THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 12, 1994 TAG: 9409120073
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
A resort hotel owner wants to punch another hole in the wall of concrete now fencing off the Atlantic Ocean so land-bound visitors can get a glimpse of the sand and sea.
Businessman Richard Maddox, whose family has owned the aging Sea Escape hotel at 17th Street and Atlantic Avenue since 1964, plans to raze the shocking pink structure, along with the two nearby public toilets, and turn 250 feet of road frontage into another public park.
``This is a 50-year-old building, and it's in disrepair,'' Maddox told the Resort Area Advisory Commission on Thursday. ``We basically have two choices: one, tear it down and build another hotel or, two, do something different with the property.''
Maddox said business has been slow in recent years and financial prospects were dim for building another hotel. A replacement would require a $7 million to $10 million outlay, and relying on summer rental receipts to pay off the debt was a bad gamble in the present economic climate.
In general, commerce on the block of 17th Street nearest the ocean is suffering, said Commissioner Robert Herman, owner of the Lighthouse Restaurant at the mouth of Rudee Inlet.
``Seventeenth Street, from Atlantic to Pacific, is getting worse and worse,'' he said. ``Businesses are closing.''
Maddox wants the city to grant him permission to erect a 3,000-square-foot Dairy Queen, a franchise eatery that specializes in ice cream products, on the southwest corner of his property.
He pledged to set aside 1,000 square feet of space for public restrooms to replace those now housed in two bunkerlike concrete structures on the Boardwalk at 17th Street.
If the City Council approves his plan, Maddox envisions the creation of another grassy vista to the sea, much like the one at the 24th Street Park, by next summer.
In the mid-1980s the 24th Street Park was eyed as a site for another high-rise hotel, but a determined band of Virginia Beach citizens eventually persuaded the council to help buy it and convert it to an open-air gathering spot for the public.
The property now contains a stage, restrooms and a trellis border, giving passers-by on Atlantic Avenue a rare view of the beach and ocean. In the summer the park is the site of nightly entertainment. In the spring and fall it is set aside for food and wine shows.
Maddox made his pitch Thursday before a receptive Resort Area Advisory Commission, a citizens panel that already has overseen $40 million worth of beautification work in the resort strip. The group also has plans for nearly $93 million more in tourism-related construction projects over the next 10 years.
The advisory commission sent Maddox's proposal along to the Planning Commission and the City Council with its blessings. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS/
Richard Maddox says replacing his Sea Escape hotel would cost him
more than he believes he would earn from summer business.
Drawing
An artist's depiction of what Richard Maddox's Dairy Queen and park
would look like.
Color staff map
Area shown: Sea Escape hotel
by CNB