THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 17, 1997 TAG: 9701180337
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BATTINTO BATTS JR., STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: 66 lines
City Manager Ronald W. Massie thinks he can improve government efficiency and add momentum to Portsmouth's economic turnaround by merging city departments.
Last week, Massie announced that he was combining the city's Department of General Services with the Department of Parks and Recreation.
This week, he said he wants to meld two more sets of departments.
He is combining the Department of Museums, the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Department of Communications and Marketing; and merging the Department of Environmental Services with the Planning Department, to create a new Department of Neighborhood Quality.
The changes already have taken effect.
``I want to bring together units with common missions,'' Massie said. ``Some of the departments that have been merged were so small that they probably shouldn't have been departments. Some of this is efficiency, and the rest is to allow us to market the city's attractions better.''
Closer links among the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the departments of museums and marketing and communications will help make Portsmouth a stronger player in the area convention market, Massie said.
Massie and Ken Wheeler, who will head the new department, believe Portsmouth has untapped potential as a place to visit, with such attractions as the Children's Museum and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
Wheeler, now head of marketing and communications, and Massie said that better marketing of those and other city attractions would encourage more people to come to Portsmouth and spend their money here.
The city has struggled in recent years with an eroding retail tax base, but has shown signs of an economic recovery during the past several months.
Portsmouth reported a $6 million surplus from its 1996 fiscal budget, the second year in a row the city has had money left over after paying its bills. The city had a $1 million surplus at the end of the 1995 fiscal year. City officials say residential growth and an improved economy are among the main reasons for the comeback.
``Using the right marketing strategies, I think we have the potential to increase traffic at Portsmouth shops, galleries and restaurants and to develop new attractions,'' Wheeler said. ``But that has to be done in a careful way. We're talking about determining target markets and finding out how to reach them.''
A new hotel and convention center is one of the main projects that will likely come out of Wheeler's department.
Hoping to grab a piece of Hampton Roads' growing hotel business, city officials are exploring the feasibility of building another hotel on Portsmouth's waterfront.
The new hotel, possibly in the same category as a Marriott or a Hyatt, would be adjoined by a 25,000-square-foot convention center. The facility would be located next to the Holiday Inn in downtown to provide visitors with a choice of accommodations, Massie said.
In a few weeks, city officials expect to complete a market study to determine if Portsmouth can support the new hotel and convention center.
But Massie doesn't just want to make Portsmouth a better place to visit, he said. He hopes to encourage more people to move to the city. That desire led to the creation of the Department of Neighborhood Quality, he said.
Jim Gildea, who had been director of the planning department, will head the new department, which will focus mainly on improving the city's neighborhoods through zoning, code enforcement and planning.
``Neighborhood quality will be stressed,'' Massie said. ``We want to comprehensively address neighborhood problems and develop solutions that are future-oriented.''