THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 14, 1995 TAG: 9511140098
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
The City Council is set to approve nearly $5 million tonight to help turn Portsmouth into a place that will entice tourists and visitors from across the region.
The council and the city's housing authority have set aside a combination of community development block funds, grants and some income for a wide range of projects.
The money will be spent throughout the city, including downtown, Parkview, Midtown and along Effingham Street. The funds will be used to buy dilapidated property and to start on plans to build new homes and businesses.
The funding has widespread public support - in part because residents participated in creating the plans with Ray Gindroz of Urban Design Associates, a consulting firm hired to help develop the city's vision.
But conflict is brewing over a small part of the plan.
Some of the people who helped design improvements to the Effingham/Elm corridor are unhappy that a citizen-proposed project has been broken into smaller pieces.
Harvey N. Johnson Jr. has long touted his dream for that area - the Galaxy project. The project, first proposed to the city in 1990, was designed as a 2 1/2-block mall that would included a hotel, apartments, a movie theater, retail stores and business and professional offices.
Gindroz and some members of the committee liked ideas within the proposal - and want to pursue them individually - but they doubted the mall concept would work.
The city has designated money for buying property in the area and beginning some improvements, and for business development. But the plan does not include $140,000 requested by Johnson for a formal study of the mall.
Johnson is expected to be back tonight to request the funds before the council designates how the city should spend the Community Development Block Grants.
Some of the funds set to be approved tonight would lay the groundwork for a new single-family neighborhood across the street from the Ida Barbour public housing community. Officials hope to help some public housing residents out of the subsidized apartments and into their own homes.
In Parkview, Harrell Street would be extended. Some run-down homes would be demolished, and new homes would be built along Scotts Creek. The neighborhood is working to get rid of blighted pockets and to make the creek a focal point.
In the Midtown area, funds would go toward constructing and repairing sidewalks along High Street and landscaping the area. The city also plans to buy land to add parking areas in the downtown and Effingham Street areas.
KEYWORDS: PORTSMOUTH CITY COUNCIL BUDGET by CNB