Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, April 29, 1993 TAG: 9304290078
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
That was a recurring theme Wednesday as representatives from more than 20 businesses and organizations brainstormed.
"We ought to enhance our railroad heritage rather than turning our back on it," Vice Mayor Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr. said.
Speaking at Mayor David Bowers' summit on downtown tourism, Fitzpatrick said, Roanoke's tracks have the same tourism potential as the river in San Antonio, Texas, which has become a major attraction.
"Don't be ashamed at being a railroad town," said Gary Gray, speaking for the National Railroad Historical Society.
The Virginia Museum of Transportation, which has the largest collection of diesel locomotives in the United States, has never gotten the attention and funds it deserves, Fitzpatrick said.
If the state and city had put as much money into the museum as has been spent on Explore Park, Fitzpatrick said, it would be a major attraction.
Bowers agreed, saying that downtown and attractions such as the museum, Hotel Roanoke, City Market and the Henry Street Revival are Roanoke's Explore Park.
Other summit participants said they shared the view that downtown tourism could be a boon to the city, just as Roanoke County expects to benefit from Explore.
Roanoke has not provided any funds for Explore. Neither has the county provided any money for the Hotel Roanoke project.
Bowers has proposed that the city provide $1 million to upgrade the transportation museum, in the old Norfolk and Western Railway freight station on Norfolk Avenue. The money would be included in a city bond issue next year.
The cost for developing a linear park along the tracks or using a trolley to link the attractions probably would not be exorbitant, he said.
The summit focused on ways to link the hotel with the other downtown attractions to make them easily accessible.
Alluding to recent complaints that Roanoke Valley political leaders lack vision, Bowers said in an interview after the meeting that the downtown tourism package is part of his vision for the city.
Bowers said he called the summit to get ideas, not to dictate a plan. Several options were discussed, including one that called for moving the museum to the north side of the tracks so it would be more accessible to the hotel and Henry Street.
Lee Garrett, speaking for the D-Day Memorial Foundation, said the proposed memorial would provide a walkway from the former N&W passenger station to the Roanoke Civic Center.
Evelyn Bethel, president of Historic Gainsboro Inc., said the city should develop a plan that focuses on walking tours downtown. The plan for a linear park would do just that, Bowers said.
Bethel also encouraged the city to seek passenger train service. Bowers said that is the reason he's working with other localities in Southwest Virginia and Tennessee to get Amtrak.
If the city gets Amatrak service, the station should be downtown, said William L. Whitwell, a member of the city's Architectural Review Board. "Don't let them put the terminal for Amtrak in the suburbs," Whitwell said.
Don Seale, vice president for coal marketing for Norfolk Southern Corp., promised that the railroad would work with the city however it can on the downtown plans.
"It is good to get all of the ideas out on the table, prioritize them and then see which ones are workable," he said.
Seale said he doesn't know what NS plans to do with its old office buildings across Jefferson Street from the hotel. The city has considered the buildings as a site for a convention center.
There are several ideas for using the old passenger station near the hotel, including as a visitors center or as an Amtrak station if passenger service returns to Roanoke.
The Rev. Carl Tinsley urged city officials to make certain that the Henry Street revival project does not get lost in the planning for the other attractions.
Some participants said they were worried that the proposed location for a pedestrian bridge over the tracks, linking the hotel and the market, would block the view of the hotel from downtown.
William Clark, public works director, said the city will hold a design workshop to get the views of downtown officials and property owners.
Tim Jamieson, representing the Roanoke chapter of the American Institute of Architecture, said he believes that concerns about the location of the pedestrian bridge can be resolved.
by CNB