Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 17, 1993 TAG: 9304170189
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: KEVIN KITTREDGE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FLOYD LENGTH: Medium
RESTAURANT PLANS FOR FLOYD BARN STILL ON TRACK
Plans to turn a huge barn here into a restaurant and shopping center are running behind schedule but still on track, the developer said Friday.Robert Bryant, a retired Richmond businessman who has been working to turn the barn known as Old Jacksonville into a tourist attraction and money-maker, had planned to open a 400-seat upstairs restaurant by April 2.
He said Friday that he is running several weeks behind schedule because of problems obtaining water and sewer lines. Bryant said that he still hopes to be serving meals in the barn by mid-May.
Meanwhile, he already has received nearly 70 applications for employment, Bryant said.
Bryant has been operating a general store in the old barn for several months. He said that he has opened several smaller shops there as well.
But the developer said the slow process of getting water and sewer lines has put him 30 to 45 days behind schedule on the restaurant.
The barn, which is just outside the Floyd town limits, is served by a well. Bryant said the well is adequate for the office that he has opened there, but that it does not produce enough water for a restaurant.
The Floyd-Floyd County Public Service Authority determines where water and sewer lines will go, said Floyd County Administrator Randy Arno. He and Bryant both referred a reporter to the Public Service Authority's William Whitlock, who could not be reached for comment.
Bryant also has scaled back plans for his restaurant, from 400 seats to 228 - although he said there will be room to put in the remaining tables and chairs if needed.
Meanwhile, he plans to open a 68-seat restaurant downstairs, while continuing to work on the larger restaurant on the second floor, he said. "We can fill this place up with local people," he said of the downstairs restaurant.
Bryant said work on the upstairs restaurant may have to be put off until later in the year.
Bryant also hopes to open a dairy bar and delicatessen.
He has said he believes the old dairy barn can tap into tourist traffic six miles away on the Blue Ridge Parkway for customers.
Despite the delay over water and sewer service, Bryant is dreaming full-steam-ahead. He hopes to use a natural amphitheater behind the old barn for an outdoor drama based on the life of legendary preacher Bob Childress, he said.
Childress lived and preached in the country around Buffalo Mountain, which is in Floyd County.
Bryant said he hopes to open the drama next year.