Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 29, 1994 TAG: 9410310056
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C3 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
``I underscored the assets which our region has to offer for the development of a theme park at the intersection of Interstates 81 and 77,'' Boucher said in a short statement after the meeting.
Boucher said he cited the region's labor force, its low taxes and low cost of doing business, the region's acceptance of the potential economic development, and the traffic flow along Interstates 77 and 81.
Boucher said earlier this week that a theme park comparable to the one Disney planned for Northern Virginia would provide ``20,000 jobs, many of them part-time, admittedly, but 20,000 jobs nonetheless ... It probably would do more to boost the economy of the Ninth District than any single project in this area, and I think we owe it to ourselves to examine this opportunity thoroughly and in detail.''
In a speech Wednesday before the Wytheville Rotary Club, Boucher previewed his plans for Friday's meeting. He said Wythe County could decline the project if its officials decided it was not suitable for this region.
Boucher acknowledged Wednesday that Disney might have decided to spend the $600million originally planned for the Northern Virginia park on other projects, such as its rumored interest in buying NBC, or in movies such as its recent film ``The Lion King.'' Or, he said, it might be limiting its site search to the area around Washington, D.C., where the park was to be built before Disney withdrew in the face of local opposition.
``I don't think that is their intention. Otherwise, they would not have expressed the interest they have in the discussions and proposals we have made to them about Southwest Virginia. I think they are genuinely looking around the state,'' he said.
Boucher said he has been involved in promoting the 2,800 acres near the crossing of the interstates in Wythe County for about a year, since an attorney for the land's owner approached him about its potential. ``The Disney announcement just fell right into the strategy we had under way,'' he said.
But even if Disney does not choose it, Boucher said, it could become the site for a theme park by some other developer.
He said the owner - whom he did not name, but who has been identified as J.C. Weaver of Clearwater, Fla. - is offering an equity investment exceeding the property's value as a joint venture partner in any such development.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.