Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 16, 1995 TAG: 9508160064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But it may be too late. Fred Ayscue, the Roanoke Social Security director, says a deal for new office space at an as yet unnamed location is close to done. He expects the agency and its 44 employees to be out of the Poff Federal Building on Franklin Road by January.
Roanoke officials' big complaint, says City Manager Bob Herbert, is that the Social Security Administration looked for new office space only near the airport and Valley View Mall.
At his request, City Council on Monday passed a resolution opposing the move and forwarded it to U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke, and Sens. John Warner, R-Va., and Charles Robb, D-Va. The city wants the bidding process - which closed March 1 - reopened to downtown sites.
``The thing we find objectionable in this matter is there was a decision, which appears to be arbitrary, to exclude downtown from consideration,'' Herbert told council.
Also against the move is the business coalition Downtown Roanoke Inc. On Tuesday, Downtown Roanoke's executive committee sent a letter protesting the move to the Social Security Administration, with copies to the federal lawmakers.
``I just think it's inappropriate,'' said Matthew Kennell, Downtown Roanoke executive director. ``Most of the other federal offices are located downtown. To keep them concentrated makes more sense.''
The pending move's origin dates to earlier this year, when the federal General Services Administration told Social Security it would have to find new space, Ayscue said.
GSA officials want the agency's 16,000 square feet for another federal agency, which Ayscue declined to identify.
Citing customer complaints of limited parking, downtown traffic congestion and difficulty finding the building, Ayscue said he decided the airport area would be a better location.
``I can't tell you exactly how many complaints we've received, because we haven't done a survey on it,'' he added.
The Roanoke district serves clients in Roanoke and Salem, and Roanoke, Craig, Montgomery, Floyd, Rockbridge, Botetourt and Franklin counties, Ayscue said. Although much of its work is done on the telephone, 150 to 200 people visit the agency in person each day, Ayscue said.
Another benefit would be free parking for Social Security employees, who pay to park downtown. But Ayscue said that reason alone wasn't enough to cause the agency to look toward North Roanoke.
The public solicitation for proposals for 16,000 square feet of office space ran in The Roanoke Times on Feb. 19 and specified that the offices must be located south of Peters Creek Road, north of Hershberger Road, west of Airport Road and east of Cove Road.
Kennell said the move could mean fewer people buying lunches, shopping and supporting the Roanoke City Market. Overall, businesses bring 13,500 people downtown to jobs each workday, he said.
The last agency to move out of the Poff Building was the U.S. Postal Service, which this year relocated to First Street and Church Avenue.
In 1993, the Forest Service moved its employees from the Poff Building to the Valleypointe Development Park, joining offices of the Food and Drug Administration and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Phyllis Gray, the GSA's manager for the Poff Building, referred inquiries on the building's replacement tenant to a GSA official in Philadelphia who could not be reached for comment.
by CNB