
DATE: Saturday, October 18, 1997            TAG: 9710180340

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   90 lines

SUFFOLK SEES EX-DEPOT AS TECH PARK

City officials are negotiating to take over part of a former munitions depot and develop it into a high-tech commercial park.

The 250-acre site, now owned by the state, has been unclaimed for years after adjacent Tidewater Community College declared it as surplus.

Federal officials had sought to put the site on the Superfund list of polluted properties and are studying whether it poses a risk because of buried explosives and military chemicals.

But Suffolk officials see the property as a potential development Mecca that could bring 5,000 new, high-paying jobs and put Hampton Roads on the map as a technological giant.

``This is a fabulous chunk of land,'' City Manager Myles E. Standish said. ``There is no other land here that sits the way this does. It has immediate access to the Peninsula and the Southside.''

The Governor's Commission on Surplus Property voted earlier this month to ask the state to allow Suffolk to develop the property. The land has been on the surplus listing for more than two years.

Suffolk officials say they would develop the property in stages, partly because portions of it are being studied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army because of its former use as a busy military post that recycled chemical and conventional weapons during World Wars I and II.

Six months ago, the Army found five pieces of weaponry - including a rocket and artillery shells - buried on properties adjacent to the site. The depot was on a 975-acre site that houses TCC, a former General Electric plant and the undeveloped Bridgeway Commerce Park.

Kirk Stevens, project manager for the land with the Army Corps of Engineers, said a study will be released in the spring on the possible danger from weapons and chemical contamination.

The EPA says it will take longer than six months to study the property as a potential Superfund project. Superfund is a federal program that cleans up toxic waste sites. Last year, Gov. George F. Allen blocked the listing of the property, citing a lack of evidence.

Steve Herbert, Suffolk's assistant city manager for development, says the city would develop the land as it was declared safe by the federal government.

``About 80 to 100 acres are clean now,'' Herbert said. ``We'll start our plans with that.''

The city wants to use the property, which is sandwiched between Interstate 664 and the Nansemond River, to build the Hampton Roads Technology Park. Suffolk is proposing a 1.5-million-square-foot complex with offices, a hotel, a convention center, day care, a corporate gym and a park.

Herbert also envisions a regional high-technology work-force development center. The Hampton Roads Partnership has said that the region needs such a center.

City officials say the park would be ideal for the center because of its high-tech emphasis.

They also say Suffolk needs the development to become a regional economic player.

Earlier this week, the city learned that there isn't enough money to pay for schools and other services needed to serve Suffolk's growing population. City officials told council members that the only way to increase what it could spend is by attracting business.

Suffolk has proposed spending $400,000 next year for engineering plans on the property.

Officials say the investment would be minimal compared to the returns.

``The development of this property is completely consistent with our economic plan,'' Standish said. ``The high-paying jobs will do nothing but enhance our local and region's economy.''

The military's Joint Training Analysis Center and Old Dominion University's Virginia Modeling Analysis and Simulation Center are adjacent to the property. Both promote the use of computers, modeling programs and simulators.

Bridgeway Commerce Park, a 400-acre site, will be developed by a real estate subsidiary of Virginia Electric and Power Co.

Harbour View, a large, upscale residential and commercial development, is also nearby. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

HIGH-TECH DEAL

Suffolk is negotiating with the state to take over a former

munitions depot and turn it into a high-tech commercial park with

offices, a hotel, a convention center, day care, a corporate gym and

a park.

WHAT IT MEANS

Suffolk could increase its tax base by attracting top-notch

businesses that could help pay for the city services and schools

needed to serve its growing population.

FUTURE IMPACT