anchor. The old department store had dropped the project, not on its merits, because it had gotten too fat with debt at the end of the 1980s and ended up having to merge with a larger department store chain, which was too busy to worry about Norfolk.
But in the spring, the ever-ebullient Bob Smithwick, the city's economic development director who has sat in the driver's seat on this project and has whipped and lashed it forward over the years, announced that Dillard's department store had signed on as a second anchor.
As all looked well with the project, a new controversy emerged.
Citizens were mad that the city planned to move Fire Station No. 1, at a cost of $6.2 million, so the mall could have room for its parking garages. Still leery after having to come up with money to keep Nauticus afloat, the civic league folk were skeptical that the mall was worth all of this taxpayer money.
After a series of sometimes rowdy town meetings and a public hearing, the council voted unanimously to move the fire station. So the mall moved forward, once again.
NAUTICUS: The big, gray battleship-shaped structure overlooking the Elizabeth River called Nauticus may have been the city's bridge-too-far when it comes to taxpayer-financed downtown projects.
After Scope, Chrysler Hall, Town Point Park, Waterside, the Marriott hotel and convention center, and the Harbor Park baseball stadium, citizens were on their guard when it came to a theme-park/museum based around the sea that was meant to haul in tourists.
Despite petition campaigns against Nauticus and Harbor Park, the City Council repeated the predictions of the all-knowing, all-seeing consultants that the sea-based museum/theme park would draw some 800,000 visitors a year and pay for itself, including construction costs.
The museum drew only about half that many citizens. The City Council agreed to supplement Nauticus' budget by approximately $1 million annually for the next 20 years to help pay off the capital costs.
Handed the bill, citizens got mad. ``Remember Nauticus!'' seemed to be the new rallying cry. It seemed to make no impact that Nauticus was still drawing 400,000 folks a year - not a bad number by regional standards - or that Nauticus was paying its own way far more than the Marine Science Museum in Virginia Beach, which was costing its taxpayers $3 million to $4 million a year.
At year's end, Mayor Paul Fraim had begun a series of open houses and outreach efforts in the hope of getting Norfolk citizens to love the big gray thing that sits on a pier on their waterfront.
TIDEWATER COMMUNITY COLLEGE: In Hampton Roads, it was perhaps the most controversial cut in Gov. Allen's budget proposal for 1995.
In his budget address about a year ago, Allen proposed cutting $1.3 million that had been allotted for a Tidewater Community College campus in Norfolk and striking the state's approval for the Granby Street campus altogether.
City and college officials had argued that the school would increase educational and employment opportunities and could help revitalize downtown. But Allen officials said it was ``redundant'' since TCC already had three campuses in the area.
From the start, Allen got flak. Immediately after the speech, influential Sen. Hunter B. Andrews scolded an Allen official: ``You say it's not essential; there are many of us who do think it's essential.''
Then local leaders sprang into action. Mayor Fraim and City Manager James B. Oliver pleaded their case with Allen. Less than two weeks later, Allen agreed to restore his approval - and the funding - saying he had been persuaded that the campus would create jobs.
TCC officials expect the campus to open in January 1997.
PHANTOM UNVEILED: The chandelier hasn't crashed for the last time on the stage of Chrysler Hall. But when it does Saturday, ending a seven-week run of ``The Phantom of the Opera,'' don't blame Norfolk arts and business leaders for being a little blue.
``Phantom'' was the biggest theater event of 1995 in the city and an economic windfall for downtown Norfolk. Its promoters say the production has pumped millions of dollars into the city's economy, largely through increased hotel bookings and restaurant sales.
Norfolkians couldn't help but snicker at smug ``little'' Richmond, which will have to settle for its ``Phantom'' premiere next year - if it's lucky. ``Phantom'' promoters said they wouldn't be surprised if most of the rest of the big traveling shows from now on make their Virginia premieres in Norfolk, not Richmond.
The ``Phantom'' has made friends all over Hampton Roads and not just by providing great entertainment. Cast members threw a special benefit to raise money for AIDS organizations. And in their post-performance partying, they've enlivened the local night-life scene.
Norfolk will miss you, masked man. But it will also thank you for lifting spirits and the city's sense of possibilities.
CLERK'S RACE: In the end, it wasn't even close.
When Councilman Randy Wright announced he was running for clerk of Circuit Court as a Democrat, many folks figured he was unbeatable. After all, Wright was immensely popular in Ocean View and the East Side.
But others wondered: What does Wright know about courts? He's not a lawyer. He hasn't worked in the clerk's office.
So, to challenge Wright, the Republicans chose Al Teich, a lawyer with 38 years of courthouse experience.
It was an ugly campaign.
