Downtown Suffolk to be officially considered for public health building site

SUFFOLK

Seeing what could be a chance to solve two issues at once, the City Council has agreed to consider placing a new public health building downtown, in the midst of a major redevelopment project.

Such a move would drastically alter the look of The Fairgrounds – a 170-unit affordable housing venture that has been delayed by problems. Current plans call for a mix of single-family homes and apartments, two parks and a business and industrial area on about 17 acres.

The public health building, which will house the city’s Department of Social Services and the state’s Western Tidewater Health District, would probably need about 6 acres if built in that location, said Tom O’Grady, Suffolk’s director of economic development.

The leading spot for the three-story, 60,000-square-foot health building has been a site at Kings Fork Road and Pruden Boulevard. But critics say it is too far from many people who need those services and would create traffic and safety problems.

About $500,000 has already been spent on design and site work for the building and the Pruden Boulevard location, which the city owns, O’Grady said.

Lula Holland, chairwoman of the Fairgrounds Revitalization Plan Advisory Committee, said she hadn’t yet formed an opinion on the idea.

“It just came out of the blue,” she said. “I can’t say right now. We’ve got to do a good assessment of the situation.”

The city looked into 14 sites for the health building, but never The Fairgrounds, O’Grady said.

Ironically, a hidden problem that threatens to drive up the cost of the redevelopment project has become a drawing point for the health building.

Part of the land designated for The Fairgrounds contains tons of buried construction

debris from an old Planters factory that was demolished in the mid-1990s.

Now the city might have to compact the buried debris before it builds on it. On Thursday, the city initiated a $53,000 ground-penetrating radar

survey to determine exactly where and how deep the debris field is, said City Manager Jim Vacalis.

City staff reported in October that after four years of work, The Fairgrounds is not yet ready to hire a developer, and the entire project could still be six years or more from completion.

At their meeting Wednesday, Councilmen Charles Parr and Jeffrey Gardy floated the idea of using the debris-filled land for the health building’s parking lot.

That intrigued Net Richardson, who owns a beauty salon on East Washington Street near the planned Fairgrounds property. She said she liked the idea of moving the health building there, especially if it brought jobs.

“Only problem I can think would be traffic,” she said. “But the building coming I think would be great.”

City staff members expect to report on The Fairgrounds option on Feb. 6, O’Grady said. The report will also include a review of sites at Peanut Park and Moore Avenue.

Dave Forster, (757) 222-5122, dave.forster@pilotonline.com