Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 29, 1995 TAG: 9505010047
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Welcome back.
It's been a while, hasn't it? Six years, to be exact, since the Hotel Roanoke closed.
Six years since many conventions that make the statewide circuit - Richmond one year, Norfolk the next, Northern Virginia another - have had a reason to cycle through Roanoke.
For all of you out-of-towners who haven't been to Roanoke since the the hotel shut its doors and sold off its china in 1989, you may notice a few things have changed.
Not just with the hotel, but with Roanoke.
We've grown up some. "We're no longer a town of pickup trucks," says Chris Henson, co-manager of the Grandin Theater, our "art movie" house and a keen observer of local style and culture. "We no longer have 'farm use' painted on the back of us."
That Henson, he's sure got a way with words, doesn't he? But he's got a point. You want someone more, well, establishment to say the same thing? Then just ask Marshall Fishwick, the Virginia Tech professor of humanities and communication studies. "Roanoke has obviously got a new vision of itself," he says. Some of it's more than a vision, mind you; it's a reality.
Those of you who flew in for today's ceremonies have noticed one of those big changes already - our new airport terminal. Well, it's not really new anymore. It opened in September 1989, just a few months before the hotel went out of business. Remember the old terminal, where you had to walk out onto the tarmac to get on and off the plane? Now we've got a real big-city airport, with jetways and everything. Well, everything except a lot of jets, but we won't get into that here.
Actually, we do have 727s and even 757s flying into Roanoke now; it's just that they're cargo jets that fly in and out about midnight and dawn. Maybe you noticed the bright purple Federal Express jet sitting by the old terminal as you came in. Pretty thing, isn't it? That's another big change that's taken place in Roanoke since you were last here; we've become a big air-freight hub. The amount of cargo flying out of Roanoke has more than doubled since 1989, thanks mostly to all the direct-mail companies that have located here. We've become a 1-800 capital.
No matter how you got here, once you got to the hotel you couldn't have missed another big change:
The First Union Tower's gone up; the Hunter Viaduct's come down.
We had a big controversy over that - even had a bagpiper lead a parade across the bridge the day it closed. Imagine that.
Take a look at the other new building that has gone up downtown: The Norfolk Southern building. "That's definitely changed the skyline," says Kathy Johnston, the other co-manager of the Grandin Theater. "It makes us look much more big cityish."
OK, maybe all those new office buildings don't make much of an impression on you if you're from Richmond or Northern Virginia. But here's something that will. Check out the City Market. Don't worry, we'll have that pedestrian walkway over the railroad tracks finished by the next time you're here; for now, we'll have to dodge the trains at the grade crossing.
Look at the place, though. It's full of people. Come back tonight, and you'll find it even more crowded. Does anyone go downtown at night in Richmond anymore?
The mayor - oh yeah, we've got a new one; new congressman, too - says that's one of the most unusual things about Roanoke. "When people come back, they are surprised," David Bowers says. "Compared to most other cities, you can come downtown and feel safe. There are lots of activities, lots of people. The best time in downtown Roanoke is on Saturdays. In most cities, the downtown closes up at 5 p.m. on weekdays."
That's not just the mayor giving his rah-rah-Roanoke speech, either. Ask any ordinary citizen, like Frances Little. She's a graphic designer who knows a lot about the downtown scene. "I think it's finally come together," she says.f\ tio
Could be. Since the last time you were here, the old flophouse on the Market, the Hotel Earle, burned down. The adult bookstore closed up. There's now a mounted patrol clip-clopping by. Oh, sure, we've still got crime downtown; a few months ago, a judge ordered a kid's skateboard destroyed because he was caught riding it on the sidewalk.
The kids, that's another big difference. They're all over downtown now at night. You know, our demographics show Roanoke is getting older, but you'd never know it by the looks of the Market at night. "We've got more skateboarders now," says our friend Henson, the movie house manager. "The Underground" - that's our local "alternative" clothing store - "has brought a lot of 'em down."
So where are all these kids coming from? "I don't know where they're coming from," Henson says.
But here they are. "I can remember when the only place you'd go to drink was Billy's Ritz, but it was a really quiet place," Henson says. "Now there has suddenly become a weekend bar scene downtown. Awful Arthur's is completely impossible to get into. Ditto Corned Beef. Ditto Ward's Rock Cafe.
Not just the bars, either.
One of the biggest draws on the Market these days is the coffee shop, Mill Mountain Coffee & Tea. You Richmonders know about Shockoe Espresso & Roastery? Then you'll recognize our Mill Mountain; your coffee shop started here and branched out to Richmond, not the usual other way around. In the old days, kids cruised Williamson Road; now they go sip espresso. "The high school kids start out drinking coffee at Mill Mountain and then hang out, all wired up and hassling the college kids who are drinking beer," Henson says.
OK, let's move on. There's more to Roanoke than the Market.
You remember that humongous history-oriented theme park thingamajig folks in Roanoke were arguing about back in '89? Well, Virginia's Explore Park is open now. It's nowhere close to the Disney-like attraction its planners were talking about back then, but most folks seem to think that's all right.
Come to think of it, a lot of new attractions have opened up since the last time you were here. The Henry Street Music Center. The rescue squad exhibit at Center in the Square. The D-Day exhibit. Old Jefferson High School has come back to life as the Jefferson Center, a multipurpose home to cultural, civic and community service organizations.
Come back in a month or so, and you can check out our new minor-league baseball stadium in Salem. New affiliation, new nickname, new mascot and everything. That's not all: We've even got a real hockey team now that plays in the Roanoke Civic Center. Can you believe Roanoke is now a hotbed for ice hockey? Believe it. One game last year drew more than 8,000 people.
Let's see, what else has changed? The Boiler Room with its "men only" sign is gone; the Shenandoah Club now admits blacks. The Class J No.611 steam engine is idled, but the trash train rolls by the hotel every night.
Some of the biggest changes in Roanoke since 1989, though, are ones you might not notice right away. Roanoke's no longer a railroad town. Six years ago, Norfolk Southern was still the biggest employer; now that honor belongs to a hospital chain, Carilion Health System.
We're kind of antsy about some of these changes, mostly the economic ones. Remember Marshall Coleman, who ran for governor in 1989? When he came back through Roanoke last year running for the U.S. Senate, he said he noticed that the place seemed to be becoming more, well, estranged from the rest of Virginia. He might have been right; we're starting to look south more.
That big tower downtown was supposed to be for our local bank; now it's for Charlotte's bank. One of the big issues here these days - you probably haven't heard much about this back where you come from - is about trying to build a new interstate from Roanoke to North Carolina.
This isn't just an issue for bankers and business leaders. Look around, and you'll notice a lot of black-and-blue baseball caps and T-shirts for the new Carolina Panthers football team. Almost as many pro football fans around here say they'll be rooting for Panthers this fall as they will the Washington Redskins. That oughta tell you something.
Used to be, we thought of those folks up in Northern Virginia as the ones who were different. But last year, the Richmond newspaper came out here and did a story headlining us "the other Virginia."
Guess that's a big psychological change right there.
To be sure, some things in Roanoke haven't changed. The Mill Mountain Star still shines. The Roanoke Weiner Stand still grills its hot dogs and stacks them up in the window for all to see. The Texas Tavern still serves 1,000 customers, 10 at a time, and a cheesy western remains the order of choice.
And the Hotel Roanoke is, once more, open for business.
In a world where so many things are changing so fast, it's nice to know that at least a few things aren't.
Memo: NOTE: below