Over and over, opponents bashed Wright for being power-hungry and greedy. They accused him of wanting the office just to get the $92,000-a-year salary for the guaranteed eight-year term of office.
The election became a referendum on Randy Wright.
Teich won big. He got 48 percent of the vote, compared with Wright's 33 percent. Independent Malcolm Gaines siphoned off just enough votes, mostly in black precincts, to sway the election.
Worst of all, Wright did horribly in his stronghold of Ocean View. In almost every precinct there, Teich thrashed Wright. Later, Wright said he got the message: Voters just wanted to keep him on the City Council.
Opponents saw it differently: They said voters just wanted to keep Wright out of the courthouse.
GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS: Norfolk began 1995 wielding the most influence in the General Assembly it has ever had, saw it threatened in November but is going into this month's legislative session with its clout intact.
Republicans made a strong bid statewide to take majorities in the House of Delegates and the Senate but failed. One of the GOP's few victories was in Norfolk, where Thelma Drake unseated veteran Democrat Howard Copeland in the 87th House District. Three other Republican challengers in Norfolk fell short, however.
Since Norfolk's legislative delegation is heavily Democratic, a GOP majority would have left the city relatively powerless in the legislature.
But even with Copeland's exit, the city still has several veteran legislators. Del. Tom Moss, D-88th District, is still Speaker of the House, and Sen. Stanley Walker, D-6th District, is president pro tem of the Senate. Sen. Yvonne Miller, D-5th District, also is a longtime member of the Senate.
Del. George Heilig, D-86th District, is a committee chairman and senior member of the House, but in recent weeks suddenly left his law firm and has sparked some discussion about whether he will take his seat this month.
CFL TEAM: The Canadian Football League's Shreveport Pirates decided in November to relocate to Norfolk's 59-year-old Foreman Field.
Team president Lonie Glieberman had to fend off an attempt by a local semi-pro team to purchase a CFL expansion franchise and then an attempt by the Baltimore Stallions to block the Pirates' move. The Stallions, who must move from Baltimore to make way for the NFL's Cleveland Browns, also were interested in moving to Norfolk.
But the Hampton Roads Sharks and the Stallions eventually backed off. The Pirates have begun a season-ticket sale, are negotiating a lease with Old Dominion to play at Foreman Field and have begun recruiting players for coach Forrest Gregg, an NFL Hall of Famer.
Norfolk hasn't had a professional football team since the Norfolk Neptunes closed shop in 1972. The Neptunes drew well, once leading minor league football with an average of 14,000 paid admissions, and succumbed after three leagues in which they played folded.
The Pirates, who haven't yet chosen between the monikers Norfolk, Hampton Roads and Virginia, will need to do better at the 25,600-seat stadium. They must average 18,000 per game to break even.
VIOLENT CRIME DROPS: Police and city officials announced the good news last winter that reported crime had dipped 10.5 percent in 1994. It was the largest annual reduction in 22 years, and it marked the fourth consecutive year that crime decreased in the city.
Police Chief Melvin C. High credited the city's community policing strategy - P.A.C.E. - with the drop.
There were fewer reports of seven major crimes - murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, larceny and auto theft. Only arson increased, showing a 4.4 percent jump over 1993.
The biggest one-year decreases were in rape, down 23 percent with 157 cases, and auto theft, down 16.7 percent with 1,810 cases.
Murder fell from 62 in 1993 to 61 in 1994.
The 1995 numbers were mixed.
For the first half of 1995, the amount of reported violent crime fell, but property crime increased. Between January and June, 25 homicides were reported, compared with 30 during the same period in '94. However there was an increase in property crimes - including a 54.4 increase in auto thefts - that pushed the overall rate up 7.5 percent.
WATER BATTLES: Not since the two sister municipalities held their fists in each other's faces at the start of the 1960s have Virginia Beach and Norfolk come to such blows and angry words over that clear liquid known as water.
The first battle some 30 years ago led to the formation of Virginia Beach as a city and the hemming in of Norfolk to fixed land boundaries. In a way, that also led to the 1995 battles over water because Norfolk still owns the lakes in Virginia Beach that help give Norfolk its own water supply. Apparently, Virginia Beach never considered ``nationalizing'' the lakes, a la Cuba.
In any event, having no water of its own, Virginia Beach went off searching with a forked stick and came upon Lake Gaston and 10 years of legal and regulatory battles with North Carolina, who swore that no resort city would ever suck water off its border.
This year trouble with Norfolk came because Virginia Beach struck a deal in secret with North Carolina that limited Norfolk's ability to sell its water outside South Hampton Roads.
It's too complicated to explain why North Carolina wanted this. Trust us. But it would have ended a decade of battles between Virginia Beach and North Carolina.
