It’s a never-ending fact of life — change in inevitable. Sometimes it can happen as frequently as the Atlantic rolling tides pounding the Virginia Beach oceanfront. Other times, it can take many lifetimes, creeping ever so slowly without notice.
Change may be coming for the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier on 15th Street. For sixty-five years, the wooden pier has been the only pier accessible from the boardwalk, allowing tourists and locals to easily fish and crab above the Atlantic ocean. Almost everyone I have spoken to knows about the pier or has stood upon it.
If the proposed changes are approved by the city, there’s going to be a new landmark on our sandy coastline. Even King Neptune himself, a local icon on the VA Beach boardwalk, may be dwarfed by comparison.
The project calls for tearing down the old wooden pier and replacing with an 880 foot long concrete pier nearby. Existing surrounding older buildings would be removed. In their place, a ferris wheel would be built, additional shopping would be made available (gift shops, restaurants and more), approximately 1000 more parking spaces would be created, a brand new hotel constructed, and a new public park designed for more free outdoor fun. This would be an extremely large renovation project for Virginia Beach area, costing upwards of $250M dollars.
There’s even talk of a new shuttle service between the new pier and other VA Beach hotspots, like the upcoming 18,000 seat planned arena on 19th Street.
We’re crossing our fingers that this Virginia Beach 2.0 upgrade will be approved. Continued investment into positive change for our coastal community is a long term investment for all present and future tourists and locals who love visiting and living here in Hampton Roads.
