THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 14, 1996 TAG: 9604120302
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 16 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Ernie Allen is moving out of his Oceanfront store lock and stock - but no barrel - after 36 years. He is setting up shop in a new location eight blocks west on Virginia Beach Boulevard.
Allen, 80, and his cluttered storefront operation have been a resort institution, providing insights into Beach history and day and night service to visitors and residents who have locked themselves out of their cars, houses, offices and condos.
His new location is 880 Virginia Beach Blvd., another streetfront shop in a small strip commercial center across the street from the Colony Motel.
There Ernie, his wife, Virginia, and son, Norvel, have been moving in, bit by bit, toting hundreds of boxes of locks, keys, chains, tools and power grinders that had accumulated over three decades.
What forced the move, said Virginia Allen, was the sale of the building in which his shop was located to Virginia Beach United Methodist Church, a block to the north.
Above Allen's old shop is the Fire Escape, a second floor Christian gathering spot and concert hall. The entire structure will be razed and the property will be converted to a parking lot for church members, said Ed Twine, business manager for the church.
Also to be demolished is the two-story building next door, which contains Cafe 17, a sometime restaurant and go-go bar.
It's all part of the church's long range expansion plans, said Twine, who noted that congregation members have been using the city-owned lot across the street from the church to park on Sundays.
The city has been trying to sell the lot and the Dome tract across from it for a major entertainment and commercial complex for the past five years.
It is the site once eyed by Dixie Stampede, a dinner theater franchise that features daily entertainment based on a Civil War theme. Potential developers were scared away, however, after leaders of the local black community objected to the use of Confederate flags in Dixie Stampede shows.
Allen, meanwhile, says he is loathe to move from his Oceanfront shop - a stone's throw from the surf and the 17th Street Park on Atlantic Avenue.
``I've been at the Oceanfront for 71 years,'' said the wiry and energetic Allen. ``I didn't want to move. I thought I'd be here 'til they (pause) didn't have any use for me anymore.''
Allen moved to the Beach in 1924 with his father and mother from a Rockbridge County farm, just outside Buena Vista in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
His father, a carpenter and builder, helped construct the old Cavalier Hotel and the now defunct Ocean Casino on the beachfront, said Allen. Young Allen started working on the resort strip at age 12 as a newspaper carrier, delivering The Ledger-Star for 1 1/2 years, then operating a news stand. At the age of 12, he also made his first key, an instrument shaped from copper sheeting, which was used to lock his grandfather's tool box.
There followed a succession of Oceanfront jobs, first with Snapp's Hardware, from 1932-38; then with Fuel Feed from 1939-47; then briefly with a pool hall next door to the locksmith shop he is now vacating. He operated his own hardware store at 16th Street from 1947-60 and began making keys and tending to uncooperative car, home and business locks and keys for a variety of Beach customers.
In 1960, he moved his operation to the 200 block of 17th Street (Virginia Beach Boulevard) and soon was joined by son Norvel.
Should you find yourself locked out of your car or house or locked in a trunk, Ernie and company can still be summoned to help by calling 428-3171 or 422-0425 in emergencies. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
Ernie Allen, 80, and his cluttered storefront operation have been a
resort institution, providing day and night service to visitors and
residents who have locked themselves out of their cars, houses,
offices and condos.
by CNB