THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 11, 1996 TAG: 9602090176
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
Planner Ray Gindroz has suggested that the waterways in southeastern Virginia be used to create a world-class tourist mecca emphasizing the history of this region - all connected by water.
It's an idea that's been bandied about in the past. But never has it been proposed by someone with a world-class reputation.
Gindroz, the man behind the city's Vision 2005 plan and also Norfolk downtown plans, just got back from Paris, where he is designing a whole new town just outside the French capital. He is the man whose expertise was employed by Disney to create Celebration, a new town in Florida.
His successes are legion - in part because he layers his dreams with a great amount of practicality. Vision 2005 has caught on with Portsmouth citizens because they see how it will work, that it is not pie-in-the-sky unrelated to the realities of Portsmouth.
His vision of water-connected tours from Portsmouth and Norfolk to Smithfield and Williamsburg, and wherever else a river flows, is not impractical either.
The water's here and the history's here. It just needs to be connected, as Gindroz told City Council last weekend.
People love riding on boats. The amazing success of the short-haul pedestrian ferry between Norfolk and Portsmouth is testimony to that.
The rivers of the region are of major importance to the region's history. Indeed, it is because of the waterways that we have so much history dating back to the early 17th century and the early explorers. They got here by water.
The water is why we have Revolutionary history, Civil War history and great Naval history throughout the history of the United States.
The Elizabeth River Ferry is as good a place as any to begin to create a ``history trail,'' Gindroz said. From a small beginning in Portsmouth and Norfolk, it could grow to encompass a large area.
But somebody has to get it together.
The project seems ripe for a citizens' committee to start brainstorming with guidance from Gindroz. Citizens especially interested in history or the waterways or both could be recruited to start talking and planning, getting the project started so it could run parallel to the other projects now going on in Portsmouth and Norfolk.
Maybe the mayors of the two cities should get together and carefully create a small viable group to begin explorations. From the initial small group, the committee could eventually expand to include citizens with expertise in development of new projects - and, yes, the know-how to find money for it.
Ultimately, with some coaching by Gindroz, they would decide the best way to make the project a reality.
A cooperative effort between Portsmouth and Norfolk could begin immediately. Expanding to other communities will take a little longer.
But it is a dream worth pursuing - and right now, not next year or next century. by CNB