ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, February 20, 1996 TAG: 9602200072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
Hopes for development of a higher education center near the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center are growing after a powerful state Senate committee approved money for planning it.
But it's still unclear whether the House of Delegates will go along and how big a commitment the state is willing to make toward construction.
City officials want to put the higher education center in the mothballed Norfolk and Western General Office Building North across the street from the conference center.
At the request of Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, the Senate Finance Committee on Saturday budgeted $250,000 in the first year of the 1996-98 budget toward feasibility studies and planning for a higher education center in Roanoke.
That's $169,000 less in planning money than Edwards requested, but it marks the first time a budget committee has approved funding for the center. A similar effort in the House last year by Del Clifton ``Chip'' Woodrum, D-Roanoke, failed.
``This is a major victory for Roanoke,'' Edwards said Monday after House and Senate money committees issued versions of the 1996-98 budget. ``I'm hopeful that when the budgets are reconciled, the House will keep it in.''
The $250,000 would pay only for planning the education center. Edwards had also asked for $6 million in construction funding in the second year of the budget, but the Senate committee wouldn't go along with that.
``We need to do a study of the feasibility of using the building first,'' Edwards said. ``We don't know how much it's going to cost to renovate. Once we get fixed on how much it's going to cost, we'll come back later and figure out how we're going to finance it.''
Whether the planning effort gets off the ground now depends on the House of Delegates. A House version of the budget issued by the Appropriations Committee on Saturday has no money for the education center.
Differences will be hashed out in budget negotiations between the House and Senate, probably next week, said Del. Vic Thomas, D-Roanoke, who sits on the Appropriations Committee.
``We'll be working to bring it about,'' Thomas said. ``There are a number of differences in the House and Senate versions. Once you get the planning money, you may have to wait a few years [for construction money]. But at least you've got a start.''
The education center was a key plank in Edwards' victorious 1995 campaign against then-Sen. Brandon Bell, R-Roanoke County. Edwards complained publicly that Bell hadn't supported efforts by area delegates to win funding for the facility.
Conceptual plans for the center have been quietly taking shape for two years.
Supporters want to see the former railroad building turned into a ``condominium of higher education'' where students could learn 21st century skills in satellite classrooms of state colleges and universities.
The plan calls for Norfolk Southern Corp., which owns the building, to transfer it to the city. It would be renovated into classrooms and other student facilities.
The proposed center would house the Roanoke Valley Graduate Center, which is outgrowing its site on Church Avenue Southwest in downtown Roanoke; undergraduate-level courses now taught at Virginia Western Community College through Radford University; the community college's customized worker training program; and courses from Virginia Tech and perhaps other state institutions.
The now-closed structure was built in 1931 and is the younger of two former railroad offices across from the conference center. The other, also vacant, was built around the turn of the century.
For years, preservationists have feared the buildings might be torn down.
City Manager Bob Herbert has said the railroad might donate the eight-story building if executives believe residents want and need the education center.
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: File photo. State Sen. John Edwards persuaded the Senateby CNBFinance Committee to budget $250,000 to study using the Norfolk and
Western General Office Building North, the tallest building on the
left, for college programs. The House of Delegates has yet to vote
on the plan. KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996