Va. Library Scores $20M

NORFOLK, Va. - Former Landmark Communications Chairman Frank Batten Sr. is donating $20 million for a new library in Norfolk.

Mayor Paul Fraim said at a news conference Tuesday that the gift is the largest in the city's history. Construction of the $50 million central library could start as soon as the fall of 2010.

The library will be named for Colonel Samuel L. Slover, Batten's uncle, who founded Landmark and raised him after his father died. The 81-year-old Batten led the company from 1954 until his retirement in 1998.