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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 4, 1995                   TAG: 9510040095
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-12   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RALPH K. SMITH
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

AN OFFER TO SAVE MILL MOUNTAIN BRIDGE

FOR THREE years, I've been the owner of Rockledge, the stone house located under the Mill Mountain Star. The house was built by Will Henritze in the '20s. It lies on Prospect Road, the narrow, winding old road that was once the only access to the mountaintop. Since January 1990, the unique ``under and over'' bridge on Prospect Road has been closed to traffic due to its deteriorating and unsafe condition. The only access to my home is to pass under this bridge. In the years I've lived at Rockledge, this unique old bridge has deteriorated further, as has Prospect Road and the stone retaining wall that borders it.

As early as 1993, I approached Roanoke city with an offer to restore the bridge, at my own expense, and to take over maintenance of the road. In return, I asked for ownership of the road. The road would continue to be just what it was in the '20s when Henritze built it, and what it is today - the driveway to Rockledge. It's true that Prospect Road originally provided access to old Rockledge Inn and later to the Mill Mountain Star and Zoo. Twenty-five years ago, the road was considered obsolete and was replaced by the Fishburn Parkway.

One result of my offer was a somewhat sarcastic editorial (``What not to do with Prospect Rd.'') in the Sept. 19 issue of The Roanoke Times. ``Has Ralph Smith got a deal for us'' it began. No, your writer said, he (Ralph Smith) doesn't want to sell the Brooklyn Bridge ... just to buy a bridge and pay the city taxpayers nothing. Asked the editorial, ``Do we need a reality check?''

Well, perhaps your newspaper needs a reality check. The ``reality'' of the situation is that the city owns a road and bridge that offer very little public benefit to justify the expense of maintenance. In December 1989, the city's annual bridge inspection noted an excessive amount of settlement at one of the bridge abutments. An engineering staff report outlined two possible solutions - replace the bridge at an estimated cost of $350,000, or remove it and realign the road at an estimated cost of $200,000. As I noted earlier, the city's response was to simply close the bridge in January 1990. What has any Roanoke citizen gained from this?

My proposal to repair the bridge at my own expense (estimated $50,000) and to take possession of it and the road offers many benefits to Roanoke. An architecturally unique and historic bridge would be preserved, as well as the beautiful rock-walled road, and would be open to all of Roanoke at times to be negotiated with the city.

Why is my estimate to repair the bridge much lower than the city's estimate? It reflects the difference in private enterprise and government bureaucracy. Remember, the city just spent $7 million for a crosswalk.

I do enjoy sharing the beauty of my home and its historical background. Thus, on numerous occasions, I open it to public and private organizations such as the Mill Mountain Theater, churches, college alumnae associations, the Miss Virginia Pageant, as well as political functions. This past spring, more than 1,400 people toured my home during the Roanoke Garden Club's most successful fund-raiser ever. If the bridge were open and functional, people could reach the house much more easily, eliminating the need for buses.

It would be a ``win-win'' situation for everyone, with no expense to city taxpayers. For this reason, I believe my proposal merits serious and timely consideration by City Council. It certainly merits more than a sarcastic editorial in The Roanoke Times.

Ralph K. Smith, of Roanoke, is a businessman and owner of Rockledge mansion on Mill Mountain.

by CNB