But to agree to this, Norfolk wanted to be paid, and the two cities could not agree on a price. Many angry words were exchanged. Angry letters were written and leaked to the press. Eventually, the conflict worked its way to the General Assembly, which needed to approve the deal, where the whole thing stalled.
Virginia Beach ended up back in court, and Norfolk ended up with its water. Time will tell whether Norfolk will make as much money on the open market as it would have by accepting Virginia Beach's initial offer.
HILLCREST ATTACK: 1995 began with Norfolk in the glare of a grim national spotlight as the shooting war over abortion arrived on New Year's Eve.
Just a day earlier, a man had opened fire in a Brookline, Mass., abortion clinic, killing two people and injuring five others.
Luckily, no one was hurt locally when a man who had just sought directions to a fast-food restaurant pulled a semiautomatic .22-caliber rifle from a black bag he was carrying and squeezed the trigger.
At least 23 bullets tore into the locked building housing the Hillcrest Clinic. The gunman fled.
His freedom was short-lived.
An arson investigator who was nearby gave chase and called for help. Three blocks away, the gunman found his path blocked by police cars. He jumped from his pickup and tried to run, only to be tackled by officers.
With that, John C. Salvi III was captured.
Although the subject of a nationwide manhunt, Salvi had supporters, underlining the depths of passion the abortion battle unleashes.
``Thank you for what you did,'' activist Donald Spitz, using a bullhorn, shouted to Salvi outside the Norfolk City Jail on New Year's Day. ``We want to help you any way we can. . . . We love you.''
While in the Norfolk jail, Salvi issued a rambling statement denouncing the current welfare system and arguing that the Roman Catholic Church should print its own money.
``We as a people need to turn our minds away from individual thinking and more to the church as a whole, the country as a whole,'' he wrote. ``It would take brain cells on behalf of the Catholic people to do it.''
Salvi, who declined all interview requests, also said he wanted to talk to TV journalist Barbara Walters, who declined.
Virginia authorities finally set aside local charges for the time being, allowing Salvi to be returned to Massachusetts to face trial.
TRAGIC CHASE: Two trials resulted when a van slammed broadside into a car in downtown Norfolk on Jan. 21, killing two people, following a police chase.
Killed were Richmond attorney William L. Rosbe, 50, and Terrie Guille Timms, 40, of Virginia Beach.
The van's driver, Arnold Oscar Peterson, 47, was bruised but otherwise not seriously hurt. Already convicted a year earlier of drunken driving and awaiting trial on a second DUI charge, he now was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
The police also found themselves on the defensive, however, against criticism that the pursuit should have been ended before the wreck ever occurred.
Virginia Beach police initiated the chase after clocking the van at more than 20 mph over the speed limit. State police joined the chase - hitting speeds of 80 mph - on Interstate 264, and Norfolk police became involved in downtown.
High-speed police pursuits have become a national controversy because of the number of police officers and innocent passers-by who have died or been critically injured as a result.
Peterson was found guilty of manslaughter and was sentenced to 20 years. Relatives of the victims received $3.4 million in an out-of-court settlement with Peterson, and the company he worked for, Nansemond Heating and Cooling of Suffolk, which owned the van.
But critics argued that the costs - potential loss of life - were too great to allow high-speed pursuits except in cases where a violent suspect is the target. Supporters said curtailing police pursuits would give carte blanche to any criminal to just hit the gas to get away.
TIGERS' HOME: For most of 1995, the Norfolk zoo's Siberian tigers were still in a close-quartered, 1,000-square-foot cage.
But on Sept. 23 the big cats found themselves romping along a grassy knoll, bathing in a waterfall and sunning under a tall pine tree.
After more than a three-year wait, Shere and Shaka Khan were given a home worthy of their beauty and grace: a $500,000, 8,000-square-foot habitat that is among the best in the country, according to zoo administrators.
The tiger exhibit opened to rave reviews and remains by far the most popular attraction at the zoo. Tens of thousands of visitors have come just to see the grand cats.
``Bob Young is the one who really rallied everyone and made this possible,'' said Margaret Falkiner, Virginia Zoological Society president. ``He was the ringleader.''
Young, a Norfolk Exxon service station owner, spearheaded the fund drive that led to the tigers' new habitat being built.
FINE PETROLEUM BLAZE: A spectacular fire, fed by petroleum and hundreds of chemicals, gutted the Fine Petroleum Warehouse in May, temporarily forcing some nearby residents from their homes and sparking a concern over toxic damage.
The blaze's intensity brought nearly 100 firefighters and rescue personnel, as well as scores of police, from throughout South Hampton Roads. The fire burned for hours, spewing a cloud of thick, black smoke that was seen as far away as the Oceanfront and Hampton.
