The Virginian-Pilot
©
VIRGINIA BEACH
The decorative centerpiece of the $1.7 million plaza at Town Center is a big fountain that is often not running.
The reason? A combination of wind, water, Turkish marble and our litigious society.
The breeze blows spray onto the marble pavers that surround the fountain, making the surface slick. High heels present a special risk.
"It's very slippery, especially for ladies, and we can't have any accidents, because of liability," said Amy Cherry of Divar-is Real Estate Inc., which manages Fountain Plaza for the city and Town Center developer Armada Hoffler.
A wind gauge mounted on a plaza lamppost triggers the fountain to shut off when the wind hits 8 miles an hour or more.
The area's average wind speed is about 10.5 miles an hour, the highest average in the state. Proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay means Virginia Beach gets lots of wind.
"When you combine land with water, you increase your wind speeds," said William Schmitz, climatologist for the Southeast Regional Climate Center.
Weather data from a Virginia Beach neighborhood near Town Center showed that wind speeds hit 8 mph on 104 of the first 115 days in 2009, according to a calculation run by Schmitz.
The city doesn't keep track of how often the fountain is off, said Mark Wawner, Town Center project manager.
"I think it's on more than it's off," he said.
At Cincinnati's Fountain Square, designers used roughened granite around their city fountain.
"It's kind of like a sidewalk," said Jeff Martin, a city development officer.
"Kind of a rough texture. We didn't make it slippery, because we knew there would be water on it."
Aaron Applegate, (757) 222-5122. aaron.applegate@pilotonline.com
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ROFL
OKAY so how many have known since their awareness that marble existed KNEW "Slippery When Wet" was associated with this sleek glass like surface? Someone with a 7th grade education learning Earth Science would have been intelligent enough to know this was going to be a 1.7 million dollar issue. Are 6th graders running the city and developing it? It was Myra's going away present to the residents of Va Bch to clean up another one of her "mega expenses" --- hey rumor has it now they want to move the Court House to Town Center. The land is clearing at an increased rate up there.....
Did you also know that housing near "downtown" loses value.. you homeowners may want to consider move- that is of course if you can find someplace that at one time wasn't designated downtown. How many do we have now?
Regional Government?? Parish the thought
Wayne you can't be serious. Do you think if all seven cities became one (heaven forbid) that it would become more efficient? You would still have 7 district fire chiefs, police chiefs, mayors, and city managers and 49 city councilman. Then you would have to create another bureauracy such as an executive city council along with an executive mayor, executive police chiefs, fire chiefs, city manager and the list goes on. Addressing VB city council is like talking to water fountain. It does what it wants, spits on you and never listens. Unless you are a developer. No thank you. To me this area will always be Tidewater, I will always refer to it as such, and I will always vote against bigger government.
Go Green!
I think they should replace the fountain with a wind propellar. If the wind is that bad they may as well use it to provide enough power for a light bulb in one of those offices. The greenie weenies would love that.
Just one more reason
This is just one more reason Hampton Roads, or Tidewater, which ever you prefer, needs to be just one big city instead of seven little one fighting to be better than the other. Downtown? Do we need seven downtowns? No, but because selfish ego driven politicians don't want to be call aldermen instead of city councilmen, and no mayor wants to give up their position for a more efficient community, we the citizens of Hampton Roads pay dearly for their competitive nature. My downtown is better than yours na,na na.
The answer
Is to remove the marble. Think rain, same problem.
Res ipsa loquitur
Finally addressing a MAJOR hazard!!
Several years ago, I called A-H and spoke with he project manager to protest the operation of the fountain. Yes, it looks great, but it lawsuit city waiting to happen. I almost fell myself, with FLATS on. The slippery surface is just too much. Obviously, nothing was really done. Wind Meter ?
To reference a regular poster here...
THIS would qualify as a boondoggle.
Now that everyone is aware
Now that everyone is aware that the marble tile is dangerous when wet will we have to cordon off the area when it rains or put warning signs in the area. Perhaps moisture controlled flashing lights and maybe an air raid siren to warn of the impending doom. Maybe we need to station an ambulance there when the humidity is high.
I am willing to take the job as consultant for that project. And I can do it for under 200 grand. Chump change for the city!
I have a simple solution
I have a simple solution for this problem: tear down the entire TC complex and rebuild it somewhere less congested.
$$$
And how much are we the taxpayers going to have to spend to fix it? We didn't have any say-so in constructing it but I'm sure we'll be paying for this botched-up job too.