THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603030179
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines
We should build it downtown.
That was the conclusion of two consultants in 1995: The only place a 20,000-seat arena will work in Hampton Roads is downtown.
Problem is, they didn't agree on where ``downtown'' is.
Bob Walsh, president of Seattle-based Bob Walsh Associates, calls downtown Norfolk the financial and cultural center of Hampton Roads.
Walsh, who penned a report for the city of Norfolk, said the success of hockey's Admirals and baseball's Tides makes downtown Norfolk the ideal location for a new arena.
Chris Dunlavey, a Washington consultant who wrote most of a report for the Sports Authority of Hampton Roads, appeared to agree when he presented the report in October: ``These facilities seem to work best in downtown locations.''
But in an interview last week, Dunlavey said he didn't necessarily mean downtown Norfolk. Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth and even Suffolk each claim downtowns . . . and some suburban locations with large office parks, shopping and restaurants might qualify as well, he said.
``Hampton Roads does not have a dominant central city like most other metropolitan areas,'' Dunlavey said. ``There are several places in that region that could be considered a downtown.''
Sorting all this out likely will fall on the shoulders of Rick Horrow, a Miami-based consultant the region is expected to hire to determine where and how Hampton Roads should build an arena. Horrow has declined comment on the proposed arena.
Dunlavey said the national trend is overwhelmingly toward building in the inner city core, of which Norfolk is the region's dominant. A phone survey of consultants, professional teams and cities by The Virginian-Pilot confirmed Dunlavey's assessment. Of 26 areas where arenas were built in the 1990s or are under construction, 22 locations were downtown.
The downtown locations for NBA or NHL teams include Chicago, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Denver, Detroit, Cleveland, San Antonio, Philadelphia, Boston, Portland, Salt Lake City, St. Louis, San Jose, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Vancouver and Phoenix.
Smaller metropolitan areas without NBA or NHL teams such as Oklahoma City; Greenville, S.C.; Moline, Ill.; Wilmington, Del.; and Nashville, Tenn., also are building downtown.
The only areas going against that trend were suburban Broward County, Fla., which is building an arena for the NBA's Miami Heat and NHL's Florida Panthers; Minneapolis and Ottawa, which have constructed suburban buildings but are having financial difficulties; and Anaheim, a city with no true downtown which constructed an arena for the NHL's Mighty Ducks.
Even cities with successful suburban arenas are moving back downtown.
USAir Arena in suburban Washington recently was heralded by some Virginia Beach City Council members as an example of a suburban building that works. But it is being replaced by a new arena downtown. The NBA's Bullets and NHL's Capitals say they expect to draw larger crowds in a downtown setting.
The suburban Charlotte Coliseum, constructed in 1988, has been a financial success. The NBA's Charlotte Hornets sell out every home game, but because the Coliseum lacks luxury boxes, Charlotte officials probably will replace it soon with a downtown arena close to the new football stadium.
``A downtown site has a lot of spinoff benefits you don't find in less developed areas,'' Dunlavey said. ``In the '70s, there was a trend to go out into the country and build just off the interstate. You'd build an arena and surround it with thousands of surface parking spaces.
``What they found is that the economic benefits you expect from an arena don't occur in that setting. They're more likely to occur in a developed area, where there are restaurants and shops and hotels and parking that make it convenient'' for people to spend their money.
Walsh said parking and interstate access are critical factors in the success of any arena, and suggested the 4,500 parking spaces planned for MacArthur Center and thousands of spaces in other downtown parking garages make it the undisputed first choice.
Norfolk has proposed a parking lot adjacent to Harbor Park's leftfield fence, astride Interstate-264, as one side of an arena.
Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim attempted last month to persuade Virginia Beach officials to accept downtown Norfolk as the preferred site for the arena before the region's cities hired a consultant. He failed, but thinks he'll be successful in the long run.
``I think any objective discussion about a site location will lead to a conclusion that the arena should be built in downtown Norfolk,'' Fraim said. ``That's just my personal opinion. A consultant will be asked to recommend a site and his judgment may be different, though I doubt it.
``We (the Norfolk City Council) are not shy about arguing for the downtown Norfolk site because we believe so strongly that it works. The national experience shows that arenas are being located in downtowns. And the local experience is the same, with the Admirals and Tides.''
However, some previous advocates of downtown Norfolk are now officially neutral, including Virginia Beach City Councilman William W. Harrison.
``I was in favor of agreeing on downtown Norfolk as the site before we hired a consultant,'' Harrison said. ``I think building downtown makes sense.
``But our council did not agree. They want the site back on the table. I agree with the rest of the council that it should be back on the table.''
Suffolk Mayor Chris Jones, who also backed the downtown Norfolk site as recently as last month, says he agrees that the consultant should make the choice.
``I think it's best to let the consultant make a recommendation on a site,'' he said. ``Downtown Norfolk would be a terrific location, but there are other locations that ought to be explored as well.''
Newport News Mayor Barry E. Duval, for one, says the cities must put aside parochial concerns on an issue of this importance.
``I would hope that we would not be territorial when it comes to a regional asset of this magnitude,'' he said. ``Wherever it's located, it will help every locality in Hampton Roads.'' by CNB