THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609140120
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: EDITORIAL
SOURCE: Kevin Armstrong
LENGTH: 66 lines
As I drive to and from work everyday via Lynnhaven Parkway and pass by Salem High and Middle schools, I often wonder what the political leaders responsible for these projects must feel like. Imagine driving along a four-lane divided thoroughfare or walking into a multi-million-dollar education facility that you had a hand in planning and approving.
It must bring a tremendous sense of accomplishment - at least, of course, when it's done right. Sort of like putting points on the board in a football game.
It's the same sense of pride that City Council members have expressed about the Virginia Beach Amphitheater.
While those projects are great, they amount to field goals or quick touchdowns in the long run.
The Lake Gaston pipeline, by comparison, is the equivalent of playing four quarters of a football game, even going into sudden death overtime to achieve victory.
The pipeline may become a once-in-a-lifetime achievement (if all goes well in the federal courts). It's a massive undertaking spanning more than a decade of negotiations and costing hundreds of millions of dollars. It has required an unfailing commitment to a game plan.
The city now finds itself in the locker room trying to prepare its strategy for a new challenge already under way that also will require a dedicated effort over the long haul - expanding its convention business.
No quick strikes or trick plays will accomplish this goal.
The Resort Area Advisory Commission has put together a strategy and the city's Convention and Visitor Development leaders have been working to refine it for the City Council, which calls the plays in this town.
It's ambitious: an investment of $165 million.
It's long-range: 15 years to complete and fund.
It's visionary: a look we haven't seen before.
It involves four key objectives: more than doubling the size of the Pavilion to about 437,000 square feet, creating a park-like transition area between 20th and 21st streets, revamping Pacific Avenue and creating a resort area transit service.
The payoff amounts to creating a ``Tier 2'' convention opportunity for the city (on the level of Raleigh, Baltimore and Tampa) that would draw thousands of out-of-town visitors year-round.
The city barely has started the game, though.
Questions over the best location for the convention center (current Pavilion site, old Dome site, 31st Street on the Oceanfront, or Rudee Loop), the funding (Tourism Growth Investment Fund, state aid, new tax) and our market niche (how big can we be?) must be answered.
Long-term goals like this require consistently pushing the ball down the field.
The most recent play to be called is a Price Waterhouse study now under way. The goal is to examine the current market and its potential and the economic impact an expanded convention center plan would have on the region.
If you're watching the scoreboard clock, Nov. 1 is when the new findings are due to the city. But keep in mind that we're still in the first quarter.
Jim Ricketts, the city's convention and visitor development director, says he would like to get the major questions answered within six months.
And he admits there are major battles ahead.
One is getting the state to help. In Maryland, for example, the state picked up two-thirds of the cost of Baltimore's convention center and one-half the cost of Ocean City's facility.
Getting the city's political support must come first, though.
Let's hope our leaders decide to take the ball and run with it. by CNB