Willoughby's Ocean Dream apartments are razed

NORFOLK

The Ocean Dream had become more like a nightmare to many of its neighbors in recent years.

The one-story apartment building, its low-slung roof sheltering the doors to 15 tiny efficiencies, had drawn increasing complaints from its Willoughby neighbors.

The building, they said, didn't fit into the residential nature of Little Bay Avenue. They complained about car break-ins, drug sales and prostitution.

On Wednesday, the Dream died.

With a swipe of its claw, an excavator tore out the building's columns of wrought iron scrolls. A second swipe tore off a section of roof, the rafters cracking and asphalt shingles lifting into the air, only to fall in a pile with yellowed ceiling tiles, stained mattresses and concrete blocks. A crowd of residents and city officials watched, smiling.

"We're really, really pleased the time has come," Willoughby Civic League member Stephen Leaman said.

At the request of the civic league, Norfolk's Redevelopment and Housing Authority bought the building in November for $600,000. The site will be redeveloped, likely with single-family or duplex housing, after area residents weigh in on the plans.

The building, at 1128 Little Bay Ave., was roughly 50 years old. It began as a beach-area hotel, but eventually was converted to efficiency apartments.

It flooded during storms and had been vacant since November's nor'easter.

It will be the fifth building the authority has torn down in Willoughby since 2001 as part of a neighborhood development plan.

In the past decade, the city and authority have invested nearly $3 million, mostly for property rehabilitation loans and the purchase of several buildings.

Before demolition began Wednesday, city officials touted their success in removing Willoughby's blight.

"This is one of the more fun things we get to do - which is really help somebody better their neighborhood," said Sheppard Miller III, chairman of the authority's board.

Gene Jones, who has lived across from the Ocean Dream since 1961, said she and her husband were never bothered by the apartments or tenants. But clearing the lot will make way for something newer and better for her community, she said.

"It'll be an improvement, " she said.

Meghan Hoyer, (757) 446-2293, meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com