Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, March 5, 1992 TAG: 9203050328
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL HOWES BUSINESS WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The bill - dubbed the Public Facilities Act by its sponsor, Del. Clifton Woodrum, D-Roanoke - would allow the city to use tax proceeds to retire debt incurred to build an $8 million, publicly owned conference center alongside the refurbished hotel.
Wilder's signature would ensure the project another badly needed source of funding and likely help planners find a developer and secure debt financing. A Tech official called the vote "good news."
The measure would apply only to the Roanoke project, and not such potential developments as public stadiums in Northern Virginia and Tidewater. Only publicly owned hotels, convention and conference centers, auditoriums, coliseums, sports arenas and horse and auto-race tracks in Roanoke are eligible.
"It was great for the entire state," said David Saunders, a Roanoke developer who sits on the governor's Tourism and Travel Services Advisory Board. "Anything we can do in Virginia to create destinations is great for all of us."
Saunders, a proponent of using state sales tax proceeds to fund public projects, said he's mystified by moves in the General Assembly to exclude other parts of the state.
"A few people said it would be setting a precedent . . . and they were scared the Northern Virginia boys would come in," he said. "The people from Northern Virginia really helped us in lobbying for this and then they got shafted. It's usually just the opposite."
by CNB