The year was 1998. Monica Lewinski was the biggest political news; Hurricane Mitch killed 10,000 people; and seemingly nearly every single American was going to theaters to see Leonardo DiCaprio sweep Kate Winslett off her feet in Titanic.

In Suffolk, the finishing touches were put on the 2018 comprehensive plan that would serve as a blueprint for growth in Suffolk.

&uot;That’s when rebirth really come into existence as we know it today,&uot; Suffolk Mayor Bobby Ralph told the Suffolk Rotary Club Thursday. &uot;1998 was a special year. It was the year a lot of things got going.&uot;

Among the accomplishments touted by the mayor that he attributed to the 2018 plan were the train station, Prentis House, Gardner’s Store, the Luke House, College Court and the Main Street Center, Kelly’s, The Baron’s Pub, the Hilton Garden Inn and Suffolk Conference Center, the Suffolk Center for Cultural Arts, the new police precinct, the Fairgrounds project and the soon-to-be-open Pisces seafood restaurant.

It was also the year the Mills Godwin Courts Complex opened.

Ralph said that the economy in downtown Suffolk is vital and pointed to the situation at the former Front Street Restaurant. It closed earlier this year and the building is now occupied by four businesses.

&uot;Businesses are going to leave,&uot; he said, &uot;but if the vitality is there, they will come back and occupy the building.&uot;

Ralph touched briefly on north Suffolk development; including Harbourview, The Riverfront and Lockheed Martin, but said it was entirely another story that time did not permit him to tell.

&uot;I’ve tried to have you see as I see the City of Suffolk,&uot; he said. &uot;The downtown plan is falling into place. New investors are coming to us.

&uot;If we stick with our plan, things are going to get better.&uot;

The 2018 plan is currently under review and it came under criticism at the last meeting of City Council for what critics said was its neglect of the southern end of the city.

That plan will likely be a subject of discussion at council’s retreat next week in Williamsburg. Ralph told Rotarians that the concept of an elected mayor would also be on the agenda there.

&uot;We need to decide what we want in a mayor, what we want that office to be,&uot; he said. &uot;I’m going to leave it at that.&uot;

andy.prutsok@suffolknewsherald.com