Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 9, 1995 TAG: 9504100042
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP/STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Sure can, according to the guy credited with turning that long-neglected three-block Tennessee street into a national tourist attraction.
It's early in the game, but after five visits to Roanoke, Beale Street developer John Elkington says he's interested in rebuilding Henry Street's former strip of restaurants and nightclubs. All but three buildings have been torn down, but Elkington says there's enough architectural "fiber" left to create a small Roanoke-flavored entertainment district.
It wouldn't be the Henry Street of 50 years ago, but he's not talking about just another strip of franchised burgers, either. "We want to be the entertainment area of the Roanoke Valley," he said. "The heart of this would be music, in my judgment," plus good food and architectural features reflecting Roanoke and Gainsboro culture. "This is a looking back into the soul of the city."
A Vanderbilt University linebacker in the 1960s, Elkington renovated downtown Memphis buildings before he won a 52-year lease from the Beale Street Development Corp. to manage the street. He has guided its musical theme and spent years placing tenants in clubs and restaurants. In return, his company gets a percentage of rental and parking fees.
He's talking about a similar arrangement with Henry Street's primary property owner, the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority. He says he also might organize investors to construct new buildings on or near the street.
Last year, the housing authority announced plans to build new headquarters and shops on Henry Street, and it's conceivable those plans could dovetail with Elkington's.
Phil Sparks, Roanoke's acting economic development chief, says the city is lucky to have Elkington's attention. "There are very few [developers] in the country who have this type of experience. The thing that Elkington brings is the economic analysis - is there enough critical mass there for the project to work?"
Beale Street is known as the "home of the blues and the birthplace of rock 'n' roll." Henry Street is one-third the size of Beale Street and not nearly as legendary, but entertainment-starved black tourists from across Appalachia and beyond flocked there to see performers such as James Brown and Lionel Hampton.
Other musicians such as Fats Waller and Fats Domino were guests at Henry Street's Dumas Hotel, according to Jackson Mosley, who worked there. The hotel is now Total Action Against Poverty's music center and Meals on Wheels' kitchen.
Elkington, expected to return Monday for three days of meetings with business leaders, says emphatically that Henry Street wouldn't compete with the Roanoke City Market, which has grown into its own late-night mecca for diners, coffee drinkers and rock-'n'-rollers.
The market "is primarily a restaurant area with some entertainment," he said. "This will be primarily an entertainment area with some restaurants."
Matt Kennell, executive director of Downtown Roanoke Inc., has met Elkington and thinks his Henry Street vision would complement the Market. "I think it just creates another attraction for the downtown area," he said.
Henry Street's revival has been talked about and studied by consultants since at least the early 1980s. A new team consisting of Elkington, Roanoke architects in downtown's Hill Studio and city and civic leaders who've served for years on the city's Henry Street Revival Committee aim to produce a land-use plan in the next three months.
"I'm not here to do a study," Elkington says. "I'm here to complete a study, develop a plan and go to the city." He thinks it will require $7 million to $10 million in private money, not counting what parking, utilities and street work will cost.
Elkington says he has collected 14 volumes on Roanoke and Gainsboro, past and future. He wants to meet people, hear what Henry Street was really like (not the folklore) and see old pictures.
Thomasine "Tommi" Williams of Silver Spring, Md., who grew up on nearby Wells Avenue, and Harvard-educated architect Ed Barnett of the Barnett Co., Architecture-Planning Inc., whose relatives also lived in Gainsboro, were hired recently to help Elkington develop a plan.
Bruce Brenner, president of Roanoke recycling company Cycle Systems and a member of the Henry Street Revival Committee, was the one who brought Elkington to Roanoke. Brenner visited Beale Street last year. Like Henry Street, it was a hub of black businesses and entertainment until post-World War II urban renewal drove residents out and demolished the homes and businesses that surrounded it.
And like Henry Street, the Beale Street Historic District had a rough time getting re-established. Beale Street very nearly went bankrupt. A development company was formed in 1972 but only now is the street making big money, says Calvin Taylor, a vice president with the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau.
