Converting Hampton convention center a good idea, official says

HAMPTON — As Hampton finalizes lease details ahead of converting the Hampton Roads Convention Center into an alternative care facility in response to the conoranavirus pandemic, the city manager said the facility will benefit both patients and the city.

Speaking during a Hampton City Council meeting held electronically Wednesday, Mary Bunting shared an update on the project.

“We are in the final negotiations with the state on leasing the convention center,” Bunting told council members. “This is a positive thing so that we can help save lives and also bring some revenue stream into our convention center … which would otherwise be closed.”

In March, Gov. Ralph Northam issued a stay-at-home order for Virginians, forcing localities to shutter public facilities to slow the coronavirus’ spread. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is set to convert three sites in Virginia into alternative care facilities: the Hampton site, Dulles Expo Center in Loudoun County and Richmond’s convention center.

The plan is to have the sites up and running in roughly six weeks. These facilities will take on patients once hospitals run out of available beds, according the Virginia Department of Emergency Management.

The Hampton site may have as many as 560 beds for patients already recovering from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, making room at hospitals for those who are critically ill, Bunting said. Hampton does not know yet how much the city would be paid for the lease, Bunting said in an email.

VDEM is working with the Corp of Engineers and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to secure contractors who will convert the facilities, USACE spokesman Patrick Bloodgood said. Work is expected to begin soon after contractors are hired.