Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 14, 1993 TAG: 9304140033
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
HOTEL ROANOKE-DOWNTOWN LINK SOUGHT
Now that the Hotel Roanoke renovation project is assured, Mayor David Bowers wants the city to develop a plan for linking the hotel to other attractions downtown.The city needs to prepare a tourism package to tie the hotel to the Virginia Museum of Transportation, Henry Street Revival area and the City Market, Bowers said Tuesday.
The tourist attractions could be linked by a linear park system along the Norfolk Southern tracks or possibly by a streetcar system, he said.
Standing at Market Street and Norfolk Avenue near the Dominion Tower, Bowers told reporters that a park along the railroad tracks would enable pedestrians to walk among the attractions.
A streetcar system would be more expensive, but it is an alternative, he said at a news conference.
A pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks linking the hotel to the City Market is to be built as part of the hotel renovation and conference center project.
Taking a cue from his economic summits last year, Bowers has scheduled a summit on downtown tourism April 28 to get ideas.
He has invited representatives from 20 businesses, agencies and other groups. Bowers said he wants to get their ideas and not to dictate a plan.
The hotel and conference center is to be the centerpiece of the tourist attractions.
"We need to decide what the focus will be on next," Bowers said. "I'm calling on others for ideas."
Bowers wants the city to concentrate on the downtown plan rather than providing money for the financially strapped Explore Park, which has asked Roanoke County for $100,000.
City officials long have been wary of providing money for Explore, located off the Blue Ridge Parkway in Roanoke County.
"We need to focus on downtown. You can't do every project that someone wants to do," Bowers said. "There are financial constraints to what you can do."
If the city decides to develop a linear park, he said, it won't be too expensive. The city owns much of the property that would be needed.
Bowers said the city also might obtain some federal money under a new program that provides funds for beautification and historical projects related to transportation.
Any plan should preserve the view of the hotel and beautify the area along the railroad tracks, he said.
"We don't want to deny our heritage as a railroad city, but we can make the area more attractive," he said.
Bowers said he has decided to focus on tourism because that was a recurring theme during his economic summits last year. He said he senses growing sentiment for tourism as an economic development tool.
Earlier, he proposed that the city provide $1 million for the Transportation Museum to upgrade its exhibits.
As part of his tourism effort, Bowers is trying to organize a two-state lobbying campaign to get Amtrak to provide service between Roanoke and Chattanooga, Tenn.
This month, he will meet with local officials along the proposed route in Southwest Virginia to discuss the proposal.
The Roanoke-Chattanooga connection would be part of a new Amtrak route through Virginia, Tennessee and Georgia.
Bowers said he will arrange a meeting later with Tennessee officials to organize the lobbying campaign.
Mayor Gene Roberts has said that Chattanooga is interested in getting Amtrak service. Chattanooga has tried unsuccessfully to get Amtrak service from the Upper Midwest by way of Nashville, he said.
Amtrak already has done a study of the cost for a route through Roanoke and Southwest Virginia.
The passenger cars and other equipment would cost $60 million. A federal subsidy of up to $12 million a year would be needed to keep the train going, an Amtrak spokesman said.
The new train would follow existing rail lines, including NS's tracks through Virginia.