He gives Elkington, on the project since 1982, most of the credit because he stuck with Beale Street through thick and thin. "Where would Memphis be without Beale Street?" Taylor asked. "It's our No. 2, if not No. 1, tourist attraction," along with Elvis Presley's home, Graceland.
It took seven years, but Elkington persuaded blues singer/guitarist B.B. King to lend his name and make other investments in B.B. King's Blues Club and Restaurant. King plays there occasionally. (There's now a B.B. King club in Los Angeles and another planned for Nashville, Tenn.)
With the Rum Boogie Cafe and 37 other businesses, Taylor says Beale Street draws 4 million people a year, about 60 percent of them tourists and the rest locals. It reported sales of $14.2 million in 1994.
Brenner bugged Elkington with letters and calls until he agreed to come see Henry Street. Brenner was checking out small-scale black entertainment districts around the country. Beale Street and Elkington seemed the right model for Henry Street. "He knows what it takes to make a project like that work," Brenner said. "I was pleased with what he was doing, especially his role in involving minorities."
Don Harwood, an architect with Hill Studio, also hopes Elkington can resurrect Henry Street. "John Elkington is, in our opinion, the epitome of the kind of developer it'll take - a developer who's ready to rock and roll." Elkington and Hill Studio are sharing the city's $42,725 contract for the land-use study.
Elkington has won favorable national and local press coverage for Beale Street's new prosperity, but it isn't without controversy. The Commercial Appeal, Memphis' daily newspaper, also has written about Elkington's still-unresolved claim that the city owes him $2 million for investments he made when Beale Street still was struggling. The paper did a 1993 story on Memphis lawsuits claiming that Elkington owed creditors more than $100,000 in personal debts and those from housebuilding ventures not connected with Beale Street. Elkington says his portion of those debts has been settled.
Elkington's "an eternal optimist," and rarely is stopped by obstacles, even if they last for years, said Calvin Taylor, the Memphis tourism official. "John's the kind of individual who asks why can't we do things."
Elkington's preliminary vision for Henry Street includes:
nAbout100,000 square feet of restaurant, club, office and shop space.
nA high level of black employment, entrepreneurship and management jobs. Beale Street's goal was for half its 1,183 employees to be black. "Probably 80 percent are," and 40 percent of managers are black, consistent with that goal, according to Elkington. He says the street also exceeded its goal of 40 percent black business ownership.
Taylor said those figures are about right, but many of Beale Street's employees are service workers who earn minimum wage plus tips - perhaps totaling $7 an hour.
nA club bearing the name of a major black entertainer, but maybe not B.B. King.
nA "fully formulated" tourism plan for the whole area.
nThe preservation of the former Ebony Club, once also the Club Morocco and the Lincoln Theater. "The Ebony can be saved, and I think those little buildings next to it can be saved," Elkington says.
nA music amphitheater near the Coca-Cola plant that could hold 2,000 people.
nAn "interpretive center" to tell Henry Street's story.
nPlenty of police patrols, security cameras and bright lighting. Elkington heard that white Roanokers are frightened of Henry Street. Murders, gambling and fights took place alongside its peaceful community life. "It's not a dangerous place," he said, "because it doesn't exist any more." Beale Street has its own police precinct.
nFestivals, concerts and other events to bring people to Henry Street. There's already a festival in September. Elkington says it will take much more than that.
Elkington hopes for renovation of the two abandoned Norfolk and Western Railway office buildings between Henry Street and the Hotel Roanoke. "You shouldn't tear those buildings down, because they're great-looking and they're priceless."
Before June, Elkington wants to hold Gainsboro neighborhood meetings to tell residents what he has in mind and to get their reactions. He said there was resentment at first on Beale Street. "It was `this white developer coming in.'''
He learned that "you've got to get everyone's expectations right," he said. "You have to be perfectly honest."
Rebuilding a street rich in history isn't easy. Elkington said that, like Beale Street, Henry Street brings back tender memories as well as ones of a racist era.
