THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 9, 1995 TAG: 9502090442
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
An inspection tour of Albemarle waterfront communities targeted for improvement as tourist attractions will be made today by an executive of the Rouse Co.
The internationally known Columbia, Md., planning organization specializes in renovating harbors and riverfronts.
The Northeast N.C. Economic Development Commission last month appropriated $200,000 to finance preliminary waterfront planning ideas sponsored by the tourist division of the commission.
Bunny Sanders, director of the tourist branch, said Wednesday that Rouse officials would start a two-day tour of the Albemarle's rivers and sounds in Elizabeth City at 8:30 a.m. today at the downtown Waterworks.
Before the inspection trip ends Friday, Robert Barron, president and chief operating officer of Rouse Enterprises, will visit 16 designated Albemarle Harbor Town communities that Sanders wants to link with high-speed ferries smaller than but similar to the air-cushion water vehicles used to transport autos and people across the English Channel.
Elizabeth City Mayor H. Rick Gardner will welcome Barron when the tour begins on the historic downtown riverfront.
From Elizabeth City, Barron and Economic Development Commission officials will go to Perquimans County in the first leg of the trip.
Stops on Thursday include:
Albemarle Plantation, Perquimans County, 9:30 a.m.
Hertford Industrial Park site, 10:30 a.m.
Edenton Visitor Center, 11:30 a.m.
Plymouth town hall, 1:30 p.m.
Columbia town hall, 2:45 p.m.
Engelhard, 4 p.m.
Swan Quarter, 5 p.m.
On Friday, the inspection party will visit Belhaven, Bath, Washington, Lake Gaston, Weldon, Murfreesboro, Winton, Colerain, and return to Elizabeth City late in the day.
William Rich, an Elizabeth City developer, and a consortium of bankers are negotiating to establish a $10 million, public-private construction fund to initially finance the planned waterfront face-lifting in nearly a dozen communities. by CNB