THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605150584
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Harry Minium
STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 113 lines
A 20,000-seat sports arena is on the agenda, but will not be the primary topic of discussion when the Hampton Roads Partnership holds its inaugural meeting today at 2 p.m. at the Norfolk Airport Hilton.
The group will speak only briefly about how to hire a consultant, who will help determine whether Hampton Roads cities and counties should join forces to build the arena.
``What's probably going to happen is that some sort of subcommittee will be named'' to hire a consultant, Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim said.
The partnership was settled upon last month as a compromise choice to hire and pay a consultant by the region's 15 mayors and chairs of county boards of supervisors.
Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and Isle of Wight County pushed for a public agency, such as the Sports Authority of Hampton Roads, to hire the consultant. Most of the region's other cities wanted to use The Greater Norfolk Corporation, which is a private group.
Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf suggested the partnership, breaking a stalemate that had lasted most of four months.
The partnership, composed of 53 of the region's top business, government and civic leaders, is being formed to foster economic growth in Hampton Roads.
Members will spend most of their time today organizing. They must name a full-time president and an executive committee, approve the partnership's articles of incorporation and name four officers, all in two hours.
David R. Goode, chairman and CEO of Norfolk Southern, and John O. Wynne, president and CEO of Landmark Communications, are expected to be named co-chairmen.
Hampton Mayor James L. Eason and Daniel A. Hoffler, chairman of the board of Armada Hoffler, are expected to be selected co-vice chairmen.
The consultant's first task will be to answer two questions for the partnership. First, will the region's business community purchase enough luxury boxes to support an arena? Washington, D.C., consultant Chris Dunlavey, in a report done last year for the sports authority, indicated the region would need to sell about 60 luxury boxes at $80,000 apiece.
The consultant also will be asked to determine whether the region would have a reasonable chance of attracting an NBA or NHL team. MEMO: Staff writer Mylene Mangalindan contributed to this story.
ILLUSTRATION: HAMPTON ROADS PARTNERSHIP MEMBERS
The Hampton Roads Partnership, a group designed to help promote
development of high-tech industry, port growth and the privatization
of government services, is forming today at the Norfolk Airport
Hilton. The group also will hire a consultant to study whether
Hampton Roads can support a 20,000-seat sports arena. The 53 charter
members:
Government leaders: Gloria O. Webb, Portsmouth mayor; Reggie
Gilliam, Chairman, Southampton County Board of Supervisors; S. Chris
Jones, Suffolk mayor; Meyera E. Oberndorf, Virginia Beach mayor;
Trist McConnell, Williamsburg mayor; James W. Funk, chairman, York
County Board of Supervisors; Dr. William E. Ward, Chesapeake mayor;
C. Franklin Jester Jr., Franklin mayor; Graham C. Blake, chairman,
Gloucester County Board of Supervisors; James L. Eason, Hampton
mayor; Phillip A. Bradshaw, chairman, Isle of Wight Board of
Supervisors; David L. Sisk, chairman, James City County Board of
Supervisors; Barry E. DuVal, Newport News mayor; Paul D. Fraim,
Norfolk mayor; L. Cornell Buurcher, Poquoson mayor
Regional leaders: Dr. Alan P. Krasnoff, chairman, Hampton Roads
Planning District Commission; Robert Bray, executive director,
Virginia Port Authority; Gene A. Walters, president, Hampton Roads
Council of Civic Organizations.
Educational leaders: Dr. Edward E. Brickell, president, Eastern
Virginia Medical School; Dr. Larry Whitworth, president, Tidewater
Community College; Dr. Billy K. Cannaday Jr., superintendent,
Hampton City Schools; Dr. Harrison B. Wilson, president, Norfolk
State University; Dr. William R. Harvey, president, Hampton
University; Dr. James V. Koch, president, Old Dominion University
Dr. Timothy J. Sullivan, president, College of William and Mary;
Robert Wilburn, president, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation; Dr.
Hermann Grunder, director, Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator
Facility
Military leaders: Gen. Richard E. Hawley, commander, Air Combat
Command, Langley Air Force Base; Gen. William W. Hartzog, commanding
General, Fort Monroe ; Rear Admiral William J. Ecker, commander,
Fifth Coast Guard District; Admiral William J. Flanagan Jr.,
commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet.
Business leaders: Tim Robertson, president and CEO, International
Family Entertainment Inc.; Hunter B. Andrews, attorney and former
speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates; William B. Spong Jr.,
attorney and former U.S. senator; Dr. Ronald I. Dozoretz, president,
First Hospital Corporation; Edward L. Brown Sr., vice president,
International Longshoreman's Association; Thomas J. Lyons Jr.,
president, Tidewater Inns Inc.; William K. Butler II, president,
Crestar Bank, Eastern Region; Harry T. Lester, executive director,
Virginia Beach Vision; Jack W. Davis Jr., president and publisher,
The Daily Press; Daniel A. Hoffler, chairman of the board, Armada
Hoffler; Douglas B. Juanarena, president, Pressure Systems Inc.;
James F. Babcock, chairman, First Virginia Bank of Tidewater; John
O. Wynne, president and CEO, Landmark Communications Inc.; David R.
Goode, chairman, president and CEO, Norfolk Southern Corporation;
Vincent J. Mastracco Jr., attorney, Kaufman and Canoles; E. George
Middleton Jr., president, E.G. Middleton Co. Inc.; Charles E.
Brinley, president and CEO, Dominion Terminal Associates; Cameron
Blandford, president, Newport News Shipbuilding; Elizabeth A. Duke,
president, Bank of Tidewater; Peter W. Nichols, group president,
North American Allied Colloids Inc.; Robin Ray, president, Atlantic
Dominion Distributors; Joshua P. Darden Jr., Darden Properties Inc.
by CNB