"A lot of emotion over the years has been covered up," he said. "I expect a rocky time, I really do."
ould Roanoke's Henry Street be anything like Memphis' rib-licking, blues-picking, multimillion-dollar-making Beale Street?
Sure can, according to the guy credited with turning that long-neglected three-block Tennessee street into a national tourist attraction.
It's early in the game, but after five visits to Roanoke, Beale Street developer John Elkington says he wants to rebuild Henry Street's former strip of restaurants and nightclubs. All but three buildings have been torn down, but Elkington says there's enough architectural "fiber" left to create a small Roanoke-flavored entertainment district.
It wouldn't be the Henry Street of 50 years ago, but he's not talking about just another strip of franchised burgers, either. "We want to be the entertainment area of the Roanoke Valley," he said. "The heart of this would be music, in my judgment," plus good food and architectural features reflecting Roanoke and Gainsboro culture. "This is a looking back into the soul of the city."
A Vanderbilt University linebacker in the 1960s, Elkington renovated downtown Memphis buildings before he won a 52-year lease from the Beale Street Development Corp. to manage the street. He has guided its musical theme and spent years placing tenants in clubs and restaurants. In return, his company gets a percentage of rental and parking fees.
He's talking about a similar arrangement with Henry Street's primary property owner, the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority. He says he might also organize investors to construct new buildings on or near the street.
Last year, the housing authority announced plans to build new headquarters and shops on Henry Street, and it's conceivable those plans could dovetail with Elkington's.
Phil Sparks, Roanoke's acting economic development chief, says the city is lucky to have Elkington's attention. "There are very few [developers] in the country who have this type of experience. The thing that Elkington brings is the economic analysis - is there enough critical mass there for the project to work?"
Beale Street is known as the "home of the blues and the birthplace of rock 'n' roll." Henry Street is a third the size of Beale Street and not nearly as legendary, but entertainment-starved black tourists from across Appalachia and beyond flocked there to see performers such as James Brown and Lionel Hampton.
Other musicians such as Fats Waller and Fats Domino were guests at Henry Street's Dumas Hotel, according to Jackson Mosley, who worked there. The hotel is now Total Action Against Poverty's music center and Meals on Wheels' kitchen.
Elkington, expected to return Monday for three days of meetings with business leaders, says emphatically that Henry Street wouldn't compete with the Roanoke City Market, which has grown into its own late-night mecca for diners, coffee drinkers and rock-'n'-rollers.
The market "is primarily a restaurant area with some entertainment," he said. "This will be primarily an entertainment area with some restaurants."
Matt Kennell, executive director of Downtown Roanoke Inc., has met Elkington and thinks his Henry Street vision would complement the Market. "I think it just creates another attraction for the downtown area," he said.
Henry Street's revival has been talked about and studied by consultants since at least the early 1980s. A new team consisting of Elkington, Roanoke architects in downtown's Hill Studio and city and civic leaders who've served for years on the city's Henry Street Revival Committee aim to produce a land-use plan in the next three months.
"I'm not here to do a study," Elkington says. "I'm here to complete a study, develop a plan and go to the city." He thinks it will require $7 million to $10 million in private money, not counting what parking, utilities and street work will cost.
Elkington says he has collected 14 volumes on Roanoke and Gainsboro, past and future. He wants to meet people, hear what Henry Street was really like (not the folklore) and see old pictures.
Thomasine "Tommi" Williams of Silver Spring, Md., who grew up on nearby Wells Avenue, and Harvard-educated architect Ed Barnett of the Barnett Co., Architecture-Planning Inc., whose relatives also lived in Gainsboro, were hired recently to help Elkington develop a plan.
It was Bruce Brenner, president of Roanoke recycling company Cycle Systems and a member of the Henry Street Revival Committee, who brought Elkington to Roanoke. Brenner visited Beale Street last year. Like Henry Street, it was a hub of black businesses and entertainment until post-World War II urban renewal drove residents out and demolished the homes and businesses that surrounded it.
And like Henry Street, the Beale Street Historic District had a rough time getting re-established. Beale Street very nearly went bankrupt. A development company was formed in 1972 but only now is the street making big money, says Calvin Taylor, a vice president with the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau.
