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

DATE: TUESDAY, April 27, 1993                   TAG: 9304270354
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

EXPLORE PROJECT IS ALIVE AND WELL

CONTRARY to the impression some of your readers might have gotten from reading your paper's interpretations of recent River Foundation actions, the Explore Park project is very much alive and well, because the River Foundation intends to continue to support the development of Explore Park. What has happened is simply this: The private River Foundation has advised its General Assembly-created partner in the governing of Explore Park, the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority, that the foundation cannot, by itself, raise all the money needed to run Explore Park after it is opened to the general public a year from now. In effect, the River Foundation is asking the authority's board to assume an active role in seeking funds for the operation of the park.

The evolution of Virginia's Explore Project from a privately supported planning effort to a publicly supported state park - with continuing private help through the River Foundation on construction projects - is in line with the histories of similar projects throughout the commonwealth. These include the Museum of American Frontier Culture and the Jamestown Settlement/Yorktown Victory Center program administered by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. Explore Park's development is proceeding on a schedule close to the one the original members of the River Foundation board had in mind when they conceived this unique private-public economic-development project eight years ago.

Explore Park will be opened to the general public on a seven-day-a-week basis in little more than a year. It will open on Saturday, May 14, 1994 - exactly 190 years to the day since those two intrepid Virginian explorers, Lewis and Clark, began their trek from St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River. All those interested in seeing the progress that has been made to date in developing Explore's Blue Ridge Settlement will be invited to attend one of three free open houses at Explore Park this June. They will be held at the Hofauger Farmstead on Thursday, June 10, from 4-8 p.m.; and on Saturdays, June 19 and June 26 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Guided tours, country music and beverages will be provided.

I am sure those who attend these "Explore Explore" events will leave the park enthusiastic about its potential to contribute in a big way to both the education of our children and the economic well-being of our valley. JOSEPH E. STEPHENSON President The River Foundation ROANOKE

by CNB