THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510040551
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: ANALYSIS
SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines
Nauticus started out not being many things: not an aquarium, not Jacques Cousteau's Oceans Center, not a museum, and not the favorite project of many city residents.
Now, it appears, it is not self-supporting, either.
How did the project reach this point? What were the circumstances of its birth that led here?
First, it's best to remember that Nauticus is a gamble.
Second, it became heir to some high expectations.
In the 1970s, Norfolk began remaking itself, physically and financially. City leaders wanted to change its image - from a tired old Navy town and port, full of warehouses, to a tourist and business destination, a lively waterfront city with something always happening.
Norfolk built a festival marketplace, Waterside; drew a major downtown hotel, the Omni; created Town Point Park and launched Harborfest, the first and largest of many annual festivals; built a new convention center alongside a new Marriott hotel; put up a new home ballpark for the Tides; and built Nauticus.
At the same time, several large office buildings went up, including the World Trade Center, Dominion Tower and the Norfolk Southern building.
Still to come, if all the elements finally fall together, is a major regional mall downtown, anchored by Nordstrom and Dillard's department stores.
The city either spent or encouraged private interests to spend well over $100 million on this makeover, much of that in the 1980s.
But what could the city offer that would bring visitors from out of town, to stay in the hotels and shop at Waterside?
The role of Nauticus was that of a tourist magnet. Best of all, they would take home the new image of Norfolk and tell their friends about it.
Back up a minute, though.
The concept of Nauticus owes at least part of its origin to famed international diver-explorer Jacques Cousteau, who proposed locating an Oceans Center in Norfolk.
The city was agreeable in the early '80s, but it backed out in 1986, saying the financial and community support was not there.
Instead, Norfolk encouraged the development of a similar project, which became Nauticus. Backers raised $6 million in private funds; the city threw in the site and $40 million in financing.
Here's where the expectations began to build.
They wanted a science center with maritime flavor which would showcase the many sea-going aspects of Hampton Roads: the Navy, sailing, shipping and marine life. It had to entertain and educate and it had to be high-tech.
Norfolk insisted from the start that the project pay for itself, including all of its long-term debt and the day-to-day expenses. That is unusual among projects of this kind; Virginia Beach did not make the same demand of the Marine Science Museum. That city pays $3 million annually to support the facility, most of which goes to repay construction loans.
A petition drive in Norfolk to force a public vote on Nauticus became a significant part of the facility's story. The courts refused to allow the referendum, but the drive further raised the stakes.
It left a legion of critics in the wings, waiting to say, ``I told you so.'' by CNB