THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 16, 1995 TAG: 9504160146
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: MARK MOBLEY
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
It's hard not to be optimistic on a gorgeous afternoon. But Norfolk Mayor Paul Fraim sounded confident when he said the Attucks Theatre will be renovated.
A festival Saturday at Town Point Park combined Easter Bunny fun with the kickoff of the Attucks Theatre public awareness campaign. The 76-year-old Church Street theater was once the area's premiere black entertainment venue, a small but elegant hall that was home to both international stars and homegrown talent.
For nearly 20 years, various citizens discussed renovation plans as the Attucks continued crumbling. Now the group supporting the renovation, Crispus Attucks Cultural Center, Inc., and the city have decided to forge ahead.
``This really is at a high level of priority at the city,'' said Fraim, who knows the value of entertainment - he ushered for such artists as Otis Redding, Solomon Burke and the Four Tops at the old Center Theater. ``I'm in full support. I really believe it's going to happen.''
Fraim said the citizens' group will get much the same deal Virginia Opera got in converting the Center Theater into the Harrison Opera House. The project supporters will raise half the cost. Once fundraising is complete, the city will match that amount.
Fraim added that the city has made an additional good-faith gesture. In other projects, state money has been divided evenly between the city and the citizen's group. In this case, the city is allowing the citizens' group to use all of a $25,000 state grant. The city has also employed a coordinator for the project, Denise Christian, for two years.
Architectural bids for the 500-seat theater and offices have been solicited with a Friday deadline. Christian said two bids have been received, with construction estimates of $2 million and $4 million. Fraim said he has heard from potential donors.
The Attucks, which was known for a time as the Booker T., is a wonderful building and an immensely important one in local history. It was a signal work of black architect Harvey N. Johnson and a training ground for such musicians as Gary U. S. Bonds. Community pride is a strong reason to do this work, and Fraim spoke of the healing potential of the project.
Yet the slow pace of the effort must have been related to its lack of an agenda. The fundraising brochure says ``the renovated theatre will showcase an array of activities . . . you will enjoy inspiring dramas, hilarious comedies, toe-tapping musicals, provocative visual art displays, historical and educational movies, enlightening workshops.'' Christian also mentioned a bookstore and gift shop.
While some small amateur and children's groups have expressed an interest in using the facility, no one has a clear idea of who will manage it, program it or pay for its operations.
Fraim admitted that the center's activities are unclear: ``The operating piece is a nut that still has to be cracked.'' This is especially important as the Attucks would join a roster of city facilities that includes Chrysler Hall, the Opera House, the Wells and the Maury High School Auditorium. With the exception of Chrysler Hall, these halls are used less frequently than they could be. And Norfolk State University is set to open another 2,000 seat hall.
One answer to the operating puzzle could be just a block away, at the site of the proposed Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. Instead of raising the proposed $450,000 for a 150-foot monument to King, the bulk of the funds - after building some sort of memorial - could endow an annual King lecture or arts festival at the Attucks.
This would keep the dream alive in ways bronze does not. by CNB