Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 23, 1990 TAG: 9004230401
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A/1 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: MIKE HUDSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
TAP board president Cabell Brand said Henry Street is the agency's first choice for a new home - if it can get sufficient funding and work out the timing.
"That's a first choice if you put the arithmetic together," he said.
The estimated cost of the new building would be $3.75 million, according to a city budget document.
TAP has asked the city for a contribution out of Roanoke's share of federal community development money. The city administration has recommended against giving the money to TAP, but City Council has yet to make a decision.
TAP was burned out of its home on Shenandoah Avenue Northwest by a fire Dec. 23.
Brand said a news conference will be held Tuesday to talk about TAP's long-range plans.
The agency has a $600,000 federal grant to create a music center and restaurant in an attempt to revitalize the city's once-thriving black business district on Henry Street, which is officially known as First Street.
The headquarters building would be between the proposed Dumas Hotel Music Center and the proposed relocated site of Second Street, the city budget paper said.
The timing could be a hitch in building a home at Henry Street, Brand said.
TAP has been operating in borrowed space spread out across the Roanoke Valley since the fire, and agency officials say TAP may need to centralize many of its offices in an intermediate site until a permanent home can be built.
TAP executive director Ted Edlich has said the Henry Street site would fit into many of agency's goals for its home, including keeping a link to Northwest Roanoke and having a home that will be attractive to business and academic leaders.
It also seems to fit into Roanoke city officials' dream of turning the area across the railroad tracks from the downtown into a mecca for nightlife, tourism and academic and business conferences.
Edlich said in a position paper earlier this year that TAP's new home should be a site that Roanoke business leaders can identify with. The business community is the key to local money and to support for state, federal and foundation dollars, Edlich said.
by CNB