Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 9, 1993 TAG: 9312090077
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-11 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KENNETH SINGLETARY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Council members are concerned about both the opportunities for recreation in the town and its appearance, especially along the roadways at the town limits. With an eye to the future, their plan is to let committees examine these concerns.
But the town, too, is taking more definite and tangible action as it looks ahead. During an executive session, council decided to make a formal offer to the shareholders who own stock in the Christiansburg Industrial Park, which council previously had voted to buy in order to bring the park under public control.
The park is owned by two corporations. The town will pay $54.50 for each share in the Christiansburg Industrial Corporation, of which 2,564 are outstanding, and $38.85 per share for the 1,415 shares of the Montgomery Development Corporation.
John Lemley, town manager, said he is drafting a letter to the shareholders of the corporations to make the offer. Shareholders have 90 days to reply.
Lemley added that shareholders may donate their shares and qualify for tax breaks.
Tuesday, council also got a look at the newly released Recreation Advisory Committee Report, and at least two things are obvious, said council member Truman Daniel.
The first is that the town's recreation program continues to expand, offering hundreds of programs and accommodating thousands of people. The program has become larger than Blacksburg's, Radford's and Montgomery County's, Daniel said.
The second feature of the department that is clear, Daniel said, is that it is becoming a victim of its own success.
Recreation program participants need a new indoor facility to play basketball and volleyball, a notion that was bandied about among council members . Now, games occur in the gyms at the middle school and the armory, but they don't provide enough space, Daniel said.
The result is that some games begin relatively late on school nights, though a new wrestling program at the middle school has added to the logjam.
Council decided to hire a consultant to recommend a comprehensive plan for the recreation department.
"If we want to bring industry in, [recreation] is one of the things they look at," Daniel told council.
Lemley said the town has already budgeted money for such a consultant, and requests for proposals are ready to go.
Also on council's plate Tuesday was the question of how to visually enhance Christiansburg. It is an idea that councilman Wayne Booth brought up, and what he has in mind is beautifying the major roadways that lead into the town.
As Booth put it, Christiansburg is focusing on economic development and recreation, so why not look at the town's aesthetic qualities too?
He wants to form a volunteer committee to figure out what might be done, and then do it.
"I believe the effort to do this will pay off," he said.
Conveniently, the Virginia Department of Transportation has recently begun a program to help out localities with such endeavors.
It's called the Gateway program, and it offers the department's expertise and right of ways, said Laura Bollock, an information officer in the department's Salem district office.
A number of localities throughout the state are improving roadways, and in response to the trend VDOT started the Gateway program to offer consistency and to guarantee that the enhancements would be maintained, Bollock said. But responsibility for maintenance will be the sponsoring organization's, she added.
by CNB