Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 1, 1995 TAG: 9509010080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Lois Burns of Wilmington, Del., grasped a large shopping bag in each hand as she rose slowly up an escalator next to the First Union Tower parking garage.
Downtown Roanoke's newest attraction - a $7 million taxpayer-funded walkway between the City Market and the Hotel Roanoke - had been open for barely five hours. Burns, loaded with ceramics and "Virginia goodies" purchased downtown, was heading toward the hotel Thursday afternoon.
"I think it's wonderful," she said of the new glass-and-steel pedestrian bridge.
"And it's convenient," especially compared with the circuitous walk - down the hotel driveway, along Shenandoah Avenue and across the tracks at Jefferson Street - that she'd made Wednesday, she said.
That was pretty much the verdict of afternoon strollers on the walkway: Most used terms such as "wonderful," "beautiful," "fantastic" - and "expensive" and "warm."
"I think it's fantastic. I've got a couple of nephews who are going to love seeing the trains underneath it," said Cindy Shields, who was returning to her job in the First Union Tower after lunch at the hotel with co-worker Avis O'Connor.
"But why is it so hot?" Shields wondered. "It just seemed really warm in there."
A steady stream of downtown workers, curiosity seekers and hotel guests passed through the walkway Thursday, following a throng of about 150 local officials, contractors and hotel employees who descended on it for opening ceremonies in the morning.
The hoopla was part serious, part corny.
Former Mayor Noel Taylor led off with a moving benediction, followed by congratulatory speeches from Lorinda Lionberger, a member of the Commonwealth Transportation Board; Bob Lawson, president of Downtown Roanoke Inc.; and Mayor David Bowers.
In the background, next to a bouquet of white, blue and green balloons (the city colors), was "Marvelous Marvin" Matusof and his trusty accordion. He played the theme song from the movie "The Bridge Over the River Kwai."
Then, the flock took an inaugural march across the walkway, ending in a grassy area next to the First Union Tower. Hotel Roanoke staff served juice, coffee, cookies and other munchables under a yellow-and-white striped canopy.
Branch & Associates began construction of the bridge last fall. The city had hoped to have it open by Aug 1. But late changes pushed back the scheduled opening by a month, and increased the cost by about $100,000. The city has yet to install eight security cameras along the walkway; those will be in place by next week.
When serious talk about the walkway began about four years ago, city officials had hoped they could put it up for $2 million. That cost swelled to $3.2 million when designs were finished in June of last year - and then to $5.3 million when bids for the project came in last fall.
The total cost for land, design and engineering was about $7 million - about 98 percent of which was picked up by the Virginia Department of Transportation. Much of that money came as federal funding for alternative transportation projects, said Jordan B. Peck III of Roanoke, a consultant on the project.
Not everybody who turned out Thursday was a fan of the bridge.
Hoskins Sclater, a retired lawyer and perhaps its most strident critic, denounced the walkway as "the worst mistake that's ever been made, architecturally."
"I hope to live long enough to see this thing moved out of sight - so we can see the hotel again," Sclater said.
But he was definitely in the minority.
Bill Williams, a retired Roanoke dentist, pronounced it an "asset to the community" and said it couldn't have been built any better.
"Is it worth $7 million? Sure, I think so," said Judy Butt, a Salt Lake City woman staying at the hotel. "They put $45 million into the hotel, so $7 million is a drop in the bucket."
"For $7 million, it could be a little cooler in here," Valley Metro driver W.P. Jackson said.
It was cooler inside the bridge than outside Thursday morning. But by afternoon, temperatures inside had climbed as the sun shone in.
The walkway is cooled with fans in its ceiling that bring air in and take it out.
Designers decided it didn't make sense to air-condition a structure that people would walk through briefly. They believed fans would keep it comfortable on all but the hottest days.
by CNB