THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604120216
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 18 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
The transformation of the 600 block of High Street is slowly taking place, and the first of many ceremonial ribbon-cuttings will be at 10 a.m. Friday, for the Ships Store at 624 High St.
The ceremony is sponsored by the city, Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the Portsmouth Division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce. The public is invited to attend.
The new store, owned by Richard T. Atkison and Fred LaChance, will sell military collectibles along with current-day uniforms for all services, and medal and ribbon mounting.
Atkison, who acquired three adjacent storefronts from PRHA, will operate his commercial construction business at 626 High St. and will be a partner in Ye Olde Antiques at 628 High St.
The antiques store, also operated by LaChance, will sell turn-of-the-century furniture, pictures and glassware. Two other antiques and collectibles vendors also will be located in the same space.
Atkison has leased some space at 626 High St. to Secur-Tron/Detective Agency, owned and operated by Phillip Fletcher, and has an additional 900-square-foot office space available.
The Atkison properties are part of a Vision 2005 plan to revive the 600 blocks of High and Queen streets and London Boulevard.
The building at 622 High St. was bought by Bill Schlaht and Philip Weber, who have restored the 1907 second-floor apartment and plan to live there above their antique shop, expected to open next month on the first floor.
Schlaht and Weber have created an enclosed courtyard at the rear of the store and plan to operate a tearoom adjacent to the garden area.
The buildings are part of a PRHA acquisition of eight buildings on the north side of High Street between Washington and Green streets after a local bank foreclosed on the owners.
The first of the properties to be restored opened initially as Regina's Restaurant and now houses the Large Brothers Cafe at 606 High St.
The second floor of that building is being renovated and will be leased to an artist who will have living quarters and a studio there.
The large space from 612 to 620 High will be renovated to house the Portsmouth Community Development Corp. Urban Arts Center and four small retail shops. A small building at 610 High St., which was surrounded by the larger structure, recently was torn down to create an open courtyard.
The Vision 2005 plan calls for the space at the rear of this block, fronting on Queen Street, to be developed as a public parking place.
Several buildings, including a former doctor's office at Washington and Queen streets, already have been razed by PRHA in anticipation of the redevelopment of the three city blocks encompassed in the ``600 block'' project.
The house at the corner of London Boulevard and Washington Street has been bought by the Olde Towne Civic League, which plans to resell it to an owner-occupant. Other houses in the 600 block of London will be razed or renovated.
New single-family homes will be built on a large parcel on Green Street between London and Queen as part of the ``600 block'' project. This property had been the site of a building once occupied by the city's Social Services Department. by CNB