ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, January 31, 1996            TAG: 9601310024
SECTION: EDITORIAL                PAGE: A-8  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MARY CAMPAGNA-HAMLIN

A ROOTLESS HENRY STREET REVIVAL?

THE BOLD and coruscating new master plans for the revitalization of the Henry Street district unveiled in Mary Bishop's Jan. 24 article, ``Henry Street eyed for revival,'' reminded me of the haunting day in 1983 when Claudia Whitworth, publisher of The Roanoke Tribune, discovered that her former office on Henry Street was being bulldozed without her prior knowledge or consent.

In her total shock and amazement, Whitworth was able to save only one typesetter, but that was enough to enable her to get the news out the following week.

The oldest neighborhood in Roanoke, now called Gainsboro, has seen a trail of shocking events since it was laid out as a town by developer William Rowland in 1834 and became a hub of the Afro-American community from the 1920s to the '60s.

City maps and historical data recorded in 1950 show that the area - once called ``the Yard,'' later called Henry Street (now First Street Northwest) - had become a booming commercial success, and an international mecca for black culture and entertainment.

But the city and local housing authority put an end to that piece of Gainsboro's history when federal urban-renewal tactics of ``clearance and removal'' were enthusiastically embraced.

The recent revitalization plans for Henry Street encourage minority participation, but mandate that the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority and ``one'' developer/manager will ``co-own'' the 11 proposed clubs, offices, restaurants, retail stores, radio station and amphitheater.

That ``ownership thing'' appears to be the one catch (besides the $18 million in estimated construction costs) in this otherwise polished and enticing blueprint for the proposed new commercial district, lauded by the authority as ``an anchor for the 21st century.''

I wonder how this dream of the Henry Street Revitalization Committee, chaired by former Mayor Noel C. Taylor, could have received its roots from the broad heart of Historic Gainsboro when community members may visit the clubs, may even run a shop or two - but they won't ``own'' a single business there.

Mary Campagna-Hamlin of Elliston is author of a book titled ``Gainsboro: The Destruction of a Historic Community.''

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