Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 27, 1993 TAG: 9301270256
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
COUNTY SUPERVISORS OK EXPLORE ENTRANCE
For a brief moment Tuesday, the future of Explore Park rested in the hands of Edward Kohinke.Kohinke was the only member of the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors who had not voiced an opinion during debate on a proposal to spend $350,000 for a temporary entrance into the living history state park.
The Board was deadlocked 2-2 between those who said the temporary entrance would be a waste of money and those who said Explore would die without it.
Kohinke eventually broke his silence - and the tie - by voting in favor of the project.
By the 3-2 vote, supervisors approved widening a section of Rutrough Road in order to provide temporary public access from the Blue Ridge Parkway to the 1,300-acre Explore property. The entrance will be used from 1994 to 1996, when traffic will be routed directly into Explore along a 1.5-mile parkway spur.
After the vote, Kohinke admitted that he had decided to vote for the $350,000 appropriation before the meeting started.
"I was keeping my mouth shut to cut down on the time we would discuss the issue," said Kohinke, a second-year supervisor from the Catawba District.
His silence had the opposite effect. Opponents and supporters kept talking in hopes of winning Kohinke to their side.
Supervisors Lee Eddy and Fuzzy Minnix opposed the plan, saying the county would have little to show for $350,000 invested in Rutrough Road.
Eddy noted that the public would use Rutrough Road for two years during which Explore attractions likely would consist of little more than a frontier farm and nature trails.
"In fact," Eddy said, "there will not be a whole lot there until 1996."
Minnix said he backed Explore - and the board chairman produced a personal $100 check as proof of his support.
But Minnix said the county could not justify spending $350,000 for a temporary entrance when it had so many other needs.
In making a pitch for the money, Explore leader Rupert Cutler emphasized the need for the living-history park to open to the general public by 1994.
Explore is seeking to raise $15 million by next year to complete its first phase of development, which would include an environmental educational/welcome center, an aviary and a Blue Ridge settlement made up of reconstructed period buildings.
Cutler said Explore would become a popular "eco-tourism destination" next year even if the project initially consisted of only a living history farm and nature trails.
But without an access road and firm opening date, Cutler said, it would be very tough to raise money for the project.
"The air goes out of the balloon," he said.
Supervisors Bob Johnson and Harry Nickens supported the Rutrough Road improvements, saying the county needed to step forward at a critical point in Explore's development.