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The biggest donors to Tidewater Community College’s much-ballyhooed culinary school project in the NEON district say they pulled back their $2.5 million donation because the city of Norfolk had pulled out first, newly obtained documents show.
But the mayor and city manager say Norfolk is still committed to providing the land for the project, and always has been.
Announced in March 2018, the vision was for a 47,000-square-foot facility at the entrance to Norfolk’s NEON District. The proposed new glass-and-steel facility was expected to house TCC’s expanded visual and culinary arts programs and a brand new restaurant management program.
But as time dragged on and fundraising lagged, the project has seemingly sunk.
In the letter dated Nov. 2 and addressed to TCC President Marcia Conston, Douglas Perry wrote that his family’s foundation had decided to withdraw its $2.5 million pledge to the culinary school project.
This is the first time the amount has been made public. The letter was released Wednesday evening, weeks after The Virginian-Pilot requested it under the state’s public records law. The school gave no reason for the delay in releasing it and in responding to the request, in apparent violation of the law.
The reason for the withdrawal, according to Perry’s letter, is he had heard the city of Norfolk “no longer intends to help move this venture forward” as a result of COVID-19.
The city owns the former Greyhound station facility at the corner of Granby Street and Brambleton Avenue and had promised to donate the property to TCC once the fundraising was completed.
“Without the city’s support, we don’t see a path for TCC to meet the terms of our pledge,” Perry wrote. “We saw this project as essential to solidifying the future of the NEON district, and are saddened that it will not come to fruition.”
But Mayor Kenny Alexander says that’s not true.
“The city support is making the land available,” Alexander said Thursday. “That has been the city’s pledge, and that has not wavered.”
He said Norfolk’s City Council had not discussed pulling out of the TCC project, or the use of that land for any other project.
“City Council hasn’t made any other statements beyond what was introduced to the public a few years ago about our desire to work with TCC, Pat and Douglas Perry and others. That is the official statement and has been the only statement,” he said.
Alexander also reiterated a sentiment he shared recently: that the city will do something with the property, with or without the culinary school project.
“As I said two weeks ago, we’re committed to revitalizing that corridor. It’s a gateway to downtown, and something will go there,” Alexander said. “We’re still excited, and what goes there can be with or without TCC.”
City Manager Chip Filer echoed the mayor Thursday, saying the city is still committed to donating the land and nobody from his administration had ever discussed dropping support for the project with TCC or the Perrys.
Cutting through the noise to get at what really fueled the collapse of this project has been difficult.
[ Previous coverage: TCC promised an arts hub in Norfolk’s NEON district. It may not happen. ]
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Chris Perry, son of Douglas and Patricia and a trustee of the family’s foundation, has refused to answer questions about pulling out of the project. He did not return calls Wednesday or Thursday.
TCC also dodged questions about the status of the project for several weeks before Conston confirmed the Perrys had withdrawn their donation in a letter to faculty and staff this week. The college hasn’t made Conston available for an interview and said Thursday she would not be able to comment until Friday.
Naima Ford, a TCC spokeswoman, said Thursday that the college has no reason to believe the city had pulled its support. From the college’s perspective, the stumbling blocks were fundraising and declining enrollment. The coronavirus pandemic has also shifted some of the college’s priorities, she said.
Beyond dropping their support of the culinary school project, the Perrys also pulled back on the planned donation of the Glass Wheel Studio building at 128 Olney Road, according to the letter.
That contemporary art building, which is currently leased to TCC, is located a block from the proposed site of the culinary school project in the NEON district. In the letter, Perry says the family intends to continue leasing to TCC through Sept. 2021, and would consider renewal options closer to that date.
Ryan Murphy, 757-739-8582, ryan.murphy@pilotonline.com
Sara Gregory, 757-469-7484, sara.gregory@pilotonline.com