Batten Sr. to donate $20M for downtown Norfolk library

NORFOLK

Frank Batten Sr. will donate $20 million to help the city build a $50 million downtown library complex a decade sooner than expected, Mayor Paul Fraim will announce today.

Batten, 81, of Virginia Beach, is the retired chairman of Landmark Media Enterprises LLC, formerly Landmark Communications Inc., which publishes The Virginian-Pilot. He gave $11 million to the Virginia Zoo but this will be his largest gift to Norfolk to date.

The library will be named for Col. Samuel L. Slover, Batten's uncle who founded Landmark Communications and raised him after his father died.

"The generosity of the Battens is astounding," Fraim said. "It's hard to put into words what this means to the citizens of Norfolk."

Batten has challenged the city to use the money to build the most advanced library in the region, with high-tech research capabilities unavailable elsewhere, Fraim said.

"This building should become a destination, an attraction unto itself," the mayor said. "We want this to take the people of Hampton Roads to the next century of libraries."

The donation will be used to help build a three-story facility adjacent to the Seaboard Building, a structure built in 1900 that once served as City Hall, and where a small parking lot and office building now stand. The Seaboard, at Plume Street and Atlantic Avenue, was recently acquired by the city to serve as a temporary library.

Together, the buildings will become the downtown library complex.

"Col. Slover loved this city, and he believed that an informed citizenry is one of the most important keys to its success," Batten said in a statement.

"Throughout my life and career, I have tried to honor my uncle and his devotion to the betterment of the communities that we serve, and his commitment to integrity, honesty and a sense of fair play. He would be glad to know that this state-of-the-art library will be named in his honor."

A tentative rendering of the complex by Urban Design Associates consultant Ray Gindroz has the new building joined to the Seaboard Building with a recessed glass atrium. The atrium would be set back enough to allow for the older building to remain intact and clearly distinguishable. The new building would mimic the Seaboard's Renaissance Revival style.

"This is probably the most important public building that will be built in the city in my time," said Fraim, who has been on the council for 22 years.

Library officials have complained that the aging Kirn Memorial L ibrary was in need of repairs or a replacement.

"I can't say we're appreciative because it's more than that," said Roslyn G. Brown, chairwoman of the Norfolk Public Library Board of Trustees, who called Kirn "pitiful."

Brown said the popularity of the city's newest library, the $10.8 million Mary D. Pretlow A nchor B ranch Library in Ocean View, has surpassed all expectations since opening in March.

"I think we've learned people will come to the libraries when they're pleasant places to be," she said.

Kirn will be torn down this winter to make way for light rail. Many of its materials are being transferred to the Seaboard Building.

The two library buildings will have about 65,000 square feet of public space, compared with 57,860 square feet in Kirn library.

In addition, the city will maintain an annex building for storage and some offices. A 27,000-square-foot building in the Norfolk Industrial Park that the city leased for space until a new library could be built will also continue to be used.

A small office building on Plume Street, in which Hipage Co., a shipping firm, has its headquarters, will be acquired and demolished to make way for the new building.

Fraim said the city will mount a fundraising drive to net several million dollars to help pay for the library. Nearly $10 million is appropriated to purchase and renovate the Seaboard Building. The balance of the city's share of the $50 million will be funded in 2010, he said.

He said he hopes construction will start in the fall of 2010 and that the library will open in early to mid-2012.

The city has committed to a load of projects in the next few years. A $100 million courthouse complex, a $50 million convention center and $26 million new Crossroads Elementary School are to be at least partially funded with debt.

"Without this gift, it would have taken many, many years, at least a decade," Fraim said.

The city has had a long-standing offer from Tidewater Community College to partner to build a library that would also serve TCC students. Fraim said the limited size of the new library complex probably won't allow for a full partnership.

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