THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 12, 1996 TAG: 9610120264
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 87 lines
In the shadow of earth-moving equipment that already has begun resculpting the beach, public officials celebrated Friday what may be one of the last great federal-city attempts to stave off beach erosion.
Following a ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the $103 million effort, Sen. John W. Warner, R-Va., who heads the subcommittee that controls beach-erosion funding, stressed that the four-year project will be completed.
``Congress has made a commitment, and it will not be abandoned,'' Warner said. But he added, ``Whether there'll be more remains in doubt. I think we just got under the wire.''
The long-awaited Virginia Beach Hurricane Protection Project is officially under way. The project includes raising and widening the beach, expanding existing dunes, building a new seawall and Boardwalk and installing pumping stations to ease flooding.
It will cost the city and federal treasuries $36 million and $67 million respectively, then lock both parties into a 50-year commitmentto replenish sand as storms carry it off to sea and tidal flow moves it north. The pricetag for replacing the sand about every three years may total as much as $280 million in inflated dollars, with two-thirds of the money coming from Washington.
President Clinton's 1997 budget left out beach erosion funds, a clear signal the project was in danger. But coastal lawmakers, including Warner and Rep. Owen B. Pickett, D-Va., successfully fought to restore the funds.
Several officials who walked to the podium on the sand at 7th Street defended the use of public funds to protect private property.
``Please don't leave here this morning feeling that someone has wasted your money,'' said Mayor Roland E. Powell of Ocean City, Md., which also paid for dunes and a seawall with federal help.
Powell pointed to estimates that both public and private property worth many millions of dollars more than the project cost has been saved in just a few years.
``We're convinced it was money well spent,'' he said. And to Virginia Beach, he added, ``You've done right.''
Virginia Beach has been lucky that a major hurricane has not struck since 1933. The other major beach-wrecker was the ``Ash Wednesday'' northeaster in March 1962.
Maj. Gen. Milton Hunter, one of the top brass in the Army Corps of Engineers, which carries out beach erosion control projects, said ``divine intervention'' has spared the city.
Federal funds are supposed to be spent to shield against storms, not to promote tourism.
``This is not about people building sandcastles,'' said John D'Aniello, the Corps' deputy director for civil works.
But protecting tourism is another matter.
Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf said the Oceanfront attracts 2 million tourists every year who spend $500 million that helps employ more than 20,000 workers.
``We need only remember the following names: Bertha, Edouard, Fran, Josephine, to realize how vulnerable Virginia Beach is to hurricanes,'' she said, referring to hurricanes and tropical storms that brushed Hampton Roads this year.
Pickett said the project ``is justified fully and completely (by) the protection of property.''
Pointing at high-rise hotels overlooking the sand, Warner said, ``This is to protect what you're looking at right there: investments, life and limb, public safety, public property and private property.''
The ground-breaking attracted several passers-by, including Matt and Mary Acunto of Glastonbury, Conn., who hope to move to the Croatan section of the Beach.
``I just hope this thing is a success,'' Matt Acunto said. ``It only takes one terrific storm to wipe it all out.'' MEMO: Protection plan extends to the North End./ B3 ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
The Virginian-Pilot
Groundbreaking for the Virginia Beach Hurricane Protection Project
Following Friday's ceremony, left, Sen. John W. Warner stressed the
federal government's commitment to the 4-year project. ``It will not
be abandoned,'' he said.
THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT FILE PHOTOS
Tourists have long gathered at the beach - at the old Princess Anne
Hotel, above, in 1887, and along the Boardwalk in 1913, below right.
Virginia Beach and federal officials will try to save the beach
from storms - such as this one on Ash Wednesday in 1962, below left. by CNB