PARK DOESN'T MEET STANDARDS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

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

DATE: SUNDAY, March 7, 1993                   TAG: 9303070120
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
PARK DOESN'T MEET STANDARDS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Can the scaled-down Explore Park be considered an economic-development project for Roanoke County?
Roanoke County officials say it can - even though the living-history state park does not meet the county's own standard for economic-development initiatives.
Under a county policy, the Board of Supervisors will not invest in an economic-development initiative unless it can recoup the money from increased tax revenue in three to five years.
The Board of Supervisors made an exception to that policy recently when it voted 3-2 to give the Explore Park $350,000 for road improvements.
It may take the county a decade, or perhaps longer, to realize that much revenue from tourism taxes related to Explore, such as taxes on restaurant meals, motel stays and admissions fees.
County Administrator Elmer Hodge said the Explore Park should not be held to the standards of ordinary economic-development projects like industrial parks.
"I'm willing to accept that there may not be a direct return - dollar for dollar - for a number of years," he said.
Explore once was envisioned as a Disney-like theme park that would attract hordes of visitors, create hundreds of jobs and generate millions of dollars in county tax revenue.
The project has been scaled back to the point that the park likely will consist of little more than a recreated frontier farm when it opens next year. The most optimistic projections call for 45,000 visitors a year by 1995.
Hodge acknowledged that Explore may not create many jobs or generate a significant amount of tax revenue in the near future. Hodge maintained, however, that the park would pay less-tangible dividends by protecting more than 1,000 acres along the Roanoke River and preserving the area's heritage.
"Does it pay directly?" he said. "I don't know, but it's worthwhile."

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB