THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604200159
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Editor's Column
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: Kevin Armstrong
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
This world is made up of dreamers, doers and deadbeats.
Which one are you?
The answer is really more complicated than defining one's personality. I believe a person can be a dreamer in their professional life, for example, and be a deadbeat when it comes to civic involvement. Like everything else in life, achieving a balance is the ultimate goal.
That balance also applies to city leaders.
A City Council dominated by dreamers could create financial hardships for taxpayers. Likewise, a council composed only of doers won't advance our city too far.
Dreamers are those people who can think beyond conventions. They contribute ideas that are larger than what many people can conceive. They are an integral part of any planning process, although sometimes unfairly criticized for living outside the ``real world'' of finances and resources.
Doers are the folks who help hone dreams and break them down into achievable components. They determine how to get the work done and then go about doing it.
Deadbeats need little explanation. These people may show up at the planning table, but they contribute little or nothing to any plan.
I believe our current leadership lacks enough dreamers.
That's not to say they don't show signs every now and then, but no elected official is leading the way.
Thank goodness then for citizens like Roger Newill and Timothy Barrow who are leading and once led resort revitalization efforts.
We should be proud of what's about to emerge on Owls Creek and adjacent to Princess Anne Park. The expanded museum and amphitheater are grand accomplishments.
But it is time, as Newill outlined last week, to set our sights on the Pavilion and a convention hotel. Let's get committed to the next phase.
Council members, the doers in this process, are correct to question the dreamer. I'm not sure the Pavilion offers the best location. We should give careful consideration to building a convention facility on the oceanfront, most likely at Rudee Inlet.
What if, instead, we used the Pavilion as the true gateway to the resort area, but for a different purpose. Imagine if the light rail became a reality and the Pavilion became a Grand Central Station for arriving visitors (that includes residents who live outside the oceanfront).
Or, we turned the Pavilion site into a parking mecca. What if we eliminated all parking along Atlantic and Pacific avenues and offered shuttle service from the Pavilion throughout the resort. Such service would be free to paid parking customers.
Better yet, let's eliminate vehicular traffic on Atlantic and Pacific avenues and turn them into pedestrian pathways. Shuttles would get people back and forth. Or, equip the streets with tracks for streetcars. Imagine the possibilities.
That's the job of dreamers. But reconfiguring the Oceanfront to make it something special and adding a convention hotel should be a priority.
Norfolk already has entered the small convention business and the idea of a downtown sports arena threatens to steal that market even more. It's time the doers act. Let's build on what we have.
We need to debate the dreams, decide a course of action and then do it.
We spend a lot of time talking about year-round tourism and becoming a s world-class destination. Let's do it. by CNB