Consultant unveils vision for Portsmouth

The Virginian-Pilot - June 15, 2005

PORTSMOUTH — Downtown could look very different in a few years.

Urban design consultant Ray Gindroz’s vision, unveiled at a City Council meeting Tuesday, includes six high-rise towers, a waterfront park and a traffic circle that would become the new gateway to the city.

It’s a vision city officials have wholeheartedly embraced.

Despite the costs of road improvements and moving city offices, they said Tuesday that Portsmouth needed to press on with the recommended changes and redevelopment of several major downtown sites.

“In my experience, when a city does plans, they generally come true,” City Manager James B. Oliver Jr. said. “We have some really clear emphasis now.”

Earlier this year, Portsmouth enlisted the help of Gindroz’s company, Urban Design Associates, to better handle downtown development proposals.

Gindroz’ downtown waterfront development plan centers on five properties owned by Portsmouth – including the civic center parking lot, the Holiday Inn Olde Towne-Portsmouth and the vacant property across from City Hall – that generally are considered among the city’s most desirable pieces of real estate.

In fact, later the same evening, the council heard a presentation from a group looking to build a high-rise, multi-use building on the Holiday Inn site.

The aging hotel is still operating, but city officials have discussed tearing it down and redeveloping the property.

Representatives of the Gee’s Group, a local development company, refused to comment as they left their meeting with council members, which was closed to the public.

The company is one of several that have expressed interest in the site.

But Gindroz on Tuesday advised city officials to focus their attention instead on the southern end of Crawford Street, closer to City Hall.

Top on his list of plans is improving the entrance to downtown from Interstate 264.
Instead of forcing drivers to snake through several blocks to Crawford Street, Gindroz has proposed straightening the boulevard, creating several new city blocks in the process, and leading people to a large traffic circle that would become the city’s new entrance.

“This is the most important thing that needs to be done,” he told the council Tuesday.
“The whole point of this is to get the city fixed, to repair the damage to the roads. This circle has great potential to become a major landmark in the region. This would be absolutely unique in this part of the country.”

Among the other recommendations in his plan:
- Closing the northbound lanes of Crawford Parkway, making the parkway a two-lane road and using the additional land for a waterfront city park.

- Extending the south end of Middle Street to High Street to repair the broken street grid.

- Eventually moving City Hall and the courts and jail complex off the waterfront to make way for development.

- Luring private developers to build several new low-rise offices and residences near Crawford and Columbia streets and to build a high-rise tower, most likely for condominiums, on the vacant pier in front of the Telos Pavilion at Harbor Center.

Oliver said the plan already had gained support from residents and developers who had talked and met with Gindroz as he developed his ideas.

Charles Twine is one of those supporters.
The downtown resident said he was thrilled with Gindroz’ plans to bring more residences and businesses there.

“It’s outstanding,” he said. “They need plans to get City Hall and the jail off such valuable property. The waterfront needs a new look.”

Reach Meghan Hoyer at (757) 446-2293 or meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com.