No one was killed in the warehouse, located in the 2800 block of St. Julian Ave. Three teens were arrested in connection with starting the fire in a loading dock.
The fire apparently caused little environmental damage, but it left behind a mysterious chemical soup that frightened nearby residents.
The Environmental Protection Agency investigated the collapsed structure for weeks, but investigators were hindered because they did not know all of the building's contents.
More than 200 55-gallon drums - and thousands of smaller containers - of unmarked and potentially hazardous chemicals were scattered throughout the structure.
In September, a Norfolk General District judge ordered Milton S. Fine, president of Fine Petroleum Co., to pay $12,500 in fines.
Fine testified that the warehouse was closed but he had not submitted to fire officials the required facility closure plan that details the contents of the building and the condition of the property.
HURRICANE CRIES WOLF: Felix really was a nightmare - one the city awoke from without a scar.
During the busiest hurricane season in 60 years, it seemed the region's luck had run its course and that a major storm would strike. And it was the worst-case scenario.
Instead of coming up the coast, heading northeast, Felix took dead aim at Hampton Roads from the southwest in mid-August. Norfolk's emergency planners had only to look back to 1933 to know what would happen: The storm would bottle up the Chesapeake Bay as it neared and its winds then would push the Bay waters south.
Downtown streets would become rivers. Most of Norfolk would be under water.
Thousands fled inland, others stocked up on emergency supplies and readied for the worst. But then, at the region's doorstep and just a day away, the huge storm stalled.
Felix would amble offshore for days before finally turning away for good, heading northeast.
Emergency planners were grateful to have been spared but worried that Felix would still exact a toll in the future when another storm threatens and people don't react.
CELEBRITY WEDDING: For one Saturday in January it seemed like all eyes were on Norfolk as a Hollywood-type wedding came to town.
In a lavish ceremony held in the Waterside Marriott Hotel, comedian Martin Lawrence, of the TV show ``Martin,'' wed Chesapeake native Patricia Southall, a former Miss Portsmouth Seawall and Miss Virginia USA.
Security was nearly air tight as thousands of shouting people - held behind police barriers - crowded both sides of Main Street hoping to sneak a peek at any of the dozens of rumored celebrity guests.
Rappers Kid 'N' Play were there, as was Eddie Murphy, ``Martin'' co-star Tisha Campbell and boxer Pernell ``Sweetpea'' Whitaker.
Hostesses inside triple-checked nearly 600 names on a pre-printed guest list.
Eighteen bridesmaids and 18 groomsmen lined the aisles. Singers included soul crooner Brian McKnight and Tichina Arnold, who plays Pam on ``Martin.''
Lawrence mouthed ``You look so damn good'' as his bride-to-be walked to the aisle.
Despite an early bomb threat that forced the wedding to move from its proposed site in Portsmouth, the hitch went well. Lawrence and Southall left as one, and the people of Norfolk left with stars in their eyes.The van's driver, Arnold Oscar Peterson, 47, was bruised but otherwise not seriously hurt. Already convicted a year earlier of drunken driving and awaiting trial on a second DUI charge, he now was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. MEMO: Staff writers Alex Marshall, Phil Walzer, Dave Mayfield, Marc Davis,
Tony Wharton, Harry Minium, Larry W. Brown and Steve Stone all
contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: [Cover, Color photo]
File photo by BETH BERGMAN
Even with the groundbreaking scheduled for this month, the plot of
land that eventually will become MacArthur Center continues create a
groundswell of controversy.
File photo by BETH BERGMAN
The City Jail was in the national spotlight after John C. Salvi III
was captured in Norfolk.
File photo by BETH BERGMAN
Even with the groundbreaking scheduled for this month, the plot of
land that eventually will become MacArthur Center continues to
create a groundswell of controversy.
Just as Nauticus, left, juts into the Elizabeth River, the
battleship-shaped structure continues to jut into the craw of many
residents.
File photo
by PAUL AIKEN
Catching some by surprise, Republican Thelma Drake, left, unseated
Democrat Howard Copeland in the 87th House District.
File photo by
CHRIS REDDICK
The Phantom, left, took the stage at Chrysler Hall and remains in
town until this weekend, much to the delight of the city's arts and
business leaders.
Photo by JOAN MARCUS
Republican Al Teich, left, emerged smiling and victorious from a
clerk's race that turned nasty and stayed that way until the bitter
end.
File photo by
CHRIS REDDICK
Lonie Glieberman, left, decided to bring his Canadian Football
League Pirates to Foreman Field; now he needs to fill the seats with
fans to the tune of at least 18,000 per game.
File photo
File photo by PAUL AIKEN
The Norfolk zoo's Siberian tigers prowled a new $500,000 home.
by CNB