DATE: Wednesday, August 20, 1997            TAG: 9708200394

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY REBECCA MYERS CUTCHINS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:  100 lines

SENIOR CENTER MAY MOVE TO TOWER MALL IT'S TOUTED AS A WIN-WIN SITE FOR PORTSMOUTH.

Tower Mall may be the new site for the city's Senior Citizen Center, which has to move by Sept. 30 after 20 years at its downtown location, 305 High St.

``We want to be in by October 1,'' said Harry Thompson, the city's recreation manager. ``The lease is up on High Street, so that's our goal.''

The deal, however, has not been finalized between the city and Tower Mall officials.

``We're negotiating with Tower Mall, but we have not signed an agreement, nor have we reached an agreement yet,'' Deputy City Manager C.W. McCoy said Tuesday.

``We think it's a good marriage for Tower Mall as well as for the senior citizens,'' McCoy said. ``One of TRT's main dropping points is Tower Mall, so for those who do not have their own transportation, this affords them a way to get to the center and helps them get the services that they need on a daily basis.''

If the move to Tower Mall was made, the senior center would be in the area across from the old Miller & Rhoads department store.

``It's centrally located, it's on the bus line, and if the mall develops,'' Thompson said, ``it has the potential of having one-stop type shopping for the seniors. . . .

``And with security there and the bus line and other services seniors could use, it would be an ideal location.''

Built in the early 1970s, Tower Mall was once a major retail center for Portsmouth. However, as the the economy soured in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the tenants began to leave.

Tower Mall is now a shell of its former self. With the exception of a Montgomery Ward Outlet, the mall no longer has any large anchors. It does have a number of small retail shops, as well as a Radio Shack, a General Nutrition Center and a Footlocker. Chick-Fil-A is one of three restaurants. In addition, the city maintains satellite offices at the mall for the city treasurer and the commissioner of the revenue.

Moving the senior center would fit into Portsmouth's plan to revitalize the mall and the Victory Boulevard area, said Matthew James, the city's director of economic development.

A number of malls across the country are attracting a similar diversity of tenants, said Mike Kokoska, senior vice president of Jefferson Realty Group and leasing agent for Tower Mall.

Kokoska thinks the senior center would have a positive impact on the mall.

``We're trying to get them there,'' he said. ``I think if we can show a comfortable, friendly environment to the senior citizens in the area, that should grow into a comfort level for the younger groups.''

Kokoska says he is not concerned that the senior center would take up space that otherwise could be used for retail.

Kokoska sees the seniors as a captive audience, of sorts, for the mall.

``With the seniors there, they'll be able to enjoy the amenity package of restaurants and shopping,'' Kokoska said. ``I feel that they'll be a built-in customer base.''

About three dozen seniors representing a cross section of the city were shown the site last month, said Thompson, who described the group as ``ecstatic and very enthusiastic'' about the possibility of having the facility there.

``If it's something the city can do, I think it will just add to the resurgence of the mall,'' he said.

Margie Connor, the city's senior citizen coordinator, said the new location would double the amount of space the center currently has in Olde Towne, from about 4,000 usable square feet to almost 9,000 square feet.

An average of 40 to 60 seniors use the center each day, most participating in billiards, darts, sewing, crocheting, knitting, health screenings, painting and ceramics classes.

``We anticipate doubling, if not tripling, that number once we make the move,'' Connor said. ``I already can picture shuffleboard on the side of the mall. I can picture putting in some horseshoe pits outside the old Rices Nachmans building. . . .

``And we could have an herb garden in those stands that they have around the benches.''

With the added space, Connor says, programs could be expanded, and new ones added in an effort to get more seniors to use the center.

``We could never get the seniors from throughout the city to come downtown,'' Connor said. ``It's always been the impression that the center is under social services, that it's for low-income seniors, and we could not change that mind-set. . . .

``Now we'll be able to have dances, great exercise programs, line-dancing classes and speakers,'' she said. ``It really would be wonderful.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MARK MITCHELL/The Virginian-Pilot

The Portsmouth Senior Citizen Center must move out by Sept. 30. The

city is negotiating with Tower Mall, but no agreement has been

reached. ``We think it's a good marriage for Tower Mall as well as

for the senior citizens,'' Deputy City Manager C.W. McCoy said.

Color Photo

The Tower Mall location would double the amount of space the center

currently has, while giving the shopping center a built-in customer

base with TRT access.

Graphic

Color Map

Senior Citizen Center