THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 3, 1996 TAG: 9603030181
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Will museums, convention centers, ballfields and recreation centers throughout Hampton Roads be part of a proposal to build a 20,000-seat arena?
That is one of many difficult questions a consultant must answer in determining how and where the region should build an arena to attract a major sports franchise.
Area officials acknowledge that if every city and county in Hampton Roads contributes to the arena through a regional tax, they all must get something in return. Rick Horrow, a Miami-based consultant who likely will be hired to make recommendations on an arena plan, said much the same in a visit two months ago.
Horrow pieced together a $285 million proposal in Oklahoma City that brought together the central city and two suburban counties. His proposal was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum.
But Horrow would face obstacles here he didn't face in Oklahoma. Hampton Roads is one of the nation's most politically and geographically fractured regions with 15 jurisdictions, all of which may want a slice of the action.
Virginia Beach City Councilman William W. Harrison suggests sharing tax revenues collected at the arena among the cities and counties. Gene Waters, chairman of the Hampton Roads Coalition of Civic Organizations, says tax revenues from hotels, restaurants and shops near the arena should be shared.
Norfolk Mayor Paul D. Fraim favors sharing revenues, but said other projects surely will be part of an arena package, including, perhaps, a light rail connection between a downtown Norfolk arena site and Virginia Beach's Pembroke Mall.
Some Virginia Beach officials speculate privately that the resort city might ask for a convention center and an expanded soccer stadium for the Hampton Roads Mariners if the arena is built in Norfolk. Chesapeake lacks recreation facilities, including ballfields and rec centers, and also is seeking an ice-skating facility. Newport News is seeking a major museum.
Another vexing question for the consultant is what to do with Norfolk Scope and the Hampton Coliseum. Both 10,000-seat arenas are losing money and certainly would lose much more if a 20,000-seat arena is built in the area.
Sources suggest Scope's interior could be gutted and turned into an exhibition hall. But the Hampton Coliseum would in all likelihood continue as a coliseum, and thus a competitor for the new arena.
``Perhaps (a regional arena authority) would acquire both facilities and market them as a package with the new arena,'' said Art Collins, administrator of the Sports Authority of Hampton Roads.
Perhaps the most important question for the consultant: Can Hampton Roads support a major sports franchise?
``Is Hampton Roads big enough? In terms of demographics, it certainly is,'' said Chris Dunlavey, a consultant who worked last year for the sports authority. ``But we had some concerns about the depth of corporate support.''
So does Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf.
``We know we have enough people 30 years of age and younger,'' she said. ``But our income here is less than the average around the state, much less than other parts of the United States. What we have to find out is if we have the folks who can afford to buy those tickets. Do we have enough dedicated major industries . . . to buy the skyboxes for as much as $100,000 a year?'' MEMO: Staff writer Karen Weintraub contributed to this report. by CNB