THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030559
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
Virginia Beach City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to endorse hiring a consultant to study a proposed 20,000-seat sports arena - but added a caveat that puts the resort city at odds with many of its neighbors.
Virginia Beach wants the region to hire the consultant through a lengthy, open bidding process and pay the consultant through a regional planning agency. Beach officials see this as the best way to ensure their new amphitheatre and tourist and convention industries aren't damaged by an arena.
Most of the region's other cities favor a brief interview process and want the cities and private corporations to share in paying the consultant.
The leaders of the region's 15 localities are scheduled to decide on April 26 how to hire a consultant.
Councilman Robert K. Dean said he thinks the rest of Hampton Roads will accept the position of Virginia Beach, the region's largest and richest city.
``I don't think they can go ahead without us,'' he said. ``Frankly, I don't see how they can afford it.
``Just look at the debt levels of some of our neighbors. Chesapeake's priorities are schools and roads. And if they try to take on another large project in Norfolk, I think the citizens of that city will storm city hall like the Bastille.''
Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim, who has led the effort to bring an arena and a major sports franchise to Hampton Roads, said the Beach's proposal would add months to a process that has already dragged too long.
``I think we've put the decision off as long as I'm comfortable with, but that's just me speaking,'' he said. ``I don't know how the other localities will feel.
``I really believe there is a need to move forward with the study and the delays are just putting us further behind the curve.''
The Beach council wants the consultant to be hired and paid by the Sports Authority of Hampton Roads, a public body with representatives from eight area localities. The estimated $120,000 cost would be paid by the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission.
However, leaders of the region's other cities agreed last month that a study should be funded through the Greater Norfolk Corporation, a private group that seeks to foster economic development in Norfolk.
A five- or six-person executive committee, composed of members from the region's largest cities, would select the consultant.
Beach council members say they also want the consultant hired through a Request for Proposals process, in which the Sports Authority would advertise the position, then spend up to two months sorting through proposals and holding interviews.
If the Greater Norfolk Corporation were used, the executive committee could make a decision on a consultant by early May.
``If there is really a sincere effort to get an unbiased opinion . . . I would think they would not object'' to using the Sports Authority, Councilman Louis R. Jones said. ``I would feel more comfortable with Chairman (Mo) Whitlow and the Sports Authority.''
Added Councilwoman Louisa M. Strayhorn: ``I want a study. I really want one. But we have to have a competitive process to select the consultant.''
Fraim said the reason he and others want to use the Greater Norfolk Corporation is to ensure the private sector gets involved. Corporations will need to purchase at least 40 luxury boxes costing perhaps $50,000 apiece to make the arena feasible.
``The main purpose is to assure we have established a solid link with the private sector and that we have private business support for pursuing this project,'' Fraim said. ``This is not an effort that government by itself can lead.''
Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf steered a largely neutral course through the City Council's 45-minute discussion of the arena study, though she made it clear the region's other cities might proceed without the Beach.
``I can tell you that the wisdom of the mayors was that they wanted the study done as quickly as possible and that it might be a little cumbersome going through a public agency and that . . . they are comfortable using Greater Norfolk,'' she said.
City Council responded by saying it might reconsider its stance if the rest of the region's leaders vote on April 26 to use Greater Norfolk.
Of the 11 council members, only W.W. ``Billy'' Harrison Jr. spoke forcefully for using Greater Norfolk.
``I'm convinced that without our participation, at some point in the process the arena project is destined to fail,'' he said.
``I don't want to send the wrong signal by not participating. I think as a member of the region . . . we should follow the will of the majority of the other cities in the region.
``Our failure to participate in this initial stage could send the wrong message nationally, not only to teams considering relocating, but it also might give a negative bent to the outcome of the study. It might be concluded that Virginia Beach isn't going to be a participant, isn't going to be a regional player.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Meyera Oberndorf
Paul Fraim
by CNB