THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 17, 1997 TAG: 9701180336
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: 49 lines
City officials are aggressively looking for a third party, possibly even Disney, to buy or run Nauticus, Mayor Paul D. Fraim said Thursday.
``We have contacted some companies who might be interested, and it has even been visited by a couple of them,'' Fraim said.
City Councilman Randy Wright, a longtime critic of Nauticus, has been urging this course for months, but Fraim's comments were the first indication that the city is moving that way.
On Tuesday, the city formally took control of Nauticus, a 2 1/2-year-old maritime tourist attraction which has failed to draw the number of visitors projected and thus can't meet its expenses - expenses that could cost the city $2 million to $3 million a year.
The takeover was at the request of the Nauticus board.
Some city leaders, already looking at future spending on the MacArthur Center mall downtown, or on the proposed arena for a professional hockey team, began talking privately about spinning off Nauticus even before this week's action. The city's acquisition of the project just makes the discussions easier.
``We're thinking that a third party might have not only the expertise we don't, but also deeper pockets to refresh the facility and promote it,'' Fraim said.
The mayor said the city had contacted Disney, the top name in theme parks, and Sony, better known in music and movies but now branching out into new recreation ventures. He declined to be more specific about those talks, or about who had visited Nauticus.
Disney and Sony spokesmen declined to comment.
Wright said he is excited by the possibilities.
``Think of the Disney name on that building,'' he said. ``To me it goes instantly from being a losing card to a winning card. Heck, if we flat-out gave it to them, the admissions taxes alone would probably make our debt payments.''
Not everyone agrees. When Councilman Mason C. Andrews, an original supporter of Nauticus, heard of Fraim's remarks, he said, ``Pooh! There's no one on the horizon who'd take it over.''
Andrews said he fears that any outside party which took over Nauticus would not adhere to its original purpose of a maritime attraction that reflects Hampton Roads' heritage.
Peter G. Decker Jr., chairman of the Nauticus board, said the city should only get involved with a ``signature'' company like Disney.
``From the very early days we would have considered a suitor like Disney, or one of the larger entertainment industry figures,'' Decker said.