ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601120080
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: G1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL
Back in November, we asked readers to call in with ideas for uses of the downtown Heironimus building. Our call-in line logged close to 50 calls, and we got a couple of letters, too.
Everyone who called had some unique ideas for the building's future, but here are the three ideas mentioned most often:
An outlet mall
"I'm a shopper myself, and I think a downtown outlet center would be just great," said a Vinton caller. "There's nowhere to shop when you need to do errands over lunch hour."
"An outlet would be a great attraction for people on the Blue Ridge Parkway as well as for Roanokers," said a caller from Roanoke. "We have a great downtown. ... All the more attractions to keep people down there will help the downtown area grow in the years to come."
Other retail uses, perhaps another department store or a furniture mall
"I happen to like traditional department stores on many different floors," said a Roanoker. "The main thing we need downtown is some practical shopping. The worst thing that could happen is to let this building stand vacant."
Housing
"There's a lot of need for apartments and for living downtown," said a Roanoke caller. "I think this would be a good building."
And an 8-year-old Roanoke girl who wrote in suggested several options: Turn the building into an old-folks home, or an art exhibit building for new artists or maybe an apartment building.
Another reader suggested turning it into a big cafeteria or a place for teen-agers to hang out. One caller said he would like to see the building torn down and replaced with a park.
And then there were others who said they didn't really care what happened to the building, as long as it wasn't demolished for parking.
"Please don't tear it down and make another parking lot," pleaded a Roanoker. "As one who shopped in downtown as a child, I would love to see that area come back as a shopping area."
"It would be foolish to turn another nice building like Heironimus in Roanoke into a parking lot," a Vinton reader said. "If it goes void or puts a parking lot, I'm afraid we would lose other business and it would become a ghost town."
And finally, this from a caller, presumably from Roanoke: "I think they should lock City Council in Heironimus and let 'em wander aimlessly for the next seven years and then elect a new City Council and maybe they can come up with some good ideas for the city of Roanoke."
LENGTH: Medium: 52 linesby CNB