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Norfolk — After weeks of dodging the question, Tidewater Community College has confirmed the namesake donors behind its proposed culinary and visual arts center in downtown Norfolk have withdrawn their pledge.
President Marcia Conston shared the news in an email to faculty and staff Tuesday, saying Patricia and Douglas Perry’s family foundation was pulling its donation, the amount of which was never disclosed, because of “a specific condition of their pledge not being met.”
Conston didn’t elaborate on the specific condition but said a total of $3.8 million pledged by the Perrys and other major donors was contingent on the college breaking ground on the planned two-story, 47,000-square-foot facility at the corner of Brambleton and Monticello avenues, where the now-defunct Greyhound bus station sits. That hasn’t happened.
A TCC spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request to speak with Conston.
The Perry family has also been largely mum. Son Chris Perry ignored most questions when The Virginian-Pilot wrote about the issue two weeks ago and didn’t respond to requests for comment Tuesday in light of Conston’s email. On Wednesday morning, he said he would return a call but had not by the afternoon.
[ Previous coverage: TCC promised an arts hub in Norfolk’s NEON district. It may not happen. ]
Conston’s email doesn’t explicitly say that the project is canceled. But references throughout indicate it’s on ice — something Norfolk Mayor Kenny Alexander alluded to last month when he said some “rethinking could be required.”
Conston wrote that the Perrys’ withdrawal was “a prudent decision, given the current circumstances of the project.” Repeating what a spokeswoman said previously, she said TCC is evaluating its facility needs because of the coronavirus pandemic and declining enrollment — down 19% since 2016 — that has left the college using less space in the buildings it already owns.
That the Perrys had pulled out of the project was an open secret fueled by reports of a letter from the family, but TCC refused multiple times last month to say whether the foundation had withdrawn its donation. A spokeswoman said only that TCC “appreciates our relationship with the Perry Foundation.”
The Pilot asked for a copy of the Perrys’ letter on Nov. 13, but the college hadn’t provided it as of Wednesday morning or even responded to the request at all, a violation of the state’s Freedom of Information Act. By law, TCC has up to five days to either provide the records, cite an exemption that allows them to withhold them or request additional time to fulfill the request. A second records request, for board meeting minutes, also is overdue.
The culinary school project was first announced 2½ years ago with much fanfare. The Perrys, philanthropists who were early supporters of Norfolk’s NEON arts district, were touted as the first major donors of what was to become the Patricia & Douglas Perry TCC Center for Visual & Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management.
The planned glass-and-steel facility was set to anchor the arts district. It would have housed 2,000 students enrolled in expanded visual and culinary arts programs, as well as a brand-new restaurant management program.
The college also promised extensive efforts to connect Norfolk Public Schools students to the programs, with scholarships and dual enrollment opportunities.
At that time, it was billed publicly as a $20 million project. Conston priced it at $17.5 million in her email Tuesday and said the college was about $12 million short despite fundraising efforts.
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Conston said in her email that a dedicated fundraiser was hired in June 2018, but when she was brought on as the new president in January 2020, TCC had only wrangled $785,000 in cash and $3.8 million more in pledges.
In between a handful of high-profile pledge announcements, officials had been publicly complaining about fundraising difficulties since at least mid-2019.
The status of the other pledges, from restaurant franchise operator Hu Odom, former Norfolk Southern executive and now restaurateur Jim Hixon, the Hampton Roads Community Foundation and TowneBank, is unknown.
The City of Norfolk owns the Greyhound land and had agreed to donate it to TCC on the condition that fundraising for the project was in place. Recent comments by the mayor suggest the city is now looking at other options.
“Something” will go there, Alexander said last month.
Sara Gregory, 757-469-7484, sara.gregory@pilotonline.com
Ryan Murphy, 757-739-8582, ryan.murphy@pilotonline.com