Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 27, 1993 TAG: 9304270300
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DWAYNE YANCEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Only a few weeks into their hunt, Explore Park planners are finding their quest for government funding has led them straight into the thorny thicket of local politics.
Last week, they discovered the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, which once declared the living-history state park its No. 1 economic development project, has turned skeptical. The supervisors are to vote today on whether to do an about-face.
Monday, Explore Education Director Rupert Cutler braved the brambles from another direction, this time to ask Roanoke City Council for about $50,000.
Cutler's pitch was notable not so much for its content - this is the time of year when nonprofit groups line up before local governments seeking appropriations - as for the way he treaded carefully to avoid getting tangled up in the underbrush of city-county politics.
Mindful of what he called "the long-standing tension between city and county," Cutler stressed that he wasn't asking Roanoke to put up money for a project that's 2 1/2 miles across the line in Roanoke County.
Instead, he struck a distinctly parochial air, suggesting the city could give money to what he called "city organizations" to run programs benefiting "city residents" at the 1,300-acre park along the Roanoke River east of Vinton.
For instance, Cutler proposed the city could give:
$10,000 to the Roanoke Valley Historical Society to build an exhibit on Roanoke's history at the park "to motivate Explore's visitors to come to downtown Roanoke."
$10,000 to the Science Museum of Western Virginia to pay to bus visiting schoolchildren to Explore for a full day of nature lessons.
$10,000 to the Harrison Museum of African American Culture to build an exhibit at Explore on "the African-American experience in the Roanoke Valley" during the frontier era the park will depict.
$10,000 to Mill Mountain Zoo to help pay for the endangered-species breeding program the zoo is running at Explore.
$5,400 or more to the city school system to continue the field trips that fourth-graders have been taking to the park to learn about the environment.
$4,000 to the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra to make copies of the new piece of music that conductor Victoria Bond is writing on environmental ethics that will be dedicated to Explore.
All these, Cutler stressed, are "entities based in the city of Roanoke." Furthermore, Cutler contended, the city has a stake in Explore's success because the park would be a magnet to draw tourists to stay in the Hotel Roanoke. As evidence, he even quoted from a letter from Virginia Tech President James McComas touting how Explore would promote tourism in Western Virginia.
Council took no action on Explore's request, putting off any discussion until it takes up work on the city budget next Monday. But even that routine vote came over the dissent of Councilman James Harvey, who said he didn't want council to even talk about giving money to Explore until he knew whether the county was going to put up money for the same programs.
After his presentation, Cutler conceded "it's unlikely" the city will make any contributions to Explore, even if the money is designated for programs for city residents or "city organizations." Instead, he wrote off Monday's trip to City Council as a way to "educate" council members about how Explore can benefit the city.
For now, he's more concerned about how the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors will vote today when the supervisors grapple with their own budget.
A majority of the supervisors - fearful that Explore will become dependent on county funds, and skeptical that the park will ever become a major tourist attraction - appears poised to reject County Administrator Elmer Hodge's proposal to give Explore $100,000 to help pay for construction and daily operations.
Furthermore, the board may reverse its earlier decision to spend another $350,000 to widen a road that Explore planners say is critical to entice travelers off the Blue Ridge Parkway when the park opens to the public next year.
The votes won't determine whether Explore lives or dies, although it could give the project a push in either direction.
If the taxpayers start paying the park's operating expenses, Cutler says, Explore can speed up work on building the re-created frontier town by using private donations solely for construction. That, in turn, will encourage more private donors to chip in, he said.
But without government funding, Cutler warns, he may have to lay off some of the park's five staff members.
And without a widened Rutrough Road to provide temporary access until the National Park Service completes a spur off the Blue Ridge Parkway in 1996, Explore will have trouble attracting visitors.
For Explore, the immediate issue is whether it can find someone other than private donors to pay for its daily operations and how quickly the park will be able to start building the reconstructed frontier village that's supposed to be the main draw.
Cutler insists most of the master plan for a $185 million park remains intact. "It's just a matter of staging," he said. "All of us here have that grand plan very much in mind. We're not going to settle for a few farmsteads and some nature trails."
But for the Roanoke Valley, there's also a fundamental policy question: Should the Roanoke Valley make a major play to attract tourists and, if so, is the Explore Park the best way to draw them here?
That's why Roanoke Valley's vocal band of tourism boosters, led by developer David "Mudcat" Saunders, say they'll be closely watching today's vote. "All we've had so far is talk, and talk is cheap," he said. "If [the supervisors] are into tourism, they've got to start coming up with some real bucks."
by CNB