DATE: Friday, June 20, 1997                 TAG: 9706200654

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY IDA KAY JORDAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   80 lines

THE WHISTLE STOP GETS OFF TO SWEET START

Owning an ice cream parlor was not what Norman T. Malbon of Virginia Beach had in mind when he and a partner bought the old Hofheimer's building on High Street next to the Children's Museum of Virginia.

But there he was Tuesday, speaking at the official opening of The Whistle Stop on Middle Street Mall near the museum entrance in a rear portion of the former shoe store. The Whistle Stop sells all kinds of ice cream concoctions plus hot dogs and soft drinks.

``I had no idea we'd be having a ribbon-cutting for an ice cream store when we acquired this building in October,'' Malbon said.

``We searched for ice cream people and found none who wanted to do a store here,'' said John W. Bell of Chesapeake, Malbon's partner in the venture. ``That's why we're in it. It's a good idea.''

Malbon said the thousands of children and grown-ups who visit the museum make it a great location.

``The reason we picked Whistle Stop for the name is the prominence of railroads in the history of Portsmouth and also the fact that the Lancaster Collection of toy trains will be displayed in the museum by next year,'' Malbon said.

Malbon, 35, and Bell, 44, are partners in Largo Construction Co. They moved their headquarters from Chesapeake to Portsmouth's High Street last year.

Not all of their friends and associates understand their heavy commitment to Portsmouth, said Malbon, a member of the well-known Virginia Beach family that owned a large hog farm until the 1980s.

Largo has been in business since 1985. The company has built more than 100 houses in South Hampton Roads, including a Churchland subdivision called River Peace. Largo also has done commercial construction and remodeling all over South Hampton Roads.

``A couple of years ago we got a list of things the Portsmouth Redevelopmentand Housing Authority had for sale,'' Malbon said. ``We bought 728 High Street, remodeled it and put our office there. It was a good value, and we felt a resurgence in downtown.''

From there, Largo acquired a three-story building at 630 High St., then last fall the company picked up the former Hofheimer's store that had been empty for years. In addition, Largo has bought two apartments in Olde Towne Commons, a block off High Street.

The official opening of the ice cream store came only a few weeks after the company opened Olde Towne Decorating on the first floor of the Largo headquarters. That business specializes in floor coverings - carpet, tile and hardwood.

Malbon ticked off a long list of activities, noting that Portsmouth is ``aggressively pursuing business down here.'' Recently, eight proposals came to PRHA for four buildings in the 600 block of High Street, and that prompted Malbon and Bell to start facade renovations on the now-empty building they own nearby.

But the Hofheimer's building has not filled up as fast as Malbon would like. Last winter, The First Lady, a women's clothing store, opened in one small area of the building, and a hair salon is scheduled to take another small space.

``We still have 5,000 square feet, and we can divide it,'' said Bell, the construction man in the partnership. ``We can even cut in another storefront on High Street.''

``You know, this is one of the best, if not the best, corners in the area for retail business,'' Malbon said. ``We have to find the right people.''

Factors that make it a hot corner, he said, include the opening of the High Street Landing ferry and boat dock this summer, the upcoming doubling in size of the Children's Museum and the hotel proposed for the nearby waterfront.

``We're taking a risk, and we recognize that,'' Malbon said. ``But a lot of stuff is happening.''

Elizabeth Psimas, chairwoman of the Portsmouth division of the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce and owner of a successful downtown travel agency, says she thinks the danger of failure has diminished dramatically in recent years.

``It's a very exciting time in downtown,'' Psimas said. ``I don't think we're at risk anymore. Some of us who started out years ago are now making a comfortable living in downtown Portsmouth.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

BILL TIERNAN/The Virginian-Pilot

Business partners Norman T. Malbon and John W. Bell couldn't find

``ice cream people'' who wanted to open a store next to the

Children's Museum of Virginia in Portsmouth. So they did.

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