THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 9, 1996 TAG: 9603090568
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Representatives of 15 area localities emerged from a 2 1/2-hour meeting Friday with an agreement to hire a consultant for the purpose of deciding how and where a 20,000-seat arena should be built in Hampton Roads.
A decision on whom to hire and how to pay the consultant was put off for six weeks in part so the leaders can meet with their city councils and county boards of supervisors.
Nonetheless, the mayors, county chairmen and city managers said their first meeting on the arena concept was fruitful.
``We had a very positive meeting,'' said Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim, who is spearheading the effort to build an arena, one he hopes will attract an NBA or NHL team.
``There's a lot of groundwork that has to be done and we're at the very first step. This is going to be a long process. It's going to be difficult at times. But we're going to move ahead with it.''
Virginia Beach, the region's largest and richest city, sounded a cautious note. City Manager James K. Spore presented the leaders of 14 other localities with a three-page letter signed by Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf that outlined nine ``criteria necessary for the City of Virginia Beach to participate in the joint effort.''
Among her concerns:
That hiring a consultant be an ``open'' process, meaning it should be advertised and there should be a bidding process for the position. It would alter the process for hiring a consultant from weeks to months. ``If an open and competitive selection process takes longer - so be it,'' Oberndorf wrote.
That Virginia Beach won't financially support an arena if it would harm that city's convention business.
That the arena and any sports tenants could not be named for the host community.
Despite Virginia Beach's insistence on an open process for hiring a consultant, many of the region's respresentatives voiced support for Rick Horrow, a Miami-based consultant long thought to have the inside track for the job.
Oberndorf, who was unavailable for comment, expressed support for the concept of tying other projects, such as cultural, recreational and convention facilities, into the arena project.
Fraim said he was not discouraged by Oberndorf's letter and was greatly encouraged by the response of other area leaders.
``We made a lot of progress,'' said Portsmouth Mayor Gloria O. Webb, who hosted the meeting at the Children's Museum of Virginia. ``Portsmouth is very enthusiastic (about the arena study) and intends to support it.''
The leaders of Peninsula localities expressed surprisingly strong support for an arena that almost certainly would be built in South Hampton Roads, possibly in downtown Norfolk.
``Hampton will be an enthusiastic supporter'' of the arena, Hampton City Manager Robert J. O'Neill Jr. said. ``I think there is a lot for the region to gain if in fact we are capable of attracting a major league franchise.''
Asked for a rough time frame for when he would like to have an arena in place, Chesapeake Mayor William E. Ward said: ``Tomorrow.''
Added Newport News Mayor Barry E. DuVal: ``We were all encouraged by the meeting today.''
O'Neill said he doesn't think the Hampton Coliseum would be adversely affected by a new arena, but that he wants the consultant to look into that subject.
``I'm confident there is an existing niche for facilities like the Coliseum,'' he said. ``We're confident that we're talking about something that will enhance the viability of the entire region, that all of us would benefit. We're comfortable that whatever considerations are necessary with regard to the coliseum as a viable facility will be included in the study.''
Fraim said the region's leaders likely will select an executive committee of four or five members at their monthly meeting April 26 in Norfolk. That committee would oversee the work of the consultant and report back to a panel of representatives from each locality.
The executive committee likely would hire the consultant, who will be asked to make two studies. In the first, the consultant would determine whether there is enough corporate demand for luxury boxes to support an arena, how it would be funded and whether Hampton Roads has a realistic chance of landing an NBA or NHL team.
If the answers satisfy the region's leaders, the consultant will then determine where it should be located and what other projects, if any, should be included in the arena package.
Two avenues for hiring a consultant were discussed: The Greater Norfolk Corporation, a private group seeking to foster economic development in Norfolk, and the Sports Authority of Hampton Roads, which has representatives from eight area localities.
The sports authority would be expanded to all 15 localities this summer under legislation sponsored by State Delegate Jerrauld Jones of Norfolk, which has passed the House and Senate and is awaiting Gov. George F. Allen's signature. by CNB