MONTGOMERY BOARD SAYS NO TO TOWN STUDY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 12, 1992                   TAG: 9202120150
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: KIM SUNDERLAND
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
MONTGOMERY BOARD SAYS NO TO TOWN STUDY
The controversial design study proposed for downtown development died on the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors' table Monday night.
In a 6-1 vote, with Supervisor Nick Rush backing the measure, the board decided against supporting the study and agreed to demolish its buildings on East Main Street.
This leaves wide open the future of Christiansburg's Main Street, particularly East Main Street where county- and town-owned properties have been at the center of the yearlong debate over having the study.
"I'm glad it's finally over one way or another," Mayor Harold Linkous said on Tuesday. "The Town Council said all along that it was [the county's] suggestion" and they should be the ones to pay for it.
The supervisors had said they would pay two-thirds of the study's estimated $7,288 cost if the town also chipped in. But council members did not want to pay for a study they thought dealt only with county buildings.
Because of their concerns, council took no action on involvement in the proposed study and instead gave several questions to Town Manager John Lemley, who was going to take them back to county officials this week.
Now, that won't be necessary.
"We really don't believe we have any other move," the mayor said about the study he has opposed from the beginning. "But we will still cooperate with the county on whatever they plan to do."
The town, which owns several deteriorating buildings on East Main Street, has had long-standing plans to raze them for parking. The county, which owns properties across the street, never has had solid plans for what to do with them until now.
Tired of waiting for the town's support, the supervisors probably will construct parking and eventually expand court services. The old Angle's supermarket and several other empty stores will face the wrecker's ball as soon as the county has the funds. The buildings have been part of the town's life for more than 60 years.
"We knew that new construction had to happen, but we wanted to give every opportunity to integrate that and save what's important to every citizen in Christiansburg," said Margaret Ray, spokeswoman for the Friends of Christiansburg, a citizens group lobbying for the study.
When the town and county level their buildings, East Main Street will no longer exist as everyone now knows it. It will grow as a hub for professionals and government workers.
"We are terribly disappointed [the study] didn't go further," said Ray, who spoke during the supervisor's meeting. "There was not a sufficient amount of time for all of the questions to be answered."
The Friends group was formed to rally around the study, but Ray said it will remain active in preservation issues.
Staff writer Greg Edwards contributed information to this story.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB