Norfolk Scope Arena gets a fresh new look with power wash
Starting on Wednesday, the City of Norfolk announced the Scope is undergoing a power wash — something many residents have asked the city to complete for years.
https://twitter.com/NorfolkVA/status/1904940396850954561
The much-needed upkeep comes around a year after plans to renovate both the Chrysler Hall and Scope Arena.
Latest renovation plans, price tags for Norfolk Scope, Chrysler Hall shared
While the Scope has gotten several upgrades within the past two decades, including a new sound system and seats, city officials said they would like to increase the 11,000-seat capacity.
The current plans for a remodel include ADA-accessibility and will add an additional 1,050 new seats for sporting events and 750 for concerts.
Continue to check WAVY.com for updates.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Another share of paratransit drivers are represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1028. A small portion are Pace employees, according to the organization's executive director, Melinda Metzger. After years as a driver, Williams helped organize a union with the Teamsters, she said, because of concerns over pay and drivers' at-will employment status. Drivers at SCR voted to unionize last year and ratified their first contract after a three-week strike. Williams was making just over $20 an hour before drivers ratified their first contract with SCR last year, she said. Now she makes $24.50, a 20% increase in pay. Like other drivers, Williams went through training to become a paratransit driver. She's subject to random drug tests. She doesn't think that Uber drivers have the same level of training and experience that she and her colleagues have. 'We deserve our clients,' she said. But representatives for the Teamsters said that they are down about 200 jobs at SCR since the summer of 2024, which they attribute to the increased use of Uber for paratransit. SCR did not respond to requests for comment. Metzger, Pace's executive director, said in an interview about the rideshare program that the agency was trying to make the most of limited resources. 'We operate in many different ways because we have a limited budget, and we're trying to do the best we can for both our riders and the taxpayers,' she said. The rideshare program was born in part, Metzger said, because paratransit riders came back to the transit system faster than other riders did after the peak of the pandemic. At the time, Pace didn't have enough paratransit drivers. Offering the rideshare program, she said, freed up space on traditional paratransit. The program was modeled after an existing program in which riders could call taxis as paratransit, which was available only within the city of Chicago. 'This is another choice for our riders,' Metzger said. 'We are very, very supportive of all of our unionized personnel also.' Metzger noted that the costs of the rideshare program represent only a fraction of the agency's total paratransit costs, which were budgeted at nearly $250 million last year. In a statement, Uber spokesperson Josh Gold said the program 'represents a significant step toward improving accessible transportation options for riders with disabilities through greater flexibility and on-demand convenience.' State Sen. Ram Villivalam, a Chicago Democrat and one of the leaders of the transit reform effort in Springfield, said he was 'worried about the sustainability' of the rideshare program. 'We need to ensure that folks with disabilities have access to public transit to get to their job, their doctor, their school,' he told the Tribune after a transit reform rally last month. 'We also need to ensure that there is a sustainable path forward.' 'There were a lot of discussions related to how we maintain the level of service for the community,' Delgado said. Wherever discussions end up, Delgado said, it is important that 'the services that are available to people with disabilities … do not diminish in any way.' But with the transit fiscal cliff fast approaching, paratransit is facing an existential threat. Paratransit is offered, as is legally mandated, in parallel with regular transit service. That means that if Pace or the CTA cut bus service, for instance, paratransit service — including the rideshare program — will be cut too. Pace, along with the CTA and Metra, are in the midst of planning for the possibility of those catastrophic cuts next year. Transit advocates have urged lawmakers to return to Springfield for a special session this summer to pass transit funding before pink slips go out in the fall. So far, legislators have been mum on whether they will.
