Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 9, 1993 TAG: 9304090245
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: IVANHOE LENGTH: Medium
IVANHOE WON'T FIGHT INDUSTRIAL PARK SALE
Ivanhoe residents are not objecting to the sale of industrial park property in Wythe and Carroll counties as they did seven years ago.That was when industrial development authorities in the two counties suggested selling the 175 acres given to them by National Carbide when its Ivanhoe plant closed.
People organized the Ivanhoe Civic League, persuaded both counties to delay any sale and tried to market the industrial park themselves. They even found a tenant for about a year.
"We started out in 1986 in a fight with the IDA [Industrial Development Association] and the boards of supervisors in both counties. And we gave you all a real good fight. But the days of battle are over," Ivanhoe Civic League President Maxine Waller told members of both authorities at a meeting Wednesday night on the park's future.
"We're still willing to fight for what we believe in, but we'd rather fight with you than against you."
The issue, which galvanized Ivanhoe residents, wound up leading to a self-help program that included Wytheville Community College courses to upgrade job skills, a GED program for those without high school diplomas, housing and other community improvements, bringing students from colleges and universities to Ivanhoe as volunteers, publication of a history of Ivanhoe and other ventures.
The civic league began a summer celebration called Jubilee and leased a small section of the park for that program. The Ivanhoe Bridle Club leased another section for its horse shows. Both groups expressed interest in buying tracts for their activities if park acreage were sold.
All the land deeded to the two industrial authorities Dec. 7, 1968, but they have been unsuccessful since then in marketing it to industries. The community involvement began seven years ago when the authorities tried to sell the property.
Earl Joy, executive director of the Wythe authority, said one reason there was no sale is the access problem from Interstate 81-77 along the twisting and winding Virginia 94. He said one prospect asked to be contacted again if the road was improved.
"I think anything's better than nothing," said Bridle Club president Claude Blair. "You can't spend a whole lot of money on someone else's property."
He said the club would fund improvements if it could buy the tract it now leases. "We can't go out and make industry come, I know that," he said.
Waller said the Civic League had invested more than $25,000 in Jubilee Park and would buy it. She said recreation might be a way of providing jobs.
"If it means that we have to go to recreation, then let's go to recreation," she said. "This is home to us, and we need to do whatever needs to be done."
But she urged the authorities to hold onto some land that could be developed for industry.
"They're running out of room at Fort Chiswell. We've got space in Ivanhoe," she said. "It's not going to happen tomorrow, but it will happen." She said state Secretary of Economic Development Cathleen Macgennis will visit Ivanhoe in May.