Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 1, 1993 TAG: 9306010057
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
That's when about 5,000 motor homes, each about 35 feet long, will start to converge on Tech's campus for the summer convention of the Family Motor Coach Association Aug. 3-5.
It's a potential traffic nightmare, said Dan Brugh, a state Department of Transportation engineer in Christiansburg.
"It's going to be a real big mess, and it's going to be worse than any football game that we've ever worked," he said.
Even so, a few days of traffic headaches are a small price to pay for the economic boost that the motor coach convention will have on Blacksburg and the entire state, said Ron Secrist, town manager for Blacksburg.
Jenny Bowman, convention coordinator for the Cincinnati-based Family Motor Coach Association, said national conventions usually mean an influx of about $10 million into the local economy.
Sales tax receipts went up 48.5 percent during the month last year that Laramie, Wyo., was host for the summer convention. Bowman said most of the sales usually come in diesel, gas, restaurants, gift shops, hotels and coin-operated laundries.
Secrist said the motor coach convention fits into a strategy developed by Tech and town officials to pump up the local economy during the normally slow summer.
Roughly 10,000 visitors are expected on Tech's campus for the event. In addition to motor-home owners and families, a large contingent of vendors and exhibitors will cram into hotels.
Beth Ifju, president of the Blacksburg Chamber and director of sales at the Marriott, said the town's larger motels have been booked for months.
"It's going to be exciting; we are really looking forward to showing off our town," she said.
The Family Motor Coach Association has more than 90,000 members and 300 chapters.
Ned Lester, director of business and community relations at Tech, is heading the steering committee planning the convention.
He said the motor coaches would be parked at 25 locations on campus, including some of the runways at Tech's airport.
"We'll put them in every little spot we can find," he said.
The motor coach association rotates its convention sites among the four time zones and Blacksburg was picked for this year's convention over the state fairgrounds in Richmond.
Bowman said college campuses or state fairgrounds usually are picked for conventions because most other places don't have enough open space to park all of the vehicles.
"Blacksburg pursued us vigorously, and we were impressed with what Tech had to offer," she said.
Lane Stadium's parking lot will be converted into an outdoor exhibit area, and Rector Field House will house indoor exhibits and vendors selling such things as clothes, furniture and satellite television dishes for motor homes.
The convention also will feature live entertainment each night, culminating with a performance by the Statler Brothers on Aug. 5.
Area residents will be able to purchase daily passes to the exhibit area, but the entertainment will be restricted to convention participants.
Bowman said the participants probably will be in Virginia a week before and a week after the convention.
Those are sweet words for John Strutner, community services manager for the state Department of Tourism, who said motor-home owners are the type of visitors the state likes to attract.
Most motor coach association members are retired and affluent - motor coaches cost between $250,000 and $600,000 - and like to travel.
"We look forward to it and think it will have a big impact on the state," Strutner said.
Before the convention, many local association chapters will meet at locations around the state for pre-convention rallies.
One group is meeting at the Draper Valley Golf Course near the Pulaski-Wythe county line and other groups have reservations in Appomattox, Williamsburg and Lexington.
Then, starting Aug. 1, the various groups will caravan to Blacksburg.
Brugh said he's worried about traffic backing up on Interstate 81, especially going south from Roanoke because the motor homes will have to climb Christiansburg Mountain.
"Some of theses caravans are going to be three to five miles long, so there are going to be some problems," he said.
In Blacksburg, the westbound lanes of the U.S. 460 bypass will be restricted to motor home traffic. All other vehicles will be detoured onto South Main Street.
Tech Police Chief Mike Jones has requested that a state police helicopter help direct traffic.
Kelly Arnold, assistant town manager for Laramie, said the arrival of the motor coaches for the convention is quite a spectacle.
"They will come in droves and then some," he said.
by CNB