Norfolk plans to say things big, really big with new sign

Crab shack that is!

How many police would $500,000 put on the street?

What a waste of money!

Maybe the cruise ship industry would take the Norfolk Port more seriously if the money being proposed for this sign were applied to closer, safer parking for the cruise ship patrons. I live in Old Towne Portsmouth and when I was told I would have to park over at Park Place (leaving my vehicle unattended for days) and then take a shuttle bus over to the terminal, I had the option to just say no. I could walk the 5 blocks from my apartment to the ferry, ride over and walk to terminal. Out of town travelers do not have this option and I can see why they use other ports of call rather than put up with the hassle created here. Having the long term parking so far away from the downtown area and the mall only insures that no money will be spent in our area while waiting for relatives or traveling groups to arrive. Another fine example of poor planning the part of Norfolk City council.

What goes around comes around
Submitted by A Katz on Wed, 04/09/2008 at 11:09 am.
"Since the churches are tax-free busineses, maybe they can raise additional money by doubling as burlesque houses."

Katz, you apparently have no understanding of 501(c)3 tax exemptions. Actually, some taxes are generated by 501(c)3 organizations.

Also, I don't know why you'd want us to go from feeding the poor, educating orphans (domestically and internationally), helping flood victims (Christians on the scene first during every natural disaster- even in Muslim countries that hate Christians), bringing healing to drug addicts, and various other life giving enterprises to becoming flesh peddling places of debauchery. Isn't America already poisoned enough with its own peddling to selfish physical entertainment? Your desire to add shock value only exposes how numb you are to the reality of the darkness in your own heart.

Vulgar. That is the only word I can think of for this idea of putting a Jumbo-Tron sign on the side of Nauticus. Well, it should keep the police busy with taking care of accidents at the corner of Main and Boush Streets. Add 'stupid' to that too.

And of course our great cruise ship dock that rarely gets used anymore. Perhaps the cruise lines didn't like docking at a facility that uses a half-moon as a symbol: it's the same symbol that was used for centuries on outhouses! That was another brilliant concept of someone's . . .

Question: is Norfolk TRYING to be the laughing stock of the East Coast? If they are, they're doing a great job of it!

A recent article about the planned renovation of Town Point Park (to the tune of $11mil, I think)alludes to the fact that the designers have tried to immulate that great Chicago urban space, Millinium Park. After seeing the plans, and having experience Millinium Park first hand, I'd suggest Norfolk stop trying to "be like Mike",and create it's own original aura, so that visitors don't pause at the gates and say "what's so great about this?" Waterside being another good example of the "me too" attitude that the planners in Norfolk have taken for years. While Baltimore's "Waterside Market Place" still shines with millions of visitors each year, their aquarium continues to be a succes and their waterfront retail environments explodes with exciting night life and retail variety, we are stuck with Waterside, Nauticus and a $36 mil party room called a cruise terminal that the vast majority of Norfolk citizens will never use. It's still a Navy town and always will be. So yes, we have come full circle. The only thing not obvious are the hookers who work the lobby bars of the downtown hotels.

Great. now the people on cell phones can also watch TV. Do you think maybe people that are driving should be watching the road? .

Main Entry: 1blare
Pronunciation: \ˈbler\
Function: verb
Inflected Form(s): blared; blar·ing
Etymology: Middle English bleren; akin to Middle Dutch blēren to shout
Date: 15th century
intransitive verb
: to sound loud and strident
transitive verb
1 : to sound or utter raucously
2 : to proclaim flamboyantly

Since when do "big screen images" "blare"? Methinks you have mixed up your descriptives a bit. Anyway, it would be nice if the Virginia Port Authority could do something about Wards Corner and the trains there as the final destination of the trains is the NIT. But of course our City Council refuses to accept that Wards Corner is still a part of Norfolk.

Why don't they use a fraction of that amount to hire a full time security guard whose sole purpose is to chase away the bums? That would add more incentive to visit Waterside and Nauticus and also make the cruise ship people feel more welcome and it would be in the interest of the port authority. Everyting on the southside of Main Street could be a "bum-free" zone. The last time I went there, I was approached by 3 different people asking for money. I thought I was in a South Park episode.

I love you style, sweetheart, keep up the good work.

The heat really needs to be notched up on Mz. Williams.

Nothing like having a Jumbotron where people can drive and watch TV at the same time!! Oh wait--isn't it ILLEGAL to have a TV monitor in the car where it can be viewed by the driver? YES--it IS!! The downtown drivers and traffic aren't bad enough that you have to have a humongous TV for them to watch WHILE THEY DRIVE?? This is stupid even for Regina and Norfolk--another bad idea in the long, sad legacy of bad ideas for Norfolk and the idiot city manager that seems to be totally fireproof no matter how many boneheaded ideas she dreams up or approves! Hiring her buddy and convicted felon for 100K a year wasn't enough to make the mayor and city council can her incompetent butt, maybe this will do the trick. One can only pray that at some point this idiocy, financed by skyrocketing property taxes, will come to a screeching halt!

