DATE: Friday, May 23, 1997                  TAG: 9705210214

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: IDA KAY'S PORTSMOUTH 

SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan 

                                            LENGTH:   59 lines

HELP PLAN THE FUTURE FOR AIRLINE BOULEVARD

As Planning Director Jim Gildea said, it's going to take more than one meeting to have constructive dialogue between citizens and planners about the Airline Boulevard corridor.

It was obvious at the first public session last Saturday morning at Wilson High School that many people who live in the area have a festering negative attitude toward the city. They seemed more interested in venting their feelings about the past than in telling city planners what they envision in the area.

Once again I was shocked by the high feeling about the regional jail on otherwise non-productive industrial land off Elmhurst Lane.

For starters, the well-designed jail probably will be a better neighbor than some other things that could have gone on the space without any problem under the zoning. Secondly, it is a very profitable deal for Portsmouth.

When I voice these opinions, people have said to me, ``But you don't live there.''

That's true. But I do live and work in proximity to the city jail. In fact, it's a landmark we use in telling people how to find our office.

People parked all around the city jail on the nights they came to City Council meetings to oppose the regional facility.

Jails everywhere are located near residential areas and businesses. They always have been. Most people who live in Olde Towne and Olde Towne South are as close to the city jail as Airline Boulevard corridor residents are to the regional jail.

All my life, a jail or a prison has been a reality of life in town. When I was a kid, we walked right by the jail to the public schools a block or so away. Later, living near Central Prison in Raleigh, N.C., was no cause for worry. It was only a block or two from many fine residences.

Jails are part of the city fabric. In Portsmouth, before the jail was on the waterfront, it was a block off High Street on Court Street.

The regional jail becomes an enemy only when you refuse to think about the facts of the matter. I do wish the people around Airline Boulevard would stop wasting energy about the jail and start being constructive about their part of the city.

As Deputy City Manager Johnna Whitaker said Saturday, the city must have a long-range plan for any area where it expects to attract private investment. And it must have private investors if anything in Portsmouth is going to change for the better.

As the city has embarked over the past year on a new journey to Vision 2005, many citizens have become involved in the planning and implementation of a better future. And while that citizen involvement sometimes is difficult for some bureaucrats to deal with, it is the only way to get the plan rolling.

The very existence of plans and the fact that the public is promoting them already has begun to attract the attention of outsiders.

The Airline Boulevard corridor is a vast, under-used part of the city with many vacant buildings. It is a logical place to attract new business, but we have to find the right formula.

The folks who attended the meeting Saturday must help with the plans, not fight against the efforts of city folks like Jim Gildea who believe the public should be involved.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu