Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, April 28, 1995                   TAG: 9504280052
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HISTORY CAN BE GOOD FOR BUSINESS

Before choosing Virginia for their new factory, the image-conscious owners of a German medical equipment manufacturer informally asked their fellow countrymen for impressions of major U.S. cities under consideration.

Officials at PARI Respiratory Equipment Inc. found in the minds of Germans that Miami evoked thoughts of "beaches, drugs and alligators," President Werner Gutmann told an economic development conference Thursday in Roanoke.

New York symbolized crime and Wall Street. The Germans who answered the company's informal survey associated Washington, D.C., with the White House and president.

PARI didn't like what it heard until the subject turned to Richmond. The Germans thought better of the state's capital city, which they knew to be the heart of the Confederacy, indicative of the Old South and part of the plantation country depicted in "Gone With the Wind."

PARI now has a Richmond assembly plant and distribution center, which opened in 1993 and employs 50 people.

The point of the story is that history and historical places can be an economic asset, according to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Virginia Tech and Roanoke civic leaders who invited Gutmann and 15 other speakers to the conference at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center.

The event drew 90 people from throughout the state, among them downtown revitalization advocates, chamber of commerce officials, elected leaders, educators, hoteliers and a travel agent.

While a selling point to industry, history also draws tourists and historical places present opportunities for commercial and residential development, speakers said.

"We increasingly see historic preservation as an economic engine, as an opportunity to revitalize downtowns, neighborhoods and areas of all kinds," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and keynote speaker.

Hotel Roanoke was described as a significant example of what can happen when a city puts that philosophy into play.

Cities and towns without landmarks also can develop historic appeal as long as key sites are preserved, Moe said. History buffs aren't picky.

But there is much work to do. Vacant multistory downtown buildings litter the nation, Moe said. Lifting barriers to renovation, such as stringent building codes and scarce financing, are among the aims of the trust, a nonprofit advocacy and lobbying group.

More than 1,000 communities across the nation have preserved some of their historic structures. Businesses spun off by those endeavors have created 83,000 jobs, Moe said.