DATE: Tuesday, November 25, 1997            TAG: 9711250006

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 

                                            LENGTH:   43 lines

OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY VILLAGE: A HIGH-TECH STEP THE VILLAGE WILL PLAY A KEY ROLE IN THE REGION'S PLAN TO DRAW AND DEVELOP MORE HIGH-TECH, HIGH-PAYING JOBS.

The preceding editorial describes the steps our region must take to compete. One giant step is already on the drawing board: Old Dominion University's plan for a 75-acre high-tech village across Hampton Boulevard from the campus.

The Village is precisely what Hampton Roads needs at this time. It will provide space for start-up high-tech companies seeking to transform ODU research into products. It will offer more high-tech lab space for ODU. It also will provide residences and shops and will include a much-needed 10,000 seat convocation center and parking.

About 60 businesses would be displaced by the ambitious plan, and some of the owners don't like it. But ODU recently announced a $500,000 fund to help them, and the city is identifying all the best spots for possible relocation.

ODU can't grow westward because of water. Established neighborhoods exist to the north and south. That leaves 75 partly blighted acres on the east, where there is a hodgepodge of business, residential and industrial.

City Council approval is required for the project, and Council doesn't want to destroy any established neighborhood. In other words, ODU grows east of Hampton Boulevard, or it doesn't grow much.

Ironically, a good case for the ODU Village was made in a letter to ODU President James Koch on March 21, 1995, from J. W. ``Jay'' Sherrill Jr., owner of Old Dominion Inn and a leader of the Old Dominion Merchants and Business Association, many of whom oppose the village.

Sherrill wrote that he supported expansion plans on the east side of Hampton Boulevard and added, ``The expansion of Old Dominion University is critical to the overall economic stability of Norfolk. I view a University as a `City within a City,' which is the economic engine of technology, education, athletic and vocational training opportunities.''

Certainly ODU is at the heart of the region's plan to draw and develop more high-tech, high-paying jobs, and the Village will play a key role.

Care should be taken to treat displayed businesses fairly. The public can comment at a hearing at 7:30 tonight in City Council chambers in Norfolk City Hall. But the Village must be built.

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