THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 6, 1997 TAG: 9702060002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A16 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: 27 lines
Whenever we attend an event at the Pavilion theater or Chrysler Hall, I am reminded of a fire or other disaster waiting to happen. Neither of these theaters have center aisles, as most theaters and halls do (examples: Lincoln Center, New York; Boston Symphony Hall; Kennedy Center theater and Constitution Hall, Washington).
The Yellow Pages of the South Hampton Roads telephone directory, Pages 18-21, show floor plans of the Pavilion theater and Chrysler Hall with up to 62 seats in an unbroken row. By contrast, Harrison Opera House, Wells Theater and William & Mary Hall have two or three inner aisles.
Can you imagine someone in the theater or hall center caught in the throes of a stroke or heart attack, trying to move past 30 seated patrons?
As a minimum, Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf and Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim should take action to create center aisles by removing two or three seats from the orchestra pit center to the back and cutting a center door to the lobby. This would reduce significantly the inherent risk to the patrons, and the potential lawsuit liability to the cities.
LOUIS SEARLEMAN
Virginia Beach, Jan. 28, 1997