Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, August 19, 1995                   TAG: 9508210025
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Medium

RESTORING DEPOT WAS ONLY THE 1ST PROJECT

The town is continuing to develop plans for the old depot, which eventually could include extending New River Trail State Park beyond the Train Station on to the town's Gatewood Reservoir and Park, and perhaps incorporating such downtown enterprises as reopening the Pulaski Theatre.

Immediate steps outlined at an early morning Town Council gathering Friday included the formation of a task force to launch the effort, and getting help from the Design Assistance Center at Virginia Tech.

When the town dedicated its restored Train Station in mid-1994, it was the culmination of years of fund raising and volunteer hours of work since Norfolk Southern Corp. had given the former depot building to Pulaski.

Now, the depot houses the Pulaski County Chamber of Commerce, the Raymond F. Ratcliffe Memorial Museum, and will become the new terminus for the New River Trail once that hiking and biking path is extended several more miles into town.

It has given rise to an annual Depot Day Festival which, after only two years, already rivals the town's venerable Count Pulaski Day Festival in popularity.

Town Manager Tom Combiths said the state Department of Parks and Recreation is trying to streamline the environmental process involved in extending the trail into Pulaski. He said construction could start as early as a year from now, and take perhaps six months to complete.

Even that might not be the end of the extension. "There's been some talk about how we might tie Gatewood into this whole thing," Combiths said.

The Human Resources Committee will consider candidates for the Train Station task force when it meets Tuesday, and recommend members at council's next meeting Sept. 5.

Graduate students under Elizabeth Gilboy, a Tech professor, will work with the task force, providing technical assistance and a preliminary design for parking improvements and an annex for the museum. They also will help explore financing options for the improvements and expansion.

A second phase could include such ideas as extending the New River Trail to Gatewood and incorporating the downtown Pulaski Theatre. "Somehow we've got to get that area tied into the concept as a whole," said Councilman Roy D'Ardenne.

Mayor Andy Graham, who has been pushing for more town help for the volunteers running the museum, said data must be collected on additional materials that could be donated to the museum. Besides the museum annex, the Train Station park also needs public rest rooms and an information center for visitors and those arriving via the New River Trail.

Vice Mayor W.H. "Rocky" Schrader said park activities could encourage some entrepreneurs to establish business enterprises. He suggested tying in a walking tour of the town's historic district in a later phase of the venture.