THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 11, 1996 TAG: 9607110007
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By CATHY COLEMAN
LENGTH: 60 lines
There was a time when I often found myself defending staff writer Alex Marshall as one who cared about and understood cities. I now believe that Alex Marshall uses his privilege of the printed word to defend the positions of people with whom he is in personal agreement. He has also become painfully predictable in his bias.
On Wednesday, June 26, I attended a meeting in Norfolk City Council chambers. At that meeting, design consultants briefed Norfolk's Design Review Committee and Planning Commission on the progress being made on the design of MacArthur Center. Input and feedback were solicited from those two appointed bodies, and comments from the general public were heard at the end of the meeting. Mark Perreault, an outspoken critic of MacArthur Center, spoke for about three minutes in a meeting that lasted more than two hours.
Upon returning to my office after the meeting, I predicted that Alex Marshall's reporting of the meeting would not be a fair characterization of what occurred. I predicted that Mark Perreault's comments would be given undue credibility and a picture of Mark Perreault would be a part of the article. What would not be a part of the article, I further predicted, was fair reporting of the open and honest dialogue that took place between designers and appointees. Sure enough, Thursday morning's article was as I thought it would be.
Marshall took out of context the comments made as a part of an ongoing process, a process designed to make MacArthur Center a great city asset. He did not report the tremendous challenge of bringing together four architectural firms, each with its own client or needs, nor did he mention the praise given them for their strong efforts to adhere to the city's design guidelines (a positive story in itself).
Marshall did not mention that the meeting was billed as a time to solicit honest feedback during the process of design rather than the presentation of a finished product demanding acceptance. He also did not mention that previous comments of both the Design Review Commission and the Planning Commission had already been incorporated into the design of the project, again garnering praise for the architects' work.
Was there constructive criticism? Of course there was. That's what the meeting was all about.
Was there acknowledgment of the need for some compromise? Yes. But architects compromise all the time. They compromise to accommodate the slope of the land, the location of the property line, sometimes even to save cutting down a beautiful old tree. Striking the balance between aesthetics and economic necessity is inherent to the process of creating economic development.
A lively street frontage and a ``better-connected'' downtown are not only goals, they will be the great benefits of the MacArthur Center development. With our elected city leadership, our appointed experts, our hired consultants and staff and a responsible public acting as a conscience, I am confident that the final design for MacArthur Center will be one that will complement our proud Southern city.
Most important, MacArthur Center will once again make downtown Norfolk an inviting retail destination providing much-needed revenue for the city and much-needed employment for many. MEMO: Cathy Coleman is executive director of Downtown Norfolk Council. by CNB