THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050471
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: NHL In Hampton Roads
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM AND LAURA LAFAY, STAFF WRITERS
LENGTH: 73 lines
It didn't come without some partisan rancor, but the Virginia House of Delegates on Tuesday approved legislation necessary for Hampton Roads to build a 20,000-seat arena for a proposed National Hockey League expansion team.
The 54-39 vote, opposed by many Republican delegates from Hampton Roads, sends the legislation on to the state Senate. Republican Gov. George F. Allen has pledged to sign the bill, said Del. Jerrauld Jones, a Norfolk Democrat.
``As long as the legislation adheres to the principles (Allen) outlined to us (in a letter dated Oct. 8), he has said he will sign the bill,'' Jones said.
Allen stated in that letter he would allow Norfolk and the state to rebate taxes generated at the arena - mostly income and sales taxes - to the Hampton Roads Sports Facility Authority. The authority, which would build the arena, would use those revenues to pay off the arena debt.
Officials anticipate about $5 million a year in rebated taxes. That would provide the lion's share of the arena debt payments of about $8.9 million a year.
Jones said Allen's staff helped craft the final bill approved by the House finance committee last week. But that didn't stop a number of Republicans, including Thomas Watkins of Midlothian, from speaking out against the bill on the House floor.
Watkins charged that the bill would allow the sports facility authority to condemn property of residents in Norfolk. The authority would ``displace people to push ice hockey pucks around a rink,'' he said.
Jones replied that the legislation rules out the authority condemning any property.
Other legislators contended that the legislation would saddle Virginia with millions of dollars of debt if the arena failed. Jones said the arena bondholders, not the state, would be liable for any debts.
``This is the kind of issue in which there's a lot of heat, and not a lot of light, shed on the (House) floor,'' Jones said. ``It's the kind of thing that people are cautious about, and understandably so, and it's a difficult issue to understand. The financing is complicated and innovative.
``This isn't just about hockey, as so many people have made this out to be. This arena will bring college basketball tournaments, arena football and some other minor league sports. We're talking about the World Wrestling Federation, about Garth Brooks and tractor pulls. It's going to bring us so many things that are now passing us by.''
Hampton Roads delegates generally supported the legislation as it passed through committee and a series of preliminary House votes. But during the final vote, six delegates whose districts are entirely in Virginia Beach either opposed, abstained or did not vote. The only Virginia Beach delegates voting in favor of the bill were Thelma Drake and William P. Robinson Jr., whose districts are largely in Norfolk.
Phillip A. Hamilton, a Republican from Newport News who voted no, said 88 percent of his constituents he polled oppose the arena.
Dealing with that public opposition will now fall to the Future of Hampton Roads, a 15-year-old private group dedicated to promoting regional cooperation and economic growth. The Hampton Roads Partnership appears set to hand off the leadership role in the arena effort to the Future of Hampton Roads later this week.
The Partnership is a public/private group of the region's business, education and political leaders. Since November it has negotiated for the region with Charlotte businessman George Shinn, including an arena deal Shinn signed last month, and tried to promote the region to the NHL.
Future of Hampton Roads president Brad Face, CEO of The Face Companies, led an effort to get funding from seven cities and Isle of Wight county for a $21 million super speedway in 1986. All eight localities approved, but the speedway effort died when NASCAR would not provide written guarantees for race dates.
Face said he has agreed to lead a similar effort for the arena by leading a ``task force'' of Future of Hampton Roads officials.
KEYWORDS: NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE ARENA GENERAL ASSEMBLY