DATE: Friday, July 4, 1997                  TAG: 9707040514

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   80 lines

2ND FIRE IN 2 1/2 YEARS GUTS ARCHITECTS' OFFICE

An early morning fire Thursday destroyed the main office of The TAF Group, a prominent local design and development firm whose members have created Scope, Chrysler Hall, the Harrison Opera House and the Pavilion Convention Center.

A regional task force of fire investigators began sifting through the still-hot ashes Thursday afternoon. The group continued working into the evening to determine the cause.

Destruction of the 50-by-150-foot building and its contents resulted in an estimated $2 million in damages, said Mike Wade, a battalion chief with the Virginia Beach Fire Department.

The two-alarm blaze was called in at 3:31 a.m. and more than 20 city fire units and 70 firefighters eventually responded to the secluded compound at 100 Landmark Square, sandwiched between Virginia Beach Boulevard and the Virginia Beach-Norfolk Expressway.

The fire is the second to hit the firm's headquarters in 2 1/2 years, company president Oliver P. Farinholt said, but this one was far more devastating.

While the architectural designs and records in the office were destroyed, work on a number of regional and out-of-state projects - including a $9 million multi-purpose soccer stadium in VirginiaBeach - apparently will not be affected, he said.

``Electronic backups'' would save company designers, engineers and construction crews from starting all over again on 142 active projects, Farinholt explained.

``We'll be set up at a new location Monday,'' he said. He did not say where that new location will be.

Other projects in progress include the Chesapeake Courts complex, several schools in Hertford, N.C., a number of overseas Navy Exchange complexes and several Hampton Roads post office buildings.

``Ironically,'' he added, ``we were working on a new fire station for Virginia Beach at the time.''

The TAF Group is a multi-purpose architectural, engineering and construction company that employs 130 people. It was formed gradually from 1994 through 1996 by the mergers of four well-known South Hampton Roads firms. They included the Talbot Group; Walsh-Ashe and Associates; Forterra Construction Co. and Williams, Tazewell and Associates.

TAF now stands for Tazewell, Ashe and Forterra.

The heart of the company operations was housed in the 25-year-old, one-story, frame building located at Landmark Square in the Washington Park area of Virginia Beach.

Members of the The TAF Group are well known in Hampton Roads and have designed some of the region's most distinctive buildings.

The portfolio of Williams, Tazewell and Associates - which merged with the TAF Group in 1996 - includes the Harrison Opera House, Norfolk Southern Tower, Scope and Chrysler Hall in Norfolk.

The TAF Group has designed some of Virginia Beach's major landmarks, including the Pavilion, the Virginia Beach Center for Contemporary Arts, the Virginia Beach Veterans Memorial, Five Columbus Center and Ocean Lakes High School.

The fire inquiry is being conducted by the Tidewater Regional Arson Task Force, a group of 11 investigators from local agencies, which was called in to help city fire officials.

``It was just to speed up the process,'' Wade said. ``We called them in because of the size and scope of the fire. It would take us days with our three investigators.''

Agencies contributing to the probe include the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the State Police, and the Chesapeake and Norfolk fire departments.

A fire 2 1/2 years ago destroyed one-third of the headquarters building, but company officials rebuilt it.

Whether The TAF Group will rebuild a new office on the same site hasn't been decided, but work on projects definitely will resume Monday, Farinholt said.

``We're a resilient bunch, we'll come back nice and strong.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MARTIN C. GRUBE/Tidewater Fire Photographers Association

Firefighters try to save the headquarters of The TAF Group in

Virginia Beach on Thursday.

Map

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