VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Virginia Beach leaders expect thousands of college students to make their way to the Oceanfront this weekend.
Oceanfront business owners like Ice House Restaurant's Doug DuBois told 13News Now the more, the merrier.
“This is the offseason for us, so you know anything that comes in, we are glad to have,” DuBois said. “I finally got some staff in, so we are ready for it.”
DuBois' restaurant is just off the beaten path from Atlantic Avenue. He said early spring foot traffic is encouraging.
“If the city can keep filling up on the weekend, all these small restaurants and hotels we would love to have it,” DuBois said.
That’s just what Mayor Bobby Dyer hopes to do. He said city leaders are prepared to handle the crowds, with public safety plans at the forefront.
“I am proud to say we invested thousands and thousands of dollars on technologies to make things safer,” Dyer said.
Over the last year, city leaders gave the green light to install additional surveillance cameras and more lighting at the Oceanfront.
In an exclusive interview on Thursday, Virginia Beach Police Chief Paul Neudigate said he’s ramping up staffing at the Oceanfront, with officers patrolling on bikes, in cars, by horseback and on foot.
Patterns that will continue as the summer heats up.
“We are making all the right moves,” Dyer said. “The sheriff’s department is going to help us, the governor is going to help us with state police is necessary.”
The early spring foot traffic is welcome news for Virginia Beach Hotel Association President John Zirkle.
“College beach weekend gets us excited because it is such a fun event and everyone wants to focus on the few bad apples,” Zirkle said. “But when you have 30,000 people around, you are probably going to have 100 that are going to be troublemakers. Forget them, just focus on the 29,900 people that are coming here to just have a great time.”
However, Zirkle said this college beach weekend is a bit different when it comes to hotel bookings.
“About half the hotels are looking to be full or close to full, the other half are still sitting at 50 percent,” Zirkle said.
He attributes that to the cooler forecast. DuBois hopes for more busy weekends ahead.
“We enjoy beach week, whatever it is just get the people down here so they can spend money and help us get back rolling again,” DuBois said. “We want to get back on our feet and get back to business, so we are ready.”