RESTORATION OF HOTEL STILL A QUESTION MARK

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, January 26, 1992                   TAG: 9201280272
SECTION: ECONOMY                    PAGE: 19   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
RESTORATION OF HOTEL STILL A QUESTION MARK
Whither Hotel Roanoke? That is the question for folks eager to know if the north side of the tracks will be revived like the other side, dominated by the City Market shopping and restaurant district and the new Dominion Tower.
No one knows the answer - yet.
The grand old lady is beginning her third year as a vacant reminder of the romantic days when the railroad ruled the city. She also is proof that all the emotion and support a community can muster will not guarantee the resurrection of an old friend.
That job goes to a New Orleans developer who has never done a job like this before, and a new owner - Virginia Tech - who is new to the volatile hotel business.
Behind the campaign to reopen the hotel lurks the parochial wrangling so common to Roanoke Valley politics. Roanoke County continues to withhold financial support for a project whose benefit to county taxpayers is not crystal clear. All the while, Roanoke City Council proclaims the hotel its "No. 1 economic development priority."
Some things are moving, however. Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum Jr., D-Roanoke, is pushing a bill through the General Assembly that would allow local governments to retain the state tax revenue generated by a new project, then use the money to pay off debt.
Supporters say the bill allows the state to help localities without tapping dwindling state resources - a key consideration in these lean times. Without the help, they say, the project wouldn't happen and the state wouldn't get a dime. Once debt is retired, the money would revert to state coffers.
How the hotel project plays out in 1992 is anybody's guess. But there's little doubt what will happen in a related industry: airlines and airports.
Next month, Lynchburg will open a new air terminal - even as the nation's airline industry continues to shrink, trimming service to cities large and small.
Roanoke, however, was barely affected by the 1991 airline shakedown, losing only a few, barely used Eastern flights early in the year. Service by other carriers, including the ailing USAir, stayed constant and probably will in '92.
Officials at the Roanoke Regional Airport suspect the new Lynchburg terminal will have no effect on service to Roanoke.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB