DATE: Sunday, August 31, 1997               TAG: 9708310080

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:  133 lines

ODU PLANS ITS HIGH-TECH ``VILLAGE,'' AND NEARBY MERCHANTS AWAIT WORD

It won't be your mother or father's Old Dominion University anymore - not if plans work out to expand the campus by half in the next decade or so by leaping across Hampton Boulevard to create a ``University Village.''

There'd be a shopping center anchored by a supermarket. High-tech apartments wired into the university's computer network. A pedestrian-friendly ``Main Street'' with awning-shaded storefronts and sidewalk cafes. A ``Greek row'' of fraternity and sorority houses. Scads of university and private office and laboratory space.

And the centerpiece, planned to be built first: a 10,000-seat, $40 million convocation center flanked by two $16 million high-rise garages containing 2,100 spaces.

Yes - available parking at ODU. Even President James V. Koch joked about this one-time fantasy in his recent ``State of the University'' address.

But Koch was optimistic about the project.

``Our intention . . . is to have this facility completed in time for our basketball seasons in the year2000,'' Koch said. ``Let me emphasize, however, that we will utilize the convocation center for many other activities, including concerts, lectures and graduation ceremonies.''

College officials call the planned village a boon for ODU by providing needed housing, offices and amenities, and a boon for Norfolk by forming a public-private partnership to rehabilitate a neighborhood saddled with rundown and vacant houses and commercial buildings.

People working in the targeted area call it something else: scary. Several say they've heard little or nothing about the plans. They worry about their futures.

``Because they don't know what's going to happen,'' said Efra Carvona, owner of Turbo Wash, a public laundry on Hampton Boulevard in the proposed development area.

``Some days we hear they have the money, some days we hear they don't have the money. . . . I'm not very happy. Because I don't know where they're going to put me. I don't know what their plans are. I don't think it's fair.''

Fair or not, the plans are a doozy.

ODU has begun acquiring pieces of property - some bought, some donated - in a 75-acre tract bounded by Hampton Boulevard on the west, 38th Street on the south, 49th Street on the north and Killam Avenue on the east.

The proposed site includes much of the commercial strip that now faces the main campus across Hampton Boulevard: eateries, bookstore, pharmacy, laundry, even two go-go bars.

From 38th to 41st streets, the plans call for a supermarket-anchored shopping center, identified as a top need for the area, said David F. Harnage, ODU's vice president for administration and finance. Cleaners and music, video and computer stores could be included.

A new central street would stretch north 11 blocks from 38th to 49th streets, parallel to Hampton Boulevard on the west and Killam Avenue on the east. Open to cars but designed for safe foot traffic, this ``Main Street'' would tie the village together, Harnage said.

Three- and four-story buildings facing the street would house shops or eating places at ground level, and apartments, offices and laboratories above them, with trees, awnings and benches out front.

On the east side of the ``village,'' between the new central street and Killam Avenue, would be several apartment clusters for students and other residents. All would be wired to the university's computer system as well as to the village's own computer network.

Someday, Harnage said, a student using a few computer keystrokes or clicking a mouse could order pizza from down the street and look up something in the library across campus.

The convocation center would be two blocks long, from 43rd to 45th streets along Hampton Boulevard. The parking garages would be north and south of the center. Bids are being solicited from architects, Harnage said.

Toss in a few small dorms, the ``Greek row'' of houses for those social organizations - which now are scattered in nearby neighborhoods - a new performing-arts building next to the Stables Theatre and, when completed in 10 to 20 years, the 165-acre ODU would be half again as big and straddle Hampton Boulevard as a brighter, more vibrant place to study, live and work.

``The whole key to this - this is supposed to be an enhancement to the university and the community,'' Harnage said.

The university already leases office and other space on the east side of Hampton Boulevard. ODU needed more room but couldn't expand west because of the Elizabeth River, or north or south because of residential neighborhoods. East was the only solution, Harnage said.

Along with more space, university officials wanted to improve safety, aesthetics and recreational opportunities across the campus - things parents of students have complained about, Harnage said.

``One of the goals is to eliminate crime and the perception of crime around campus,'' he said.

College planners, already busy for three years on the project, now are working on the necessities - and the niceties. They're looking at the details of how to drain off rainwater, and at things like building materials, landscaping and even sidewalk bench designs.

They're also talking with the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority about buying land and relocating people living and working on the site.

Patrick R. Gomez, director of community development for the authority, said his agency is still studying the area as a potential redevelopment project.

``We certainly want to work with Old Dominion University, closely with them, and assist them in any way we could,'' Gomez said. ``But we haven't made any final decisions on plans for the area.''

A university-appointed real-estate foundation is soliciting private donations of land and money for the bulk of the village; student fees and other ODU revenues will pay for the convocation center. Just a few pieces have been bought so far, but the foundation's chairman, Robert M. Stanton, said he was confident the village would become a reality. ``I can't predict how quick it will happen,'' he said.

President Koch said razing of some buildings is expected to begin within a few months, and construction of the convocation center within a year.

That's the touchy part of redevelopment projects. They often uproot residents and businesses.

Harnage said university officials have worked to involve area civic leagues and business people in their planning, and are drawing up different construction phases that would give businesses time to move, some in the newly redeveloped areas.

But some of the affected businesses complained about feeling left out.

``They have not said anything with us,'' said Bernie Grablowsky, president of the company that manages Old Dominion Village Apartments and three other affected properties. ``It would be nice if they shared information with property owners.''

``We just wait and watch what's going on,'' said Mahesh Patel, owner of Subway Sandwiches & Salads. ``As long as they relocate us, or pay us, . . . that'd be fine. . . . We're not worried (for) the next two years.''

William T. Gray, owner of local landmark Gray's Pharmacy, said he was trying to meet with university officials this week to learn more about the proposed project.

``Everybody's up in the air,'' said Turbo Wash's Carvona. ``Nobody knows what's going on.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

James V. Koch

Graphic

``VILLAGE'' PLAN TO FEATURE

[For complete graphic, please see microfilm]

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