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

DATE: THURSDAY, September 28, 1995                   TAG: 9509280030
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

DOWNTOWN IN RUNNING FOR OFFICE

The Roanoke branch of the Social Security Administration may not be moving its offices out near Roanoke Regional Airport after all.

On Monday, federal officials with the General Services Administration in Philadelphia informed Roanoke city officials that the GSA is rebidding a contract for Social Security office space and will allow downtown office building owners to participate.

The action represents an abrupt turnabout by the GSA, which earlier this year asked for bids on 16,000 square feet of office space - but specified it must be near the airport.

At the least, the decision means downtown has a chance to keep the local Social Security office and its 44 employees. The GSA will make its decision based on a new round of bidding.

"I'd say it's a victory for council and the city," Mayor David Bowers said Wednesday. "We're going to do everything we can to keep federal and state offices in downtown Roanoke. It's not only a great place to come down to, it's a great place to work in."

"We feel the GSA has absolutely righted a wrong by [originally] not including the downtown business district," said Matt Kennell, executive director of the business coalition Downtown Roanoke Inc.

The GSA's about-face followed a Sept. 13 powwow attended by the mayor, Kennell and state and federal officials.

The issue arose Aug. 15, when City Council passed a resolution opposing the agency's move. City Manager Bob Herbert told council at the time that he believed the GSA had unfairly excluded downtown in the original bidding specifications.

The ad was published in February in The Roanoke Times. In it, the GSA requested proposals for office space for local Social Security offices and specified that it must be situated south of Peters Creek Road, north of Hershberger Road, west of Airport Road and east of Cove Road.

The pending move's origin dates to earlier this year, when the GSA told Social Security its office space was needed to expand Veterans Affairs offices in the Poff Federal Building.

The agency intends to readvertise with less stringent limits on the location, said Fred Ayscue, director of the Roanoke Social Security office. It serves clients in Roanoke, Salem, and the counties of Roanoke, Craig, Montgomery, Floyd, Rockbridge, Botetourt and Franklin.

Ayscue in August cited customer complaints of limited parking, downtown traffic congestion and difficulty finding the building in arguments for moving out of downtown.

"We were trying to consider the needs of all the people we serve. I think what we're [also] considering now is meeting the needs of the city of Roanoke," Ayscue said.

Bowers noted the Clinton administration recently issued a directive outlining the importance of keeping federal offices in downtown areas.

The last agency to move out of the Poff Building was the U.S. Postal Service, which this year changed its downtown station to First Street and Church Avenue.

In 1993, the Forest Service moved its employees from the Poff Building to the Valleypointe Development Park, joining offices of the Food and Drug Administration and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.