Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 19, 1993 TAG: 9305190317
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I think they've done a fantastic job of trying to appease people with likes and dislikes," said Walter Wheaton, chairman of the church's board of trustees.
After examining possible designs for two blocks of Wells Avenue from the Hotel Roanoke to a proposed new Second Street traffic loop, some Gainsboro residents gave their grudging approval at a city-arranged meeting at First Baptist.
Juanita Crews, 64, who lives nearby on Gilmer Avenue Northeast, said she wishes Wells Avenue would stay the same, but she probably won't object "as long as they don't take my alley and leave me sitting on top of a knoll."
Consulting landscape architect Laura Orrison assured her that the alley behind Crews' lifelong home on Gilmer will remain in place.
Herbert Coles Jr., whose grandfather also lived on that one remaining block of Gilmer Northeast, said the plans seem carefully thought out, so he thinks they will be accepted by the community. "This change isn't necessarily as bad as some people have put it," he said.
Leaders of Historic Gainsboro Preservation District still object to two new proposed four-lane roads and are considering a lawsuit to block them. City engineers insist the roads are needed to prevent traffic congestion downtown in about 20 years.
Some Gainsboro residents left the meeting Tuesday night without comment.
Historic Gainsboro President Evelyn Bethel said they have become "resigned to the fact that the road is coming." She said the city has dampened their spirits.
A few people registered their objections on giant pads that captured public reactions to the plans presented Tuesday night. In the "dislike" column they put: "Everything . . . All . . . Entire project."
The city's plans will be finalized, reviewed by the state Department of Transportation and then presented at a public hearing this fall.
All the city's proposed designs call for special landscaping, green spaces, large street trees, decorative crosswalks and Gainsboro "gateway" signs on Wells at Williamson and at Second Street. Planners also proposed a Gainsboro logo in old English lettering, similar to the hotel's traditional signage.
Robert France, president-elect of the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, said of the plans: "I'm really impressed with the progress the city has made in moving from an untenable, invasive design to one that meets many of the needs of the neighborhood."
The city's initial proposal for Wells Avenue last year would have taken 12 homes and two commercial buildings. Now, plans call for moving two homes and tearing down five unused commercial buildings.
France said, however, he would like to see more pedestrian control of the two traffic lights planned along that stretch of Wells Avenue and greater use of indigenous trees and shrubbery and of Roanoke's glazed "star" bricks for sidewalks - not cement imitations.
Wheaton said after the meeting that there is concern the roads will "box in" his church, but he hopes it eventually can expand with "outreach" buildings in nearby blocks.
His son, Keith Wheaton, is concerned about traffic, pollution and noise that may invade the now-quiet residential blocks of Gainsboro, populated by many elderly people.
The Rev. Carl Tinsley, president of the Gainsboro Neighborhood Development Corp., was pleased with the city's designs because he said they reflect Gainsboro's history.
But Historic Gainsboro Secretary Helen Davis said that many backers of the plan, like Wheaton and Tinsley, don't live in Gainsboro.
by CNB