News

Like a slip at the Marina at Marina Shores, in Virginia Beach's Lynnhaven Inlet.

by Jody Argo Schroath

My first visit to the Marina at Marina Shores on Long Creek in Lynnhaven Inlet didn't get off to a very good start. It was all my fault. Really, I have nothing but good things to say about the marina, its facilities and its people. No, it was just me playing dumb against the tide.

After that, everything was good. Great, in fact! Skipper and I loved the marina! We walked all over its 16 acres of shady live oaks, sable palms and other indigenous species planted by owner Gale Levine Higgs. We skirted the swimming pool with its inviting pastel recycled-plastic deck chairs. We walked to the nearby grocery store and West Marine. We found the nature trail that leads to First Landing State Park...


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By Lee Tolliver

VIRGINIA BEACH

Mother Nature has thrown the inaugural Million Dollar Rockfish Challenge a curveball even Ryan Zimmerman would have trouble hitting.

The Washington Nationals third baseman and former Kellam and University of Virginia standout was one of a handful of celebrities scheduled to compete.

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, NASCAR's Jeffrey Earnhardt and largemouth bass fishing icon Roland Martin were others.

But the weekend's wintry storm put everything in question for the event that was supposed to start Monday. Vick will not participate because Sunday night's Eagles game against Minnesota was rescheduled for tonight. Tournament officials weren't sure whether the others could make it.

Tournament director Ken Wente and officials at Marina Shores Marina plowed through the chaos, determined to make the event happen.

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By Lee Tolliver
The Virginian-Pilot
© November 28, 2010

There's no shortage of striped bass fishing tournaments between now and early next year.

But a new one that will take place between Christmas and New Year's is poised to become the big daddy of them all.

That's a lofty statement, with the Mid-Atlantic Rockfish Shootout in January and the Toys for Tots event in a couple of weeks, but the inaugural Million Dollar Rockfish Challenge has incorporated big money prizes, several fishing options and a striped bass cooking challenge.

The event is set for Dec. 26-30 out of Marina Shores in Virginia Beach.

Insurance policies have been secured so that tournament officials can offer $1 million to any team breaking the International Game Fish Association all-tackle world record of 78 pounds, 8 ounces. That mark isn't beyond the realm of possibilities, given that the Virginia state record is 73 pounds.

If a team breaks just the state record, there's $250,000 waiting for it.

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By Lee Tolliver
The Virginian-Pilot
© July 24, 2010

Gale Higgs sees green.

When she strolls around the massive expanse of her Marina at Marina Shores, she thinks she's making a difference for the environment. When she heads into the massive boat-storage building, she sees hundreds of vessels illuminated by light passing through plastic panels instead of energy-sponging electrical lights.

"Green," she says.

At the swimming pool, she smiles at the pastel chairs, benches and tables made out of recycled plastic instead of wood.

"More green."

Along the property's eastern edge, she marvels at the cranes, ibises and herons that make a tidal marsh their home.

"Mother Nature is as green as it gets."

The 56-year-old Higgs sees it everywhere.

A small beach where boat owners can relax in the afternoon sun has been left intact instead of building more dock space.

Throughout the property, indigenous bushes, trees and palms have been planted to restore the area to what it might have been like hundreds of years ago and to provide nesting for native birds.

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By
The Virginian-Pilot
© June 20, 2008

VIRGINIA BEACH

After 20 years, owner Gail Higgs felt it was time The Marina at Marina Shores got a makeover.

"I liked it when I built it, but now it feels 1980s," she said. She calls her planned project "a functional, architectural face-lift."

Starting in early 2009, a new, 220,000-square-foot building will begin to rise at the marina. It will be built in five stages and take between five and 10 years, she said, and is to feature retail on the lower level with office space above.

About midway through the project, the old marina on Long Creek, just off the Lynnhaven Inlet, is to be demolished.

"I want this place to be a premier destination marina," Higgs said.

Among the amenities will be aqua-colored windows and a five-level parking garage.

Higgs, who runs the Kane Marie Fine Arts Gallery in Virginia Beach, made original artwork a theme of the current marina building. She's even hosted art shows there.

"A building is like any other work of art," Higgs said. "Its visual impact is critical."

The Marina Shores development, off Great Neck Road, began in 1961, when Higgs' late husband, David I. Levine, bought the land.

It featured single- and multi-family homes in addition to the marina building, boat slips, 500-boat storage building and retail space.

The 12,000-square-foot marina building was built in the late 1980s.

The new building, Higgs promises, "is not going to look dated 30 years from now."

Higgs is also steering a sister development at Great Neck Road and Lynnhaven Drive, the Marina Shores Shops.

The shopping center, on an outparcel in front of Higgs' existing Marina Shores shopping center, will have space for seven retail shops.

The center, which should be complete in spring 2009, will feature tall ceilings and a large weather vane in the shape of a fish.