DATE: Wednesday, September 10, 1997         TAG: 9709100566

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY NANCY LEWIS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   86 lines

GRANBY'S BUSYNESS LOOKS TO BE GOOD FOR BUSINESS AS STUDENTS SETTLE IN

Bartender Jeremy Stewart stood in front of Reubens restaurant late Tuesday morning, his arms folded across his chest, a big smile on his face.

The restaurant boasted a new student lunch special - a sandwich and a drink for $5 - and Stewart hoped it would be a hit with the baseball-cap crowd from Tidewater Community College's new downtown campus. Already, he is pleased about the change he's seen on Granby Street since the students began streaming into the college.

``It looks a lot better, and there are actually people walking along the street,'' said Stewart, who used to fear walking on Granby Street when he worked nights at two restaurants separated by several blocks.

The face of downtown got a big lift when 1,552 students flocked to TCC for fall classes.

The backpack-toting, T-shirted crowd with the stepped-up stride has created an aura that's given Granby Street merchants and restaurateurs cause for optimism, despite the preponderance of closed-down, boarded-up shops.

Derrick McDougle, a TCC student long familiar with the area, agreed.

``The street looks a whole lot different,'' he said. ``There's more people, and they're more relaxed. They don't look nervous and scared like they used to.''

``It's refreshing, like planting a flower in the middle of the street - it makes everything blossom,'' McDougle said. He held an open English textbook as he passed through the Manhattan Men's Shop to the thump of rap music playing on the store's intercom.

``I like to see the kids lying on the grass doing schoolwork or just chillin' out,'' said Laverna Jones, manager for the shop, which is about a block north of the campus. She said TCC students frequent the shop in impressive numbers, though most of them say they'll be back to buy once their student loan checks arrive at the end of September.

Near Charlotte Street, several blocks north of the campus, a large, square clock along the sidewalk is stuck at 4:20. And the state of business affairs is evidenced by the many ``For Sale,'' ``For Lease'' and ``No Trespassing'' signs posted on store fronts along this lower stretch of Granby.

The tempting aroma of ham and cabbage wafting through the door of The Diner on West Freemason Street, just west of Granby, invited hungry students inside. Owner Leroy Michaud says his business has increased so dramatically that he can't seat all those who want to lunch there.

On the lawn in front of TCC's main building, three tall youths kicked and bumped a small ball back and forth as they waited for a class to begin.

Sandra Adkins, 35, of Norfolk, sat cross-legged on a concrete platform nearby. As had other students interviewed, she expressed gratitude for the campus and dismay over the parking situation in downtown Norfolk. One lot nearby is closing, and other lots are farther away from the campus.

Student David Wilcox, 18, of Norfolk, found a quiet spot in front of the main building and was putting the finishing touches to his neatly written notes on the history of art. Across Granby, in a new walk-through park, Lahneen Porter, 24, of Norfolk, brushed up on pre-requisites for her surgical tech course.

Adjacent to the park, students leaned against the Martin Building, balancing backpacks and books on knees or laps. Long-haired Paul Wilson, in sandals and shades, joined them, squatting down and taking a big drink of orange soda. The Larchmont man is in his second year of computer science studies at TCC and hopes to go on to Old Dominion University.

Meanwhile, two pigeons made a dive for a beakful of crumbs on the pavement while rhythmic thuds from construction on the MacArthur Center mall nearby kept time like a metronome to the tinkling tune of church bells.

Sidewalk and street renovations are complete on Granby, but traffic creeps along, the drivers clearly wary of the clutches of students who crisscross the narrow avenue.

In the window of Harry's B-B-Q & More, a block south of the campus, a faded sign hawks ``Old Fashioned Milk Shakes Thick & Creamy,'' and inside, owner Bill Booker says he's seen a ``definite increase'' in business since TCC's fall classes began.

``Eventually,'' he added, ``it will be much better with all that's happening downtown - the mall, the new hotels. The more people the better.''

Sales of Cliffs Notes, those shortened versions of the literary classics, are on the rise at Lynch's convenience store several blocks south of the campus, though at Esquire Woman's Shop, across College Place from TCC's main building, owner Pu Ju says he's yet to see an increase in sales.

But Ju says he's impressed with the pedestrian busyness along Granby.

``Last year, there was nobody here on Granby,'' he said, gesturing toward a clutch of young people striding by. ``Now there are a lot of people. I think business will come back.

``Open! Open! Open!'' he chanted, spreading his arms to encompass blocks north and south. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]

Granby Street

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