Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 6, 1994 TAG: 9410060051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
At least 50 congressmen and several senators and governors have deluged Disney's government-relations office in Washington with pitches to locate a history theme park in their state.
But the entertainment conglomerate remains committed to Virginia, despite predictions by economic-development gurus that Disney will bolt the state or drop the $650 million project altogether, said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke.
"I think they're very strongly committed to Virginia for several reasons. First, Gov. [George] Allen went to bat for them, and they're very appreciative of that. Second, Virginia, compared to states around it, is really synonymous with history. We've got Jamestown, Williamsburg, Monticello, Yorktown. No other state can really compare," Goodlatte said.
The congressman met for a half-hour Wednesday in his office with Richard Bates, chief of Disney's government-relations office in Washington. Dozens of elected federal and state officials have been in contact with the office, Goodlatte said Bates told him.
His meeting followed one Tuesday between Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Abingdon, and Dana Nottingham, president of the Disney's America project.
Nottingham on Wednesday was in California meeting with Disney higher-ups trying to decide the future of the project, Boucher said.
"He was very careful not to address [whether the project would stay in Virginia] at all," Boucher said.
Boucher said he argued that Southwest Virginia, with Interstates 81 and 77, brings a substantial traffic flow and 3 million tourists travel the Blue Ridge Parkway through Grayson, Carroll, Floyd and Roanoke counties.
"I advised him our region would respond enthusiastically to the new jobs and other economic opportunities which would be created through the location of the project in our area, and we would take the steps necessary to facilitate the location of the project in Southwest Virginia," he said.
Goodlatte said Western Virginia still has a chance to land the project, but only if Disney decides to scale it back and changes search criteria that led it to Haymarket as the ideal site.
"They are very open-minded to a lot of different alternatives. ... Their number-one priority is to locate in Virginia," Goodlatte said.
Disney's announcement that it would build a $650 million theme park on 3,000 acres in Prince William County took the state by storm late last year.
Allen pushed an economic-assistance package through the General Assembly. The package included $130 million in highway improvements and $33 million in other incentives. Disney estimated the project would create 19,000 jobs.
The company's announcement last week that it was pulling the plug on the Prince William project in the face of stiff opposition from historians and environmentalists was another surprise. As late as July, Disney executives had vowed they would keep fighting to build the giant theme park.
Disney said it wanted to stay in Virginia, launching a frenzy of local government officials, business interests and ordinary citizens clamoring to bring Disney to their areas.
Other states wooing the park include North Carolina, Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
by CNB