COUNTY PROMOTES INDUSTRY, TOURISM

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 13, 1993                   TAG: 9301130304
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A9   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
COUNTY PROMOTES INDUSTRY, TOURISM
Soap box derbies and industiral tracts - that is part of Roanoke County's prescription for an ailing economy.
The county's economic development strategy for 1993 includes a combination of industrial recruitment and tourist-related events.
The Board of Supervisors pledged Tuesday to redouble its efforts in the wake of layoffs by several major Roanoke Valley employers.
Supervisors said that special events such as wine festivals and soap box derbies play an important role in diversifying the valley's economy - even if they do not create high-wage jobs.
"We're on the right track to have a diverse economic development approach," said Bob Johnson, the Hollins District supervisor.
County Administrator Elmer Hodge suggested holding a special event each month to help fill hotels and restaurants.
The county Parks and Recreation Department plans to launch a Roanoke County Fair in May at Green Hill Park to replace the county's traditional Family Festival.
The department also is looking to expand two events - a Civil War re-enactment in August and Native American Pow Wow in October - that were held last year for the first time.
The cornerstone of the county's tourism plan is Explore, a living history state park on the Roanoke River that is scheduled to open in 1994. The county is planning to widen a portion of Rutrough Road to provide a temporary entrance into Explore until a Blue Ridge Parkway spur is completed in 1996.
More traditional economic development plans call for a 177-acre industrial park off U.S. 460, west of Salem.
Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors agreed to ask the Virginia Department of Transportation to pay for half of a $900,000 access road into the property, which will be marketed as Valley TechPark.
In 1991, Allied-Signal Automotive canceled plans to build a disc-brake plant on the site because of a downturn in the automobile industry.
The Valley TechPark tract was one of dozens identified as potential industrial sites in a recent revision of the county's zoning ordinance.
The county's industrial recruitment projects for the coming year also include a study of Interstate 81 interchanges to promote commercial and tourism zones and a Visitors Information Radio signal to draw travelers off Interstate 81 and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB