THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 2, 1996 TAG: 9602020568
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
The Sports Authority of Hampton Roads on Thursday declared that it hopes to serve as a lightning rod for a major sports franchise in the region - with financial assistance from all eight localities.
The jurisdictions represented on the authority - Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Suffolk, Newport News, Hampton, Isle of Wight County - will be asked to contribute to the effort to land an NBA or NHL team. The authority has no funding and is run largely by volunteers and employees of the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission. Each participating city has an equal vote.
Two weeks ago, Norfolk and Virginia Beach rejected a Canadian Football League team that had relocated to Hampton Roads, saying they would instead join forces in a bid to attract a major-league basketball or hockey team. A chief requirement would be a 20,000-seat arena costing more than $140 million.
The sports authority is offering to serve as the funding conduit for an arena by floating bonds guaranteed by area cities and counties.
``We have a golden opportunity here,'' said Morton V. Whitlow, a Portsmouth attorney who chairs the Sports Authority. ``We may need to do more studies, and there's certainly a lot of information that needs to be shared with the (1.6 million) residents of Hampton Roads.
``We've got to get information out to get some regional support behind the concept, and we need some money to do that.
``We are suggesting to our members that we go to the cities collectively to ask them to voluntarily contribute to enable us to advance this cause to the next level.''
The funding proposal will be discussed at a meeting of area city managers this month and then on March 1 at a meeting of the region's mayors. No figure was mentioned, though officials say it would be in the range of $100,000 to $200,000.
The sports authority also asked Norfolk Del. Jerrauld Jones to radically amend a bill he presented to the General Assembly to create a regional authority to finance a 20,000-seat arena.
``There's no need to create (a regional funding authority),'' said John Butt, a Chesapeake city councilman who represents his city on the sports authority. ``This sports authority was created to do exactly what the legislation proposed.
Instead of asking him to kill the bill, the sports authority asked him to amend it. Rather than create a new committee, sports authority members asked him to provide them with more power to amend their own rules, something they say is needed if they are to fund a regional arena.
``Del. Jones clearly stated that he wants amendments to the bill to make it work,'' said Whitlow, who spoke with Jones about the bill last week. ``All he's concerned about is getting a coliseum constructed. He thinks it's a worthy project and indicated a willingness to work with us.''
The authority was created in 1986 to provide a funding mechanism for a proposed NASCAR superspeedway in Isle of Wight that was never built
The group met in executive session Thursday for more than a half-hour to discuss Norfolk's efforts so far to land an NBA or NHL team - efforts that began months ago. Officials wouldn't comment on what was said, but Shurl Montgomery, Norfolk's assistant city manager, made it clear afterward that his city is determined to attract a team.
``We are pursuing sports for Hampton Roads very heavily,'' Montgomery said. ``We pursued it yesterday, are pursuing it today and will pursue it tomorrow.''
Montgomery represented Norfolk because authority member Paul Riddick was in Scottsdale, Ariz., attending a seminar on funding and building arenas. Riddick, Norfolk's vice mayor, attended the seminar with Mayor Paul Fraim.
Authority members spent a portion of their two-hour meeting encouraging Norfolk and Virginia Beach officials to communicate with them on the process of recruiting a team. Officials in some cities were miffed that they were not asked to participate in the CFL decision.
``If they want to build an arena in Norfolk or Virginia Beach and put a team there, that's great,'' Butt said. ``That would be wonderful for the region.
``But if they intend for us to be involved in funding an arena, we should be involved in the decision-making process from the beginning.''
Added Virginia Beach representative Walter Wilkens, who owns Bay Chevrolet in Norfolk, ``We have a great opportunity here. But we're blazing new trails. This type of thing has never been done before. It would not be unusual for there to be this type of stoppage and startage to get it right.'' ILLUSTRATION: The Sports Authority has told Del. Jerrauld Jones a new regional
funding committee is unnecessary.
KEYWORDS: REGIONALISM SPORTS AUTHORITY by CNB