So much money being spent on useless crap and the kids of Norfolk have to manage in all those run down schools. As for Calvary What a joke!!!!!!!

If you look at pictures of downtown Norfolk in the 40's and 50's, the steets are lined with incandsecent notices of tattoo parlors, retailers and burlesque houses. We have the tattoo parlors and retailers..... Since the churches are tax-free busineses, maybe they can raise additional money by doubling as burlesque houses.

Well, since The Port Authority can cough up $500k for an electric sign, why can't they cough up the funds ($4billion I think) for their "third crossing"?

“They even brought a neon sign: "Jesus is coming"” – Don Henley

Since when is a church not a business? Some of us find it really offensive that they are able to advertise their mythology and a regular business cannot even have the same type of sign.

I love those electronic signs :-) I actually own a number of "smaller" ones (unfortunately full color is still mega expensive). The one at home scrolls the latest news from a RSS feed of my favorite blog, the housing bubble blog. It used to scroll news from the RSS feed from Pilot Online too. My biggest sign is 12' long, but the majority are around 3' long and 2 lines of tri-color LED goodness. I will be advertising my own non-commercial projects this summer on other peoples buildings, but I can't reveal how at this point. I like the signs, but think the city should be saving money for the upcoming potential depression.

Another irony is that after shunting the D'Art center into the Selden Arcade so the old center could be torn down to build condos, the artists appealed to the City for three years for a sign so people could find them. The City finally relented and put one up -- it's made of transparent (invisible) Plexiglas . . .

Two current Norfolk City Council members are up for re-election. If you object to the "tacky" sign on Nauticus, then give them a call and let them know how you feel about your tax money being spent on frivoloties at a time when money is tight for the city and state. If they say it is not your tax dollars, fill them in on how the Port Authority got the money to throw away.
Citizens, be heard!

And by the way, what ever happened to the announced plans for the big globe sculpture that was to grace the entrance to Nauticus?

No other words to describe these signs as "Tacky". Watch out Las Vegas and Times Square, Norfolk wants to get some "Bling, Bling going on in the 757". And I thought Noroflk was trying to move away from flashy GO-GO Club look that covered Ocean View with the master planning of East Beach. Some revitilzation you got going on. I hope this is not the direction the new City Planner has us going???

Bank of the commonwealth has a Watchfire full color electronic LED signboard already in downtown Norfolk. What was the story on that? I assume the people that run BOTC are buds with the mayor? I remember a previous story that said that the agreement was that BOTC would run community stuff on it, but I've never seen such a thing. I was thinking about asking. I think full color LED signs look good as long as they are of good quality. Taxpayer money funding them on the edge of a recession/depression is another thing though.

Just what downtown Norfolk needs, even more visual pollution. And aren't those of us who can constantly see Norfolk from the Portsmouth side really lucky; we will have to watch even more electricity being wasted 24/7 on a sign no one will be able to read from Waterside Drive - unless they block traffic - or from Portsmouth. And as already stated, it really is taxpayer money being spent, while the City Council continues to worship greed. This has nothing to do with getting information to to the public but taking a first step toward allowing businesses to do the same. But, of course, we are the public who keeps electing the same people to do all this.

!!! JESUS SAVES !!!

BUT TAX MONEY NEVER THE LESS. The $500,000 will come from a grant(wink, wink)from the Virginia Port Authority. This statement comes directly from the vaports.com web site: The Virginia Port Authority was established in 1952 as a political subdivision of the Commonwealth of Virginia for the purpose of stimulating commerce of the ports of the Commonwealth. The Authority owns and is responsible for the operations and security of three marine terminals: Norfolk International Terminals (NIT), Portsmouth Marine Terminal (PMT), and Newport News Marine Terminal (NNMT), and an inland intermodal facility, the Virginia Inland Port (VIP) located in Front Royal, Virginia. A Board of Commissioners composed of 12 members manages the Authority. The Commissioners consist of 11 citizens appointed by the Governor in addition to the State Treasurer. The Commissioners remain on the Board at the continuing pleasure of the Governor. I don't think that buying a sign with taxpayer money is a proper function of the Port Authority!!

Cigarette filled restaruants and big flashy electric signs will surely add to the quality of life and general attraction of Norfolk and maybe lure people to fill all those new overpriced condos!

Or maybe or City Council has been sitting on their brains too long . . .

If the city can use electronic signage for its venues, how in all fairness can they resrict private business from doing the same. This is ripe for a court challenge. In actuality, the city is competing with private enterprise with an unfair advantage.
Level the playing field and allow electronic signage for private enterprise with normal care as to not overwhelm our visual senses.
Neighoring cities allow electronic signage and its about time that Norfolk entered the 21st century.

More big ugly flashing electronic distractions for the drivers that already can't find or see the 25 mph speed limit signs. It's a wonder there aren't more accidents on the Waterside Speedway.....