DATE: Sunday, March 16, 1997                TAG: 9703160095

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:  169 lines

A LOOK AT THE MERITS OF A MULTIPURPOSE STADIUM BEACH WOULD BE BUYING FLEXIBILITY

The Hampton Roads Mariners would get a pretty good deal if the City Council decides next week to build a multipurpose stadium.

The soccer team would maintain the field year-round, but pay only $100,000 a year in rent and a small percentage of concession and parking fees, according to current plans.

Beach officials freely admit that the Mariners probably won't ever repay taxpayers for building the multipurpose stadium, which is expected to cost about $9 million in its first phase.

``We're not going into this (stadium) with the idea that it's going to be a moneymaker,'' City Manager James K. Spore said, ``but rather that it's a community amenity, a multipurpose facility that has the possibility in the future to grow into something.''

The stadium would be used by the Mariners, the Hampton Roads Sharks semi-pro football team, local high schools andpossibly for college games and regional soccer and football playoffs. It also could be expanded, if the Mariners earn an expansion franchise from the fledgling Major League Soccer.

The Mariners, operating as Hampton Roads Sports LLC, have been asked to pay for what they can afford, said one of the team's owners, Page Johnson. But they won't reimburse the city for its costs.

``We're a major anchor, so to speak, but not a total user,'' Johnson said, explaining that his team will probably hold about 20 home games a year. ``The schools will be using this probably more dates than we will.''

That's different from the situation at the GTE Virginia Beach Amphitheater and Norfolk's Harbor Park baseball stadium, where the primary tenants take up most of the annual dates and eventually will pay their own way.

The Norfolk Tides play 71 home games and occasionally host playoff games. The stadium has been used fewer than 90 dates a year.

Cellar Door of Virginia Inc. plans to book between 30 and 40 concerts a season at the amphitheater, which hosted only two nonmusical events in its inaugural year.

The financial deals for both of those facilities were designed to return the taxpayers' investment, through rent and some taxes. The $17 million amphitheater is expected to pay for itself in seven to 10 years; Harbor Park, which cost $15 million to build, is slated to return the public's money by the time its bonds are repaid in 2013.

So far, both facilities have exceeded their projections.

The amphitheater promised to pay Virginia Beach $730,000 in rent a year - more if turnout were high. For the first year, the city took in $839,000.

Harbor Park's financial projections were based on annual attendance of 400,000 fans. In its first four years, Tides' attendance has never dropped below 500,000. That doesn't affect the rent the city receives, but it does mean more people shopping at Waterside and eating at downtown restaurants, Bill Luther, Norfolk's director of civic facilities, said Friday.

``It's been a wonderful investment for the city,'' Luther said. ``I don't think there's anybody in business in the downtown area who would disagree.''

The soccer stadium might help fill some Beach hotel rooms a few nights a year, but it isn't expected to bring big bucks to the city. Its benefit is in its flexibility, city officials said.

``Imagination and marketing efforts will dictate how often it's used,'' said Mark R. Wawner, project development manager for the Virginia Beach Department of Economic Development. ``But I'd say it's realistic to say this facility will be used 40-50 times a year (outside of soccer games), maybe more.''

For soccer games, the city would only get 5 percent of sponsorship and parking revenues and 10 percent of concession and skybox fees, according to the most recent draft of the lease agreement. But the city would get all revenues from public events, such as the soft drinks sold at high school games, and half the revenue from ``stadium events,'' such as Sharks games.

Wawner said he estimated those extras, and taxes generated at Mariners games, would make the city's annual take from the stadium $225,000 to $250,000.

By holding high school football games at the stadium, the city could scale back a planned stadium at Lake Ridge High School and perhaps future new schools, saving about $350,000 per school, he said.

``This field has the potential to be home for the next three to four high schools built,'' Wawner said. ``The playing field will be superior to anything the other high schools have.''

If the stadium becomes home to a major league soccer team, however, it may be ``too expensive to turn the lights on'' for a high school game, he said.

An expansion into the major leagues, which would add at least $50 million to the bottom line, would be funded in part by the Mariners, both Wawner and team owner Page Johnson said. The two sides will not negotiate specifics until the time comes for an expansion, they said.

Dave Rosenfield, the Tides' general manager, said he doesn't have much confidence in the long-term success of professional soccer or what he's heard about the proposed stadium deal.

``If anybody believes that soccer can ever be a major league sport, you'll have to convince me,'' he said Friday. ``I think I'll be an astronaut by then.''

Rosenfield said he's skeptical about plans to end stadium events by 8 p.m. on nights when there's a concert at the nearby amphitheater. The Mariners agreed to the early nights to alleviate concerns that game noise and traffic would disrupt amphitheater concerts.

Weekend nights are baseball's ``bread and butter,'' Rosenfield said, and his team would never make it financially without playing Fridays and Saturdays.

``You have to play at a time that is convenient for people,'' he said. ``Maybe you can play at 5:30, I don't know. I sure wouldn't want to.''

Based on last year's amphitheater schedule, only two Mariners' games would have to be reset, city and Mariners' officials said.

``It's going to be a little bit of an inconvenience for us,'' Johnson said, but not an insurmountable problem.

That part of the deal is only proposed to last for one year. During that time, Johnson figures the amphitheater promoters will realize the soccer games don't conflict with concerts and will allow the two events to go on simultaneously.

All told, Johnson said, his team is paying a fair price for the municipal facility.

``We're paying a lot more than it appears on the lease,'' he said, because his group will manage the stadium and generate tax revenue for the city.

``We're really the caretakers,'' Johnson said.

``We're taking an administrative headache away from the city. It'll be a headache-free entity for them, hopefully.'' ILLUSTRATION: Graphics

Color photos

AMPHITHEATER

Location: Lake Ridge, off Princess Anne Road

Year opened: 1996

Construction costs: $17 million

Primary tenant: Cellar Door of Virginia

Tenant events: 30-40 concerts

Length of lease: 30 years

Tenant up-front money: $8 million

Annual rent: $730,000 minimum

City cut of other revenue: 5 percent of parking and sponsorship;

taxes on concessions

Non-tenant/municipal events: 2 last year, including high school

convocation and a teacher's in-service day; more expected this year

Gross revenue to city: $839,000 last year

HARBOR PARK

Location: downtown Norfolk

Year opened: 1993

Construction costs: $15 million

Primary tenant: Norfolk Tides

Tenant events: 74 home and playoff games last year

Length of lease: 20 years

Tenant up-front money: none

Annual rent: maximum of $1 million, offset by parking, admission

and meal taxes collected at the stadium

City cut of other revenue: Tides keep all concession and skybox

revenue; taxes used to draw down rent

Non-tenant/municipal events: about a dozen, including high school

football, concerts and speeches

Gross revenue to city: roughly $1,050,000 last year

PROPOSED STADIUM

Rendering shows a fully expanded stadium

Location: Lake Ridge, off Princess Anne Road

Year opened: 1998 projected

Construction costs: $9 million

Primary tenant: Hampton Roads Mariners

Tenant events: 20 home and exhibition games in 1998

Length of lease: 20 years (to be renegotiated if stadium is

expanded)

Tenant up-front money: none

Annual rent: $100,000

City cut of other revenue: 10 percent of concessions and luxury

boxes; 5 percent of parking and sponsorship fees.

Non-tenant/municipal events: 40-50 planned

Gross revenue to city: projected $225,000 to $250,000

The Virginian-Pilot

WITH OPTIONS TO GROW...

SOURCE: THE TAF Group

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm] KEYWORDS: PROPOSED STADIUM VIRGINIA BEACH

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