From the City Manager's Desk

American Planning Association Recognizes
Build One Portsmouth Comp Plan

Portsmouth’s comprehensive plan, Build One Portsmouth has been recognized across the Commonwealth an?d has become nationally recognized as a model for a resilience-based comprehensive plan. The Build One Portsmouth Comprehensive Plan was recently recognized by the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association as the 2019 Resilient Virginia Community of the Year. Planning Administrator Brian Swets was also the recipient of the Nelsonite Award as Virginia’s Planning Advocate of the Year. The awards were presented at the chapter’s annual conference awards luncheon July 23, 2019.

The Build One Portsmouth Comprehensive Plan categorizes strategies under four main themes . . . thriving, resilient, evolving and equitable. Each theme serves as an aspect of what it will take to improve Portsmouth over the life of the plan. Each theme is then represented by a vision statement and supported by goals all of which are outlined in the plan. Each goal contains strategies, specific tactics and possible metrics to be used to measure success. Portsmouth residents were invited, during the beginning phases of the process, to participate in the building of the new comprehensive plan. Public meetings were held and residents could weigh-in on topics via the internet.

“We thank the citizens of Portsmouth for their participation in this entire Build One Portsmouth Comprehensive Plan process. We are truly proud of the city’s Planning Department under the direction of Deputy City Manager Bob Baldwin,” said City Manager Dr. L. Pettis Patton.

Nov 26

[ARCHIVED] Shipyard Season's Greetings at the Naval Shipyard Museum

The original item was published from November 26, 2019 4:41 PM to December 2, 2019 3:02 PM

Anyone walking through the Children’s Museum this year will see our Winter Wonderland display, full of bright lights, electronic elves, and decorated trees that remind so many of us of the delights of Coleman’s Nursery, or at least of the pleasantries of our own Christmases past. 

Here at the Naval Shipyard Museum, we’ve been shuttered for the past few holiday seasons. But this year, we have our own representation of the delights of Christmas. Our temporary photograph display offers a small collection of vintage images of Christmas decorations installed instead against the industrial backdrop of Norfolk Naval Shipyard. These 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s photographs offer the contrast of seasonal celebrations with the workaday setting of a military installation.

There are exterior decorations, interior displays, set up specifically for special holiday events, like family open houses and staff parties (often including toy train displays and miniature villages), and group photos of office gatherings, with punch bowls and Christmas trees amid the Bakelite telephones, industrial safety posters, and file separators. But the images that give me the most pause are the wartime photos.

Pictured below: Gate 10 decorated for Christmas, no date (Courtesy NNSY Archives)

Gate 10 n-d cropped

The holidays are all about traditions. So start a new tradition, and come down to the PNSM to look into the faces of the shipyard’s Christmases past.

The temporary display, along with a case of vintage holiday editions of the shipyard’s newspaper, Service to the Fleet, and several examples of shipyard Christmas cards (illustrated with original artwork), will be in the PNSM gallery from November 29 through December 31. Throughout the Christmas season, the museum will continue to be open Wednesday – Saturday, 10:00am – 5:00pm; Sunday, 1:00 – 5:00pm (closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, as well as Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day). Remember that all city employees may enter the museum for free!

My thanks to the NNSY Archives, Shipyard Historian & Archivist Marcus W. Robbins, and the NNSY Public Affairs Office for sharing these images and information with us. Thanks also to Tim, Andre, and the Museums Department’s Exhibits team for their assistance with graphics and production.

May you find cheer and comfort in your own holiday traditions this year.