He gives Elkington, on the project since 1982, most of the credit because he stuck with Beale Street through thick and thin. "Where would Memphis be without Beale Street?" Taylor asked. "It's our number two, if not number one, tourist attraction," along with Elvis Presley's home, Graceland.
It took seven years, but Elkington persuaded blues singer/guitarist B.B. King to lend his name and make other investments in B.B. King's Blues Club and Restaurant. King plays there occasionally. (There's now a B.B. King club in Los Angeles and another planned for Nashville.)
With the Rum Boogie Cafe and 37 other businesses, Taylor says Beale Street draws 4 million people a year, about 60 percent of them tourists and the rest locals. It reported sales of $14.2 million in 1994.
Brenner bugged Elkington with letters and calls until he agreed to come see Henry Street. Brenner was checking out small-scale black entertainment districts around the country. Beale Street and Elkington seemed the right model for Henry Street. "He knows what it takes to make a project like that work," Brenner said. "I was pleased with what he was doing, especially his role in involving minorities."
Don Harwood, an architect with Hill Studio, also hopes Elkington can resurrection Henry Street. "John Elkington is, in our opinion, the epitome of the kind of developer it'll take - a developer who's ready to rock and roll." Elkington and Hill Studio are sharing the city's $42,725 contract for the land-use study.
Elkington has won favorable national and local press coverage for Beale Street's new prosperity. The Commercial Appeal, Memphis' daily newspaper, also has written about Elkington's still-unresolved claim that the city owes him $2 million for investments he made when Beale Street was still struggling. The paper did a 1993 story on Memphis lawsuits claiming Elkington owed creditors more than $100,000 in personal debts and those from housebuilding ventures not connected with Beale Street.
Elkington's "an eternal optimist," and rarely is stopped by obstacles, even if they last for years, said Calvin Taylor, the Memphis tourism official. "John's the kind of individual who asks why o we do things," not how they might be difficult.
Elkington's preliminary vision for Henry Street includes:
About100,000 square feet of restaurant, club, office and shop space.
A high level of black employment, entrepreneurship and management jobs. Beale Street's goal was for half its 1,183 employees to be black. "Probably 80 percent are," and 40 percent of managers are black, consistent with that goal, according to Elkington. He says the street also exceeded its goal of 40 percent black business ownership.
Taylor said those figures are about right, but many of Beale Street's employees are service workers who earn minimum wage plus tips - perhaps totaling $7 an hour.
A club bearing the name of a major black entertainer, but maybe not B.B. King.
A "fully formulated" tourism plan for the whole area.
The preservation of the former Ebony Club, once also the Club Morocco and the Lincoln Theater. "The Ebony can be saved, and I think those little buildings next to it can be saved," Elkington says.
A music amphitheater near the Coca-Cola plant that could hold 2,000 people.
An "interpretive center" to tell Henry Street's story.
Plenty of police patrols, security cameras and bright lighting. Elkington heard that white Roanokers are frightened of Henry Street. Murders, gambling and fights took place alongside its peaceful community life. "It's not a dangerous place," he said, "because it doesn't exist any more." Beale Street has its own police precinct.
Festivals, concerts and other events to bring people to Henry Street. There's already a festival in September. Elkington says it will take much more than that.
Elkington hopes for renovation of the two abandoned Norfolk and Western Railway office buildings between Henry Street and the Hotel Roanoke. "You shouldn't tear those buildings down, because they're great-looking and they're priceless."
Before June, Elkington wants to hold Gainsboro neighborhood meetings to tell residents what he has in mind and to get their reactions. He said there was resentment at first on Beale Street. "It was `this white developer coming in.'''
He learned that "you've got to get everyone's expectations right," he said. "You have to be perfectly honest."
Rebuilding a street rich in history isn't easy. Elkington said that, likeO Beale Street, Henry Street brings back tender memories as well as ones of a racist era.
"A lot of emotion over the years has been covered up," he said. "I expect a rocky time, I really do."
Memo: ***CORRECTION***