THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 18, 1996 TAG: 9604180006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 62 lines
Look up the Virginia Beach Pavilion in the phone book and you'll see that it's officially called the Virginia Beach Pavilion Convention Center.
Unfortunately, this is something of a misnomer because the Pavilion is too small to hold large conventions, so the city fills the hall with craft, antique and trade shows throughout the year, while big conventions go elsewhere.
In fact, almost 75 percent of the events scheduled for the Pavilion are locally generated, which means little economic impact on local hotels and restaurants.
Plans to renovate and enlarge the Pavilion sound good - but expensive. Yet, there is no doubt that if the facility were enlarged the city could lure lucrative conventions to the Beach in the off-peak season between September and May.
A recent study showed that the average state or local conventioneer spends $349 during a convention. The average delegate to a national, international or regional event spends a whopping $863.
But the bigger-and-better-Pavilion price tag, an estimated $165 million, will undoubtedly engender spirited debate before City Council can endorse such a massive undertaking. As it should.
The usual argument - that the resort area is getting the lion's share of public dollars - will not stick in this case. Plans for the project call for funding to come from TGIF monies: special hotel and restaurant taxes and fees. Most of that money is generated at the Oceanfront, and all of it is earmarked for tourism.
There is little doubt that tourism would get a big boost from a large convention center. Plans to triple the size of the Pavilion were tabled more than a year ago when City Council decided to use some of the TGIF funds for the Seawall project, or the Hurricane Protection Plan, instead.
Under the new plan, not only would the Pavilion exhibit hall grow from 132,000 square feet to 394,000 square feet, but the city would gain 2,000 parking spaces. In addition, the 19th Street corridor from the Pavilion to the Oceanfront, including the old Dome site, would be transformed into a well-planned six-block commercial corridor.
The Pavilion has its detractors. Some say it's ugly. Others argue it was built in a bad location 16 years ago. In retrospect, the entire project might have been a bit more ambitious from the start - and closer to the ocean. But a pleasant corridor, lined with bright retail stores, will shorten the trip between the Pavilion and the ocean. Shuttle buses will help, too.
The Pavilion is a fact of life in Virginia Beach, but the city has outgrown it.
City planners would like to compete with other resort convention centers, like Myrtle Beach and Ocean City - both of which have brand-new convention facilities about the size of the proposed Pavilion expansion.
Each year more regional conventions head to South Carolina and Maryland. If the Pavilion were truly a major convention center, many of those conventions would choose the Beach. The economic impact on hotels, restaurants and the rest of the region would be immense. by CNB