Norfolk’s downtown was originally built around a working waterfront. But the waterfront activity migrated to areas away from downtown, leaving an area ripe for development. The City’s redevelopment agency had assembled a sizable property but was sadly lacking in imagination concerning its use. We proposed a 100% privately financed project that would have relocated the city retail center to the waterfront. Key elements were: themed areas; parking on the water side (for most of the downtown needs), additionally utilizing the air rights over the Waterside Drive; and using the waterfront for cruise ships. A second phase added office towers and doubled the retail space. A feature of the new retail space was a skating rink made of structural ice that formed the roof/skylight of the atrium below. The photos show the model, including a version with the second phase structures added, and some illustrative interior drawings. This project attracted a developer sponsor, and came close to obtaining the general revenue bonds required. (That was the mechanism of that era for public support. Essentially, the financing would be by tax-free bonds, lowering the financing cost.) However, minor graft and somewhat greater ignorance triumphed, and a quite different concept was built: a “festival waterfront” after the Baltimore model, by Baltimore’s developer. Parking was across the street. As a matter of interest, time has validated our assumptions. The project as built with public funds (called “Waterside”) was never integrated with downtown. It turned out to be a huge financial failure, now populated with the type of junk stores, restaurants, and girlie bars that were torn down originally. Meanwhile, twenty years later, deeper into downtown was built an ordinary enclosed shopping mall at huge taxpayer expense. Failing to provide cruise ship facilities/attractions cost the city dearly, and that enterprise is lost.
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