THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, February 6, 1995 TAG: 9502040209
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: BY JOSEPH A. LEAFE
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
The question has been asked whether riverboat gaming is compatible with Norfolk's downtown revitalization. A brief look at recent history tells us that this form of entertainment is ideally suited to the further dramatic advances of the past 15 years.
Looking at the downtown waterfront back then, you saw nothing but dilapidated bulkheads, a handful of decayed industrial buildings, and makeshift parking lots where warehouses had once stood. It was not a pretty picture.
But there were those who could envision a better future for Norfolk's prime waterfront, especially after Op Sail 1976 drew huge crowds to see the dramatic tall ships.
City government and the private sector quickly went to work, inspired to rebuild the riverfront and downtown into the business, financial and cultural hub of the region.
Most important for this discussion and the city, Norfolk foresaw a future as a destination for conventions and tourists. It was with an eye to attracting this convention and visitor market that the city boldly but deliberately developed the Waterside Festival Marketplace and Town Point Park as people generators and symbols of the revitalization.
This was followed by Nauticus as a destination attraction, Harbor Park as a new home for the Norfolk Tides, and the Waterside Marriott Hotel and Conference Center as a complement to the existing Omni Hotel in creating a major convention complex.
New and renovated commercial and residential developments have followed in the wake of these major projects.
This background is important in order to view the proposed riverboat activity in the context of the city's overall revitalization plan for downtown.
Riverboats need to be viewed as a new entertainment opportunity that will serve as a major enhancement for the convention and visitor market for Norfolk and the entire region.
Certainly the city will be challenged to ensure that the operation is of the highest quality and compatible with other downtown activity.
The documented experience of cities where cruising riverboats are now legal indicates that a million visitors a year will be drawn to the Norfolk waterfront by these vessels each year.
But Norfolk has an enviable record of demanding and ensuring projects of the highest quality, and it is committed to ensuring that riverboats complement rather than supplant the vibrant business, entertainment, and residential features of the city.
A detailed planning process has been developed that preserves for the city the right to establish design criteria for the gaming vessels and the shore side support facilities.
The city has also retained the right to approve plans for vehicle and pedestrian traffic, the location of all facilities, including a required parking garage, and all security measures.
These are only examples of the level of city control that will ensure compatibility with the remainder of downtown.
The key elements will be good planning, high quality and strict regulation. With these in place, riverboat gaming will be a positive new addition to the downtown waterfront and the city at large.
This word of caution. Experience of other states demonstrate that cruising riverboats provide a positive entertainment function. But the same cannot be said for onshore dockside casinos that do not cruise for a limited excursion.
Operations of this type, which would permit coming and going at any time, exist on a vastly larger scale. They threaten to dominate rather than supplement the downtown environment and its entertainment activities and should not be supported.
There are many individuals who have strong concerns with gambling. Their voices can and will be heard.
As was the case with the lottery, pari-mutuel betting, horse racing, and liquor-by-the-drink, the citizens will decide in a democratic process through statewide and local referenda whether riverboat gaming will be permitted.
If the citizens of Norfolk make that determination, a well-planned, well-regulated riverboat gaming operation will enhance downtown revitalization and will be an important entertainment option with strong economic benefits for Norfolk and the entire region. MEMO: Former Norfolk mayor Joseph A. Leafe presided over parts of downtown
Norfolk's redevelopment. An attorney at Willcox & Savage, he represents
Spirit Cruises Inc., which wants to berth gaming boats in downtown
Norfolk.
by CNB