Proposed headquarters for Virginia Arts Festival gets new site

NORFOLK

The new home for the Virginia Arts Festival's proposed $3.5 million headquarters has shifted from Olney Road to Bank Street, placing it closer to concert halls but also to a historic building.

Festival officials want to build a 12,000-square-foot building of glass, stone and concrete to house administrative offices, a box office and rehearsal studios.

City and arts officials said they are excited by the synergy the building would create being located across the street from Chrysler Hall and adjacent to a site the city is eyeing for a future performing arts center.

"It all works together well in the longer view of things," said Stanley Stein, an assistant city manager.

But some said they are worried about the impact the contemporary building would have on the former Norfolk Academy, constructed in 1840 in the Greek Revival style. About 110 feet would separate the two.

The city's Design Review Committee unanimously recommended against approving the project.

"We have to be deferential and sympathetic to the East Freemason Historic District and in particular that building," said Mason Andrews, an architect and vice chairwoman of the committee.

Andrews said the design is "big and exciting" and would be a great addition elsewhere in the city. "Its size and modern styling immediately adjacent to a classical temple is a little awkward," she said.

Alice Allen-Grimes, president of the Norfolk Preservation Alliance, said the new building would be "right on top of this very significant historic building."

"It deteriorates its character and continues to erode the character of the historic area," she added.

The alliance has battled with the city in recent months over three historic buildings downtown that were ultimately demolished for a hotel and convention center. The facade of one of the three is being preserved and moved.

The Virginia Arts Festival now leases about 5,000 square feet of office space from the city.

"We're on top of each other," said executive director Rob Cross, adding that two employees share a former closet and another five occupy what used to be half of the boardroom.

The festival embarked on a fundraising campaign about three years ago to raise $10 million - $3.5 million for a new building and $6.5 million for an endowment. About $7.5 million has been raised so far.

The original plan was to build on a donated lot in the 100 block of W. Olney Road, between Granby Street and Wilson Avenue. When zoning and parking issues arose, festival officials explored other options.

City officials offered to trade the Olney property for a city-owned parcel - the parking lot for the academy building, home to the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce.

The academy building, which is listed on the national and state historic registers, was designed to resemble a Greek temple by renowned architect Thomas Ustick Walter, who also designed the Capitol dome. It has facades on the east and west sides, said Kimble David, a local architectural historian, and the festival building would obscure one of those facades.

The festival's architects worked with the city's urban design consultants and altered the original plans to include a two-story glass atrium in the center of the building that would allow a view of the academy's facade from the street.

"We were trying to be thoughtful and sensitive to a building with age to it so it would have all of its sides seeable by the public," Stein said. "We think it will work."

"I'm happy with what we've come up with," Cross said.

The Planning Commission recommended approval and the City Council will vote on the project sometime in January. Cross said he hopes to break ground in March and occupy the new building in the summer of 2009.

Debbie Messina, (757) 446-2588, debbie.messina@pilotonline.com