Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, January 7, 1994 TAG: 9402250015
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Then there is the legitimacy. With one historic farmstead and a whole lot of gorgeous land, Explore remains more potential than tourist destination. A $16 million expansion of the natural history museum would be a plum acquisition and an assured success.
The marriage of convenience could also be in the long-term interests of Martinsville, where the museum is now located.
The cries of alarm from Martinsville-area lawmakers and civic leaders are as understandable as they are predictable, but connecting with a park located on the well-traveled, tourist-driven Blue Ridge Parkway would boost the museum's stature and numbers of visitors.
Some such boost is needed. Only 25,000 people a year make it to the Southside museum. Some members of its own board of trustees worry that the traffic to support an expansion would never materialize.
Roanoke state Sen. Brandon Bell is floating the idea of merging the natural history museum not only with Explore, but also with the Richmond-based Division of Natural Heritage, with Martinsville as headquarters for all three. That would ease the blow if the city lost exhibit space.
It is premature in any case for any region to begin toting up benefits and drawbacks. Bell's suggestion isn't even at the proposal stage yet; he's proposing a study. And Vinton Del. Richard Cranwell, Democratic majority leader in the House, is saying nothing until there is a solid plan to offer. Any initiative will need the blessings of the General Assembly's master broker.
Still, the prospects are intriguing.
Explore has been a beauty undergoing various transformations in its search for supportive mates. But each version, from rustic theme park to the educational and environmental center now envisioned, has been based on the notion of presenting Virginia history in a natural setting.
The park as now planned, with its commitment to historic preservation and environmental education, makes it an ideal match for the natural history museum expansion. Exhibits on the geology and archaeology of Virginia, on the history of the Eastern Woodland Indians and early settlers, on the state's plant and animal life couldn't be more compatible with the Indian village, fort and other re-creations that Explore hopes to build. And the 1,000 acres designated as natural area, never to be developed, would be perfect for wildlife studies.
Combining from a joint account the museum space with a $5 million education center that is also on the Explore drawing boards would be an efficiency in spending. And it is sensible: Putting the state's natural history museum on wild land, with a spur to the Blue Ridge Parkway, just off an interstate highway and in a metropolitan area, virtually ensures that it would prove a greater asset than an expanded Martinsville site.
Martinsville leaders say the museum is of special significance to the city because it was taken from a private to a state exhibition under the protective hand of A.L. Philpott, the late Speaker of the House. But that illustrates a problem with Virginia's museums. Each is headed by a separate board, each fighting for state funding, with no coherent policy that would create a statewide system. And the lion's share of money stays in Richmond.
Martinsville can argue that the Roanoke area simply wants to protect its own piece of turf in trying to bring the Museum of Natural History here. The facility would indeed be a helpful and compatible attraction. But given what the park and region could do for the museum's success, it does seem a match made in heaven, pork-barrel politics aside.
by CNB