THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, January 11, 1997 TAG: 9701110341
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: NHL In Hampton Roads
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 113 lines
The Howard Johnson hotel on Brambleton Avenue is mostly vacant this time of year.
The only people on the sidewalks are heading to the plasma bank or Greyhound bus terminal down the street.
The ringing of a lone pay phone and the race of traffic are the only life late at night around the so-called golden triangle.
The northwest corner of Norfolk's downtown has seen better days.
But, city officials think an arena for the proposed Hampton Roads Rhinos may spur the area's return.
By flattening the hotel and putting parking where the bus terminal sits, Norfolk planners hope to energize a part of the city that doesn't generate much tax revenue.
``We've always somewhat deferred major emphasis in that area,'' City Manager James B. Oliver said Friday, choosing to focus more on Waterside Drive and the Granby-Monticello corridor. But the yet-to-be-named arena provides a great opportunity to push the city's redevelopment efforts across Brambleton Avenue, he said.
It could drive up real estate values, he said, and begin to turn the surrounding area into an arts district bounded by the Chrysler Museum, Harrison Opera House, and now, the arena.
``This would really be a wonderful anchor to that quadrant,'' he said.
Oliver said he and Mayor Paul D. Fraim initially preferred a site on the other side of Scope on Charlotte Street, because it was closer to the MacArthur Center, now under construction, and most of the bustle of downtown.
They were convinced the new site was better by planners, including Ray Gindroz of UDA Architects in Pittsburgh, who has spent years refining a master plan for downtown, and the HOK Sports Facilities Group in Kansas City, which is designing the arena.
The Charlotte Street site was too hemmed in, Oliver said, making it difficult to find parking or to design a distinctive facility.
Because the Moses Myers House, one of the city's most historic buildings, backs onto the parcel, the city might have to do archeological work to prepare the site. And Norfolk would have to tear down the Freemason Garage, which it just spent $4 million renovating.
That combination made the Charlotte Street site even more expensive than the Howard Johnson tract, Oliver said.
``North of Brambleton, we can do a much more dominant kind of a building and make it an icon kind of place,'' he said.
To build on the ``golden triangle,'' bounded by St. Paul's Boulevard and Monticello and Brambleton avenues, the city will have to buy and tear down the hotel.
Fraim said he thought the city could buy the site for $4.5 million.
The city will also pay to build a 1,000-car parking garage on the city-owned land now occupied by the Greyhound bus terminal, Oliver said.
The block between Monticello and Brambleton, Starke and Olney Street, that now houses Bob's Gun Shop and other businesses would not be part of the plan.
``When you put the site together with parking and infrastructure, you're talking $30 million-plus,'' Fraim said.
The city will put up about $15 million of that, in addition to $1.50 per Norfolk resident per year - or about $330,000.
Fifteen cities in the region are being asked to put up $1.50 per capita to help retire the arena debt.
Fraim said he expected some help from the state as well, to pay for road improvements.
When The Walt Disney Co. wanted to build a theme park in Northern Virginia, the state offered to pay for road improvements. Norfolk will ask for similar consideration for the arena, Fraim said.
Tom Ward, the Rhinos representative in Hampton Roads, said the team's criteria for the arena are similar to the city's.
``We want it to be as fan-friendly as possible, in an area that's easily accessible by car, by foot,'' said Ward, vice president of marketing for the Charlotte Hornets, whose owner, George Shinn, would also own the Rhinos. Both the Charlotte Street and the Howard Johnson sites meet those needs, he said.
``It's not something that needs a whole lot of debate,'' Ward said, ``it just needs a little more scrutiny to see which is best.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphic
Side Bar
A History of the Site
Summer 1958 - Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority sells
5.2 acres of urban renewal property to Herbert Glassman for
$165,000.
June 1961 - The $6-million Golden Triangle Motor Hotel opens.
November 1965 - The Golden Triangle plans to expand from 361 to
600 rooms, contingent on the building of a nearby coliseum.
October 1971 - The Golden Triangle is sold to Norfolk businessmen
Norman D. Groh, Gerald L. Lavenstein and Cecil E. Allman for $4
million. It is to be re-named Holiday Inn-Coliseum.
November 1971 - Holiday Inn-Coliseum to be re-named Holiday
Inn-Scope after improvements are made to the hotel.
Early 1970s - Increasing financial problems plague the hotel,
blamed on general lack of business downtown, too many hotel rooms
downtown and less Bicentennial tourist traffic than expected.
September 1976 - Owners file bankruptcy petition, halting planned
foreclosure sale.
January 1979 - Holiday Inn-Executive Tower, formerly known as
Holiday Inn-Scope, is taken over by the Maryland investment firm of
B.F. Saul Real Estate Investment Trust. It is sold to Saul in
February 1979 for $5.3 million.
June 1982 - Franklin Property Co., a subsidiary of B.F. Saul,
begins a new phase of facelift to upgrade hotel for more
luxury-oriented market.
October 1983 - Hotel becomes Holiday Inn-Waterside.
December 1991 - Hotel loses the right to use Holiday Inn name and
becomes the Hotel Norfolk.
September 1992 - Hotel affiliates with Howard Johnson chain.
January 1997 - Hotel site is considered best location for new
arena.
KEYWORDS: NHL FRANCHISE ARENA CHRONOLOGY