ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 1, 1997 TAG: 9702030030
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
ONE OF the most important pieces of business in the General Assembly, from this region's point of view, is to continue laying the groundwork for converting a former railroad office building in Roanoke into a higher education center.
Our local legislative delegation presumably recognizes the project's importance. Lawmakers from other parts of the commonwealth need to recognize its worth.
Education, after all, isn't just a local issue. The state has a stake in assuring that Virginians' quality of life advances and their skills are up to speed for a global economy. Broader access to continuous learning is an imperative everywhere, and nowhere more so than in a city the size of Roanoke that lacks a public four-year institution.
Where better to answer this educational market need than in Norfolk Southern's former General Office Building North, a ruggedly classic structure left vacant and at risk, yet linked to the region's proud heritage and located in a revitalized downtown?
We've heard no suggestions either of a better use for the railroad's art deco monument, which needs anyway to be preserved; or of a better site for the higher-education programs, which need anyway to be provided.
We certainly have heard no proposals as cost-effective, considering that duplicating the planned facilities in newly built space would cost nearly twice as much as renovating the old office building.
Starting a four-year institution in Roanoke is out of the question, and wouldn't make sense anyway. That's not what is proposed. The higher-ed center would allow students with two years of community college credit to earn four-year degrees from Virginia universities and colleges without having to leave town. The center also could house other educational programs, such as graduate-level professional-development courses, that make sense in a downtown setting.
One great idea for a tenant synergistically across the street from the Hotel Roanoke and conference center: a top-notch culinary-arts school.
A long way remains to go. The project needs to be expanded - both to include more community support and regional partners, and to develop a plan for all the properties, including the old train station and smaller office building, that Norfolk Southern may wish to unload as a package deal. All the more reason, clearly, to keep up momentum.
State Sen. John Edwards has sponsored legislation authorizing an authority that would oversee the center, and providing funds for construction plans and design. The initiative received less than a warm reception this week in the Senate Finance Committee. But the committee did end up approving the authority, albeit on a delayed timetable and with the design work - and its funding - deferred.
The committee also asked the State Council of Higher Education to take over a study of market demand, a prospect that project proponents should welcome. A state-funded study last year showed at least eight or nine institutions - including Virginia Western Community College, Radford University, Virginia Tech, Mary Baldwin College and Averitt College - interested in sharing the center and expecting a market for their offerings.
An authority will be needed to coordinate resources and mediate ambitions. But a center like this must also be flexible and responsive, able to adjust quickly to changing educational needs. A legislature needs to be that way, too.
LENGTH: Medium: 65 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1997by CNB