THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 9, 1996 TAG: 9606070162
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 145 lines
A PLAN FOR the Effingham-Elm area of Vision 2005 has been a long time coming.
``We have a very complex mix of uses and interests in this area,'' planning consultant Ray Gindroz said. ``We have to make it possible for organizations and individuals to fulfill their dreams.''
The area in question is at the very core of Vision 2005, an economic and community development plan that encompasses the large portion of the city south of Interstate 264 from Downtown to Midtown.
Bounded by Effingham Street, London Boulevard, Elm Avenue and the interstate, the area touches all other parts of the plan. Within the area are many thriving churches, a number of buildings owned by non-profit institutions and organizations, and many viable businesses - some large and some small. The area also includes Ida Barbour Housing Park, a very large and dense public-housing community; London Plaza shopping center, which has been a source of many complaints from nearby neighborhoods; some vacant buildings and much vacant land that has been cleared for redevelopment.
Bringing the disparate parts together has been a struggle. Early in the planning process, the citizens group representing this segment of the city was split into two parts - one to deal with the Effingham side and the other to deal with the Elm Avenue side.
Original concept drawings for Vision 2005 projected mainly single-family, owner-occupied residences in much of the area.
Gindroz envisioned owner occupants as a stabilizing force for an area where problems arise from public housing and absentee landlord rentals. He said that in other cities, the concept had worked. In some places, renters and public housing tenants even became some of the owners, he said, when the new houses were ``affordable.''
However, after he talked with Portsmouth residents and heard about the viable businesses in the area, the more he was convinced there were other solutions.
``We found substantial businesses in the area (who) told us they intended to stay there,'' Gindroz said. ``The plan now has emerged as a mixture.''
At a meeting with citizens from the area, he admonished them to ``work together to accomplish something.''
``The plan will change, but we need some agreement on a starting point,'' he said. ``We must start to have a voice to City Council and to the development and financial communities for this area. We must create some center here and a framework to make things happen.''
Within the past two months, some solutions have begun to emerge.
Vice Mayor Johnny Clemons worked with the Effingham Street side of the area to come up with some proposals.
By avoiding the block fronting on Effingham Street that has been controversial with those who support the Galaxy project as proposed some years ago by Harvey Johnson Jr., the group has been able to move along with plans for other areas.
The Galaxy project was conceived as an enclosed mall containing shops and offices as well as living space. Johnson had proposed it as a not-for-profit project aimed at assisting black businesses. However, marketing studies have not shown a need for the mall as proposed. In addition, financial backing has not been secured.
City officials have said that Johnson and his supporters can make a proposal for the property on Effingham Street if they can up with financial backing for the project.
Meanwhile, the congregations of Ebenezer and Mount Olivet Baptist churches have voted to come together to sponsor an elderly housing development at County and Chestnut streets.
``It's critical for the churches in the area to be part of the planning and action,'' Gindroz said.
Club DePorres, which owns the vacant property behind its High Street buildings, also will construct an office building at King and Chestnut streets.
This construction would create a Main Street effect, Gindroz said.
With housing on top of the commercial space, people would feel safe. The apartments would have porches, which would bring people outside to overlook the streets.
Chestnut Street will be widened on both sides of High Street to accommodate parking and two lanes of traffic.
Some years ago, J. Randy Vaughan refurbished the old department store building on one corner of High and Chestnut streets. The building houses Vaughan's company, Ambassador Enterprises, which designs sound, light and video environments.
The city's streetscaping on High Street already has been extended to Chestnut Street.
``Several groups are interested in developing the vacant lot and the old Pilzer Department Store building across from us,'' Vaughan told the Vision 2005 committee working on the area.
Club DePorres is on a third corner, and the fourth corner is a vacant lot owned by Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
Most likely, the vacant lot would be used for some sort of retail development, perhaps with housing on top floors, according to the Gindroz plan.
``We're going to fix Chestnut first before we do other things,'' said Steve Herbert, the city's Vision 2005 manager. ``This should have some effect on Ida Barbour and on the future of Effingham Street. We're getting close to a critical mass, and next year this time the projects should be well under way.''
Effingham Street will be considered the ``carrier street'' since it provides access to both the Naval Hospital and the Naval Shipyard as well as Downtown from Interstate 264. Chestnut will be the Main Street for people.
The other half of the area, where Councilman Ward Robinett has worked with property owners, also is moving along.
Elm Avenue will be narrowed to four lanes in the Ida Barbour area, where it now is six lanes, and Elm will be widened to four lanes between High Street and London Boulevard, where it is now two lanes.
``It's a matter of creating an orderly look,'' Gindroz said. ``Disorderly areas need order if they are going to be fixed.''
By changing the street, Gindroz says he believes the area will get ``a new look and a new image.''
Dan Evans of Evans Electric has agreed to the widening because in the wake of Vision 2005, he is expanding his business and will move his customer sales counter to High Street. He said he will not need the space on Elm Avenue now used for customer parking and that the city can take some of it to widen the street.
Tweeds Locksmiths, another business that has both retail and wholesale operations on Elm Avenue, also has agreed to the changes in the street.
Gindroz has suggested a farmers' market type of operation somewhere in the area.
``Markets and baseball stadiums attract all kinds of people,'' he said, adding that the purpose of the plan is to attract people.
A corner of London Boulevard and Elm Avenue has been acquired by Rite Aid pharmacy, which plans to build a full-service store there. A drive-in prescription window is planned.
The city has agreed to open Armstrong Street onto London Boulevard to do away with a dead end. That not only will improve traffic flow for the new drug store but also do away with a place for loitering and littering. In addition, Queen Street, between the property acquired by Rite-Aid and the 7-Eleven and Kentucky Fried Chicken stores fronting on High Street, will be widened and paved to provide access to all of the building and to connect Elm and Armstrong. MEMO: [Related story, page 13.] ILLUSTRATION: [Cover]
A CLEARER VISION
Sketch courtesy of CITY OF PORTSMOUTH
Drawing courtesy of CITY OF PORTSMOUTH
The area earmarked for redevelopment, in red and pink, is a
disparate area. It emcompasses thriving churches, buildings owned
by nonprofit organizations and viable commercial interests, Ida
Barbour Housing Park, London Plaza shopping center, some vacant
buildings and much vacant land.
KEYWORDS: REDEVELOPMENT VISION 2005 by CNB