Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 18, 1995 TAG: 9502200005
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
Town and Franklin County officials, after weeks of posturing and speculation, unveiled a plan that will put a YMCA, a county technology school and a proposed county health and social services building on a 60-acre site owned by the town off North Main Street.
The town also is negotiating with Franklin Memorial Hospital, which is interested in building a medical office facility on a 4-acre lot at the front of the site.
But while there are still some details to be ironed out, Town Manager Mark Henne said, ``There comes a time when you've got to stop talking and go with what you've got.''
Henne, one of many players involved with the development, is glad he's got something to go with.
In the middle of the scramble to close the deal, a Virginia Department of Transportation project was in progress to four-lane North Main Street.
Rocky Mount officials realized that VDOT contract workers were only days away from running curbs and gutters right by the proposed entrance to the education and health care park.
Without any solid commitments, Henne asked VDOT to suspend the work on the project's side of the road.
``Here I was, after bugging them for years to start the work, calling and asking them to stop,'' said Henne, who's been running back and forth between meetings on the project for the past few weeks.
Other players in the deal included members of Town Council, the county Board of Supervisors and the county School Board, who favored progress over politics.
But as Supervisor Wayne Angell said Friday, ``Cooperation's easy when you're talking about something that will benefit everyone.''
County Administrator Macon Sammons said the idea of putting the projects on the same site started when hospital administrators approached the county about available land for the office building. YMCA representatives and the School Board members already were looking for sites for their respective buildings.
So, when Rocky Mount began marketing its 60-acre site, Sammons said everyone agreed that four of a kind looked better than two pair.
The town bought the land last year for about $300,000 not long after former Gov. Doug Wilder approved the town's enterprise zone - which designates a portion of a locality where state and local tax breaks can be offered as incentives to prospective business and industry.
Rocky Mount's enterprise zone encompasses more than 300 acres and includes the new development. The town's zone runs almost the entire length of Main Street.
Friday's announcement follows a series of events that laid the groundwork for the park:
In October, the town and county formed a revitalization task force to improve downtown Rocky Mount and other areas.
In November, voters approved a bond referendum that included funding for the technology school and money for economic development sites and infrastructure.
And just two weeks ago, the county received a provisional charter from the national YMCA organization to start a Y program.
Now that the park is born, when will it open?
Funding for the YMCA facility will come from private contributions. The Y's director, Russ Merritt, will start a fund-raising campaign in April. An estimated $4.5 million will be needed, said Abe Essig, president of the organization.
Merritt hopes to break ground next year.
The technology school - called the Center for Applied Technology and Career Exploration in working documents - carries a projected cost of about $6 million. The school, to serve eighth- and ninth-graders, will consist of modules where hands-on learning of such high-tech subjects as robotics and automotive design will be offered.
School Superintendent Len Gereau said plans call for the school's construction to begin next year with completion set for late 1997.
The proposed county health services building isn't even on the drawing board, Sammons said.
There is no money for the project in the county's capital improvement budget, he said.
The town donated the 4.5 acres for the YMCA.
The county will take $146,000 from bond referendum funds approved for the technology center to pay its share of the 20-acre tract for the school.
by CNB