ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, February 5, 1997 TAG: 9702050063
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: ELIZABETH OBENSHAIN STAFF WRITER
Supporters of the Lyric Theatre had hopes of coaxing $50,000 from state legislators this year to help refurbish the historic movie house in downtown Blacksburg.
But chances for Lyric funding appear slim for this year after both Senate and House budgets released Sunday omitted funds for the theater, said Jo Evans, legislative assistant for Del. Jim. Shuler, D-Blacksburg.
The outlook for next year, though, is brighter as the Senate included the $50,000 in its budget for the budget year beginning July 1.
Meanwhile, several other major New River Valley projects came out on the short end of the budget stick, including a proposed new building for the Governor's School in Pulaski and a major new industrial park at the New River Valley Airport in Dublin. Shuler's proposal to allow graduate students at public universities to join the state's health insurance pool, though, did emerge from the House of Delegates on Tuesday. It now moves to the Senate.
On the Lyric Theatre funding, Evans refuses to give up all hope for this year.
"We do not think it is dead. I've seen sicker dogs live," said the aide to the state's only veterinarian-legislator.
The citizens group behind a $500,000 renovation of the movie theater had asked the General Assembly for $50,000 toward restoring the building in the heart of Blacksburg as a center for movies, dance, theater and lectures. Its goal is to raise $500,000 in pledges from citizens, corporate foundations and local and state governments by May. Supporters expect the Blacksburg Town Council to include $25,000 for the project in its budget later this spring.
In the General Assembly, Shuler is pushing the project in the House, while Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, is working for it in the Senate. The fact that Marye is on the Senate Finance Committee, while Shuler is not on the House's, may account for why the project made it into the Senate's 1997-98 budget, but not into the House budget.
The Lyric's mention in the '97-98 Senate budget puts the project "on the table" even for this year when Senate and House budget conferees meet in the next two weeks, said Evans.
The outlook for the '97-98 budget year, beginning July 1, is better. Once a project is in the budget, it's easier to keep it in, Evans said. Next year is also the first year of the state's biennial budget, the traditional time for special projects such as the Lyric.
"Jim knew it was a long shot to get it in [this year] because generally these projects are funded at the start of the biennium," Evans said.
The next step for Shuler this week will be to lobby Del. Alan Diamonstein, D-Newport News, one of three delegates who will meet with Senate budget leaders to shape the final state budget by Feb. 20.
"He [Shuler] will use the fact that the Senate recognized the Lyric as a viable project, and hopes to fund it, as a means of keeping it alive for discussion this year," said Evans.
On the bright side, Evans said the Lyric project has met with no opposition in the legislature. "Quite the reverse. There is certainly some interest."
In other matters, the state Senate Appropriations Committee has approved $75,000 for the Southwest Virginia Governor's School based in Pulaski County. Marye said Tuesday that the amounts by which that Governor's School and several others were cut last year would be restored in the coming year, "so that will help them also."
Marye had made an impassioned Senate floor speech last month, noting that a new Governor's School was being planned for Fredericksburg while the existing school in Southwest Virginia had been slated for no increase in state money. He had asked for $2 million for a new building for the school in Pulaski. He said Tuesday he had not believed that would be approved, and it was not.
The $75,000, if it holds up with whatever is offered from the House side, is coming with no strings, Marye said, so it could be used in whatever way school officials desire. A conference committee of the two chambers will work out the final amount, he said, "and hopefully we can boost it up a little bit."
Also, the state Senate Finance Committee has approved $80,000 toward an expanded new industrial park in Pulaski County near the New River Valley Airport, just outside Dublin. "It wasn't what we wanted," Marye said, and he could not say what would be offered from the House side and probably end up being worked out in a conference committee. "They were hoping for a lot more," he said. Del. Tommy Baker, R-Pulaski County, who was working on the House side of the proposal, could not be reached Tuesday. Sen. Malfourd "Bo" Trumbo, R-Fincastle, who splits Pulaski with Marye, also was pushing for the funding.
Still, Pulaski County Assistant Administrator Peter Huber said Tuesday, "Anything is better than nothing." He said the money would go toward planning for park development. There is already an industrial park at the airport, but this would be a much larger one.
Staff writer Paul Dellinger contributed to this report.
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