Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 7, 1993 TAG: 9304070060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BOARD LOWERING EXPECTATIONS OF EXPLORE
The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors was asked Tuesday to contribute another $100,000 to help the cash-strapped Explore Park open to the public next year.But some supervisors - who earlier this year approved $350,000 to widen a road to the living-history state park - said they feared Explore could become dependent on county subsidies.
"Are we looking down the road at three hundred thousand, four hundred thousand or even a million dollars in order for Explore to exist?" board Chairman H.O. "Fuzzy" Minnix asked.
The funding request is forcing the supervisors to lower their expectations of Explore - long considered the county's top economic-development priority.
Explore had been conceived as a theme-park development in eastern Roanoke County that would create scores of jobs and generate tax revenue.
Instead, the project has been scaled back to the point that it will consist of little more than hiking trails and a reconstructed frontier farm when it opens in May 1994.
Vinton District Supervisor Harry Nickens told his colleagues Tuesday that they should get used to a smaller endeavor that emphasizes conservation and the environment.
"You don't have flume rides," said Nickens, who sits on the state board that oversees Explore.
Nickens said the county should support Explore like it does other cultural programs like the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Center in the Square and the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
"It's for quality of life," he said.
But other supervisors - long accustomed to thinking of Explore as an economic-development project - were unsure how much the county should invest with no return in sight.
Supervisor Ed Kohinke and Minnix said they wanted to see Explore succeed, but feared it could become dependent upon the county.
"How are they going to generate revenues to pay their own way?" Kohinke said.
Explore officials, who did not attend Tuesday's budget work session, later said they would not look to the county for the bulk of their financial support.
Explore Environmental Director Rupert Cutler said he had talked with Roanoke Valley legislators about the possibility of making Explore a full-fledged state agency eligible for state operating funds.
Cutler said the General Assembly has bestowed agency status on several other museums, including the Virginia Museum of Natural History in Martinsville.
Cutler views the proposed donation from Roanoke County as a "bridge appropriation" until July 1, 1994 - the earliest date that Explore could become eligible for state funding.
County Administrator Elmer Hodge included $100,000 for Explore in his proposed 1993-94 county budget unveiled Tuesday.
Hodge described the appropriation as a one-time "grant" that Explore would have to match with $100,000 in new private donations. Half would go toward operating expenses and half would go toward capital projects, he said.
The money would come from an increase in the county's motel tax rate, which is expected to generate $300,000 in the fiscal year that begins July 1.
The Board of Supervisors will discuss the proposed $100,000 contribution to Explore at a budget workshop scheduled for April 27.
Cutler said the money would not be his last request for county support, if Explore becomes a state agency. The project may need help with specific expenditures like a bridge across the Roanoke River, which cuts through the 1,200-acre state park.
"I do think it's logical for the Explore Park to call on Roanoke County," he said.
Tuesday, Hodge also proposed spending $155,668 of the motel revenue to reimburse the county for improvements planned for Rutrough Road.
The Board of Supervisors voted 3-2 earlier to spend $350,000 to make road improvements so Explore would have a temporary access for Blue Ridge Parkway motorists.
Hodge also proposed increasing the county's contribution to the Roanoke Valley Convention and Visitors Bureau from $35,000 to $79,332.
The General Assembly required that Roanoke County use increased revenues from the motel tax for tourist-related projects.