Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, May 9, 1994 TAG: 9405100031
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A little support a lot earlier would have been nice in the struggle to establish Explore as a first-class state park just off the Blue Ridge Parkway - in Roanoke County, but right on Roanoke's doorstep. A little more support now would have been nice, too. But "could haves" and "would haves" don't matter nearly as much as "can" and "will."
The park will open July 2 - part time, for now - and it will feature a few living-history exhibits of life on the Appalachian frontier, along with hiking trails and picnic areas. The city still can be a partner in its development and operation and, with the decision last week to kick in $50,000, City Council has decided that it will be. Which means Mayor Bowers and assorted other city officials can hop up on the grandstand for the bully opening ceremonies at a real old-fashioned, all-American, red-white-and-blue Fourth of July celebration.
That threatens to extend the speechifying a mite, but what the heck. The city's discovery of Explore signals a willingness to back up talk of regionalism with bucks - a welcome move toward preserving the past and assuring the future.
Explore itself, if it ever gets the resources to turn vision into reality, could not only help to keep alive an accurate memory of a way of life. It could also foster a livelier business climate in the present by drawing visitors off the parkway and into the valley. More important to the future, though, is the symbolism behind the city's gesture.
Roanoke County refused to contribute to the renovation of the Hotel Roanoke, the city's top economic-development priority, even though the landmark hotel holds as deep a place in the hearts of county residents as of city residents. The city refused to contribute to the creation of Explore, the county's top economic-development priority, though the living-history state park will funnel visitors downtown and bring new dollars into the city as well as the county.
It is true that the city has invested tens of millions in the hotel, while the county has put relatively paltry sums into Explore. But there has been, at least symbolically, a fierce symmetry in each locality's reluctance to support a project inside the other's political boundaries. As in: "You didn't give anything to us." "Well, you didn't give anything to us." "But you didn't give anything to us first."
And so the volleys have flown, back and forth, while project supporters hunkered down and tried to stay out of the line of fire.
Characteristically, Mayor David Bowers has thrown down a peace offering as if it were a gauntlet - "We will be the first in regionalism, the first in cooperation, the first in valley responsibility." As if county officials are supposed to chime in: Oh, please, can we follow your example and be second in all these things, right behind you?
But county officials would be wise to ignore the rhetoric, born of frustrated pride, and pick up the challenge as an olive branch.
As residents of Roanoke, Roanoke County, Salem and Vinton go about their daily lives - going to work, to the movies, to the store, to the theater, to dinner, to a game of baseball or hockey, or to visit Explore Park - they are enjoying the advantages of life in the Roanoke Valley. The entire Roanoke Valley. The health of the whole depends on the health of each part.
by CNB