Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, July 13, 1995 TAG: 9507130046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Behind Roanoke Memorial Hospital, a strip of bare land stretching up Mill Mountain is the only scar from what used to be one of the city's biggest tourist draws.
The Incline, as it was known before it closed in 1929, was a two-car cable railroad that ran straight up the mountain.
Efforts to revive this old Roanoke tradition, or a similar one, were suggested by Mayor David Bowers during a ceremony Wednesday to dedicate the overlook at the Mill Mountain Star.
Bowers said he will propose to City Council that a task force be appointed to find a way to connect Mill Mountain to downtown Roanoke. He could not think of a better way to do this, he said, than by a means of transportation from the foot of the mountain to the top.
"Even though I'm proposing the concept, I'm not proposing the design," Bowers said.
The concept is not a new one to Roanokers. The possibility of bringing back The Incline or an alternative has been a dream of many people in the valley.
Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr., head of the strategic planning initiative New Century Council, brought up the idea during a Tourist Appreciation Day conference in May. He suggested that The Incline, which was dismantled in 1930, be rebuilt.
Fitzpatrick said Wednesday that one of the things city leaders learned through the renovation of Hotel Roanoke is that Roanoke Valley residents are very traditional, wanting the past to be part of their future.
"The Incline fits so well with that," Fitzpatrick said.
But the success of an attraction such as The Incline would depend on the tourism value of Mill Mountain, said David Miller, who owns the DuQuesne Incline in Pittsburgh. The DuQuesne Incline's two-car system can accommodate about 18 people and is similar to the old Mill Mountain tram.
"An incline sitting by itself on a hillside isn't going to generate a whole lot of passengers," he said.
A row of about eight restaurants sits at the top of Mount Washington in downtown Pittsburgh, the DuQuesne Incline's destination. Dining out is an incentive that draws passengers to his tram, Miller said.
Fitzpatrick said he believes Mill Mountain already has what it takes for a tram or gondola to be able to survive.
The view from the mountain itself would be enough to draw people, he said.
Fitzpatrick, a former Virginia Museum of Transportation officer, said that if a tram were built, he also would like to see some sort of transportation from downtown to the tram's station. Examples of this, he said, could be an antique bus from the museum or an old-fashioned streetcar.
"The important thing is that this is not just a Roanoke project," Fitzpatrick said, adding that although the city owns the property, Mill Mountain belongs to everyone in the Roanoke Valley.
"There is an opportunity to promote it much more regionally," he said.
Bowers had no timetable for the project, saying only that it could be "years" before it would be in operation.
He said that now is the perfect time for such a project, with the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center complete and the recent talk of downtown revitalization. Also, he said, the city is in a good position financially.
"The time is right," Bowers said.
by CNB