It's gonna be awhile before they open. For one thing, they're gonna have to have a real floor! It's dirt inside there now.

Yeah, I thought that was the whole point of the multi-modal transportation facility.

Obvious question: Why there? I thought the bus transfer station was supposed to be at Harbor Park.

New Sushi Place and a Frozen Yogurt Joint coming to the Wells Fargo Center.

http://www.virginiab...-center/316814/

Any word on when construction begins on the new library in downtown Norfolk. Any thoughts on the project in general; goes it go far enough, does it go too far?

I love the idea of the arts coming DT and I think it's great to see it in action.

I am sad to see we lost historic buildings off of Granby for a vacant lot. It's such a shame.

http://hamptonroads....oop-tournaments

GREAT move IMO. You have NSU up the street, HU 30 minutes across the water, and quite a few schools within a 5 hour drive (Howard in DC/Morgan St. in Baltimore, a few Greensboro-area schools in NC), not to mention a solid alumni base in Hampton Roads, dating back to when several of the schools played in the D-2 CIAA.

If Scope could get the CAA tourney as well, March could be a great time for basketball, esp. with Scope hosting high school basketball tournaments, and if The Ted hosts some Women's NCAA opening rounds. All the more reason to argue for a new arena...

_{Anyone willing to take some pictures (if there is anything to see) and start a Progress thread?}

Norfolk weighs new $5.5 million bus facility

Every day, thousands of residents stand in an isolated parking lot next to Cedar Grove Cemetery to wait for the bus.
Besides the view of the cemetery, the Cedar Grove bus transfer center has poor lighting and a crime problem that has led the city to pay for police to man the facility.
Vice Mayor Anthony L. Burfoot once commented that "I would not allow my family to be out there."
Now four years after the city built the "temporary" center, which was erected on a paved-over mound of coal fly ash, Norfolk leaders are ready to construct a permanent one. Last week, Assistant City Manager Anne Odell unveiled a $5.5 million plan to move the bus transfer station to the site of a vacant ABC store at the old Downtown Plaza.

Why can't Granby just become the "art and entertainment district"? Encourage that kind of development/land use there. Let the waterfront and the couple blocks off of it be the "Conference Center and Hotel District". Just because you have waterfront doesn't mean a gaggle of bars, nightclubs, restaurants, etc. HAS to be on it. Too much "entertainment" there would have detimental effects on Granby....and too much "retail" there would have detrimental effects on Granby and MacArthur. I just don't see the logic of more of the same stuff that is a couple of blocks away. But I digress.

Either way, I think we are wasting our time. Norfolk will go with the Cordish plan, keep Waterside the same and wash their hands of the situation. Thank the great "consultants" who tell them what they want for that one.

Altering is one thing, tearing down is a completely different thing. The issue everyone in here is having with the Selden is the idea of tearing it down, Norfolk doesn't need to lose any more of its history than it already has.

I love the idea of the arts coming DT and I think it's great to see it in action. I am sad to see we lost historic buildings off of Granby for a vacant lot. It's such a shame.

They're trying to get it ready for this summer's OpSail. Here is a drawing:

http://www.wparch.com/the-plot/

My money is on the Harvey Lindsay proposal. I think Norfolk is (finally) beyond the idea of Waterside....and the other proposals are just Waterside re-dos.

The HL proposal actually brings something new to DT....a conference center, hotels (read occupancy tax money), an office building and corporate jobs (read people spending some money in DT).

Why would anyone build an arena of 22,000 seats without anyone to play in it? That proposal is totally unrealistic and absurd IMO. The site also doesn't seem big enough for an arena.

Regarding the proposals for Waterside, I actually like different elements of a few of them, though I have no clear favorite. But just so everyone realizes, the Harvey Lindsay proposal is talking about building into the Selden Arcade, not the Monticello Arcade. While both have been around a while, the Selden was actually renovated more recently and besides the entrance facade, you wouldn't even know that it's been around since the 30's. They've already done a pretty good job of erasing all evidence of that. Now, the Monticello, on the other hand, still has the original details and look to it. So when it comes down to it, if they are talking about altering a portion of the Selden arcade, at this point, who really cares? It's already been done.

The corner of Main and Granby will be a temporary park soon. A group named Re:vision Norfolk has a plan in place to put a green space with public art and recreation in the very near future. The back of the lot will be used as a staging area for the library extension.

My thoughts are this...Cordish's plan is nice. Problem is, it's the same thing Waterside was in the 80s-90s, and again in the 2000s. What's going to be different this time around, and how do they plan to make it last more than 10 years? I've only been to Power Plant once or twice, but it came across as a strip mall that has a club atmosphere at night. Meh. The nightlife on Granby is nice...let's not try to make two competing locations in such a short radius.

Casino...zzzzz I've always found the idea cheesy, and although the revenue would probably be nice, I envision nothing but old folks stepping off of buses in between playing Bingo/watching "Wheel of Fortune". If Norfolk thinks this will turn them into the next Vegas, or even Atlantic City, then I don't know what to tell them. I see no more of a long range solution than I do with Waterside III.

Conference center...I was originally on board with the concept, until I realized no one uses the one in VB. Let's try to fill that one, or even the one next door at Half Moone.

The arena...unfortunately, no one can see the forest for the trees. Yes, it seems crazy to build an arena with no team in place. Until you realize the primary reason Norfolk has been passed over so many times is because...(wait for it), they don't have a venue. These NBA teams who want new arenas (Sacramento Kings for example) play in tiny, outdated arenas. BUT, they play in arenas that are NBA size. The Kings arena was built in the late-80s...why the hell would they come to Scope, half the size and nearly 20 years older? You put a nice 20K+ arena on the water in a market of comparable size to Sacramento and you immediately give this area leverage.

People say people don't support the Tides/Admirals, which is partially true. No, they're not filling Scope/Harbor Park on a regular basis, but both venues pull decent crowds. But to say that will translate to the big leagues is an apples/oranges comparison. Military crowd or not, you cannot use minor league attendance as precedent for how a region of 2 million people will support a pro team. I just have a hard time believing a team wouldn't pull in folks from HR/NC/Richmond, esp. when the Amtrak takes off later this year.

Not only that, the arena could pick up other events...college basketball tournaments (MEAC/CAA), and maybe even a few first round NCAA games. Not to mention more concerts featuring artists who find Scope obsolete. The only argument I could understand is traffic on Waterside drive would be a pain in the rear, which is why next to Harbor Park is probably more feasible. However, if Norfolk has any forward vision, they would take a chance on the arena, and not just play it safe with a plan that has a proven shelf life of about 10-12 years. They go with Cordish's plan, and I'm willing to bet $50 they'll be right back in this same conundrum in 10 years.

Place the arena there, and still build a smaller complex in and around Town Point Park. Take a look at Victory Plaza in Dallas for an idea of how it could work. It's where the Mavericks play, and it's an awesome setup.