Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 31, 1993 TAG: 9307310233
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-9 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The proposal for an 8,600-square-foot building at 1711 N. Main St. is the result of a project committee formed in March to study the need for a community arts and education center.
If the project is completed, though, a lot of the credit can be given to Steve Gerus, owner of Bell Electric in Blacksburg.
Earlier this year, Gerus decided that after 12 years it was finally time to move Bell Electric's office from his Blacksburg home. The company had grown to 16 employees and has a warehouse in both Christiansburg and Blacksburg.
"There was just no way we could get any bigger" without a new office, he said.
Bell Electric already owned the site on North Main, so he decided to build an office there.
But instead of hastily building a metal structure that would have served the electrical contracting company's needs, Gerus approached the New River Valley Arts Council and asked about sharing a commercial office building.
"I figured it was a chance for me to help add to the cultural opportunities of the area," Gerus said.
Plans call for the arts center to occupy about two-thirds of the structure, including the ground floor, and for Bell electric to set up shop in part of the basement.
Gerus said he doesn't consider himself a patron of the arts, but admits that "at my advanced age of 46 I recently started taking piano lessons."
The New River Arts Council would pay rent to Bell Electric for use of the building, which is being designed specifically for artistic purposes.
Preliminary plans call for the $650,000 building to have a painting studio, a pottery studio, a sculpture studio, three music studios, a classroom, an art gallery, an arts library and a 100-seat theater.
Ed Schwartz, president of the New River Arts Council, said there will be working space for local artists and art classes, exhibits and performances for everyone in the community.
"It will help us get a clear focus of the arts community," he told the Montgomery Regional Economic Development Commission Thursday.
The commission passed a resolution in support of the arts center after hearing Schwartz's presentation.
Gerus hopes to break ground on the arts center in August, but said he's still looking for a bank to finance the project.
"All the banks are enthusiastic . . . but they are a little concerned about this project because they don't have anything in the area to compare it to," he said.
Gerus said the project committee is trying to find similar art centers that have been developed in other cities to show the banks.
by CNB