THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, June 21, 1996 TAG: 9606190127
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 07 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOHN-HENRY DOUCETTE, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 43 lines
Ground was broken Tuesday for the latest in a growing number of entertainment attractions to the Greenbrier area.
The first phase of Harvie Sports Complex - a $2.5 million NHL-sized skating rink - is expected to be completed by Oct. 1. The rink will be called the Ice Palace.
The Richmond-based ADANAC Group, which is building the rink, has yet to receive city approval of its building plans and to obtain site permits. ADANAC president Allan B. Harvie Jr. said he expects approval this week or next, then construction will begin.
``That whole area is becoming an entertainment Mecca,'' said Harvie about the area known as Crossways at Greenbrier. ``That entire area will draw not just from Chesapeake, but hopefully from the whole area.''
``That's the hot area,'' agreed Donald Z. Goldberg, Chesapeake's director of economic development. ``Everybody wants to be in Greenbrier. It's easy on and off the highway, it's a safe area, and it's convenient. It all works.''
The fledgling complex isn't ADANAC or Harvie's first foothold in the area. Another Ice Palace will open July 31 in Newport News. The group also controls a portable rink in Virginia Beach, which Harvie says will be removed April 1, 1997, and replaced with a permanent rink somewhere in that city.
Eventually, Harvie said he aims to have four hockey rinks in the Tidewater area.
The Chesapeake complex, when completed, will be more than just an ice rink.
When the second phase of the project is completed in July 1997, plans are for two ice rinks, a 32-lane bowling center, a sports pub, a laser tag course, a billiard center, a miniature golf course and a children's nursery.
The first phase of the project will bring approximately 60 full and part-time jobs to the city, according to Harvie, the former owner of the Richmond Renegades hockey team. Phase 2 will increase that number to between 150 and 170, he said.
``The center will certainly provide some entertainment for citizens,'' Goldberg predicted.
The Harvie Sports Complex is being constructed by Engineering Services of Virginia Beach. Construction costs for both phases of the project are expected to be $7 million. by CNB