Historical Reminiscing with Robert B.
Hitchings
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The Hague Towers
I remember when The Hague Towers were being built. The Norfolk Redeveloping Housing Authority was in the process in the early 1960s of building high rise towers, around Norfolk. I saw The Hague Towers, Golden Triangle Hotel, Algonquin Towers, Kirn Library, Lafayette Towers, Pembroke Towers and The Hague Towers all being built within a few years.
I was a student at Maury High school. My elective was always art and Mrs. Ethel Trice was my art teacher for all three years at Maury High School. She was w-o-n-d-e-r-f-u-l ! I have many fond memories of Mrs. Ethel Trice. Her husband and his family were into real-estate business in our area, better known as W. H. H. Trice & Co.
In Mrs. Trice art class, we always had an art assignment. Every month we were to visit an exhibit and write up a report (paintings, sculpture, etc.) of what we saw and why we liked it. She was a fan of A. B. Jackson's work, an African American who was a fabulous painter. Yes, I visited his exhibits in Portsmouth, Virginia.
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The Virginian-Pilot
November 6, 1966When the Hague Towers were completed, Samuel Nusbaum and the American Federation of Arts decided to have a Pablo Picasso exhibit, not only to celebrate this extraordinary and gifted artist’s 85th birthday, but to bring in ordinary visitors to see this famous high-rise state of the art apartment building. This was a chance the public could view these new luxury apartments and its fantastic view of Norfolk’s harbor, plus to see this Picasso exhibit.
In October 1966, Mrs. Ethel Trice told the class about the new PICASSO exhibit at the new Hague Apartments. Our assignment was to visit the exhibit and to write up a report on a painting or ceramic object. My father took me to this exhibit and I fell in love with Picasso. He had a pen and ink sketch called, “The Circus” and I reported on this sketch. What I liked about the sketch was one could only see a bunch of black lines, a jumbled mess; but once you squint one’s eyes, once could see all the performers of the circus. It was beautiful, and well done. The pen and ink sketch was only $350.00. I wanted to buy it, but like all teenagers I only had a hundred dollars to my name. I kept wondering how I could raise that amount of money, but, coming from working class family, $350.00 was a lot of money. I remember I got an A+ on my report. I do not know what other students reported on, but I remember this fantastic pen and ink sketch. Years later, with my aunt Mrs. William Portlock Butt, (1906-1999) I attended the Pablo Picasso Exhibit at the Chrysler Museum, and there in the center of the wall was my Pen & Ink sketch. Walter Chrysler, art connoisseur, bought the sketch and presented this and other Picasso items from his personal collection to the Chrysler Museum of Art.
I remembered the first tenant at the Hague Towers was Mrs. Dorothy P. Brooks, (d. 1983).She was the real-estate manager and was to take over a third floor apartment. This apartment overlooking on Brambleton Avenue and the Elizabeth River was 20 stories high and a project development of the Columbia Reality Association of Washington, D.C. and Nussbaum’s firm. S. L. Nusbaum & Co. was the rental agent. The 4.5 million undertaking, built on land acquired from the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority, was completed in September 1965. The Standard Construction Co. of Washington D. C., was the general contractor. The Virginian-Pilot newspaper of December 12, 1963, read “2nd Apartment building to Rise High on the Hague.”
However, in February 1970, The Hague Towers was bought by a New York firm, Fred Trump (1905-1999) real-estate developer for 4 million dollars. At the time Trump Associated also owned Pembroke Towers, being purchased the same year. According the Virginia-Pilot newspaper of the time, Trump Associates owns about 17,000 apartment units on the East Coast.
In 1978, Sachs Investing Company of New York purchased The Hague Towers and Pembroke Towers, for 7.5 million from the Trump Associates.
The Hague Towers is still a wonderful place to live. It’s sixty years old and still standing with a beautiful view of Norfolk’s waterfront. Life is so strange: If I had bought the Pen & Ink Sketch by Picasso in 1966, I could have retired early and benefited from my investment. Who knows, I might have been able to buy Hague Towers. He, He, He.
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Robert B. Hitchings is a seventh generation Norfolk resident, graduating with an Associate's Degree in Biology from Old Dominion University and BA in history from Virginia Wesleyan University. During his studies he was awarded a scholarship at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, England, and he was an exchange student at Brooks-Westminster College, Oxford, England. From 1999-2014 he worked as head of the Sargeant Memorial History Room at Norfolk Public Library, and since then has headed the Wallace History Room at Chesapeake Public Library. He is also the President of the Norfolk County Historical Society, and for six years was a columnist for The Virginian-Pilot. Robert may be reached at nchs.wallaceroom@gmail.com
