Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510160080
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-18 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Now facing an evolving relationship with its giant neighbor, Virginia Tech, downtown Blacksburg is beginning to change its identity to reach beyond the town's student population.
Virginia Tech's July announcement of an incentive plan to encourage conferences at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center was the final straw for many local merchants already resentful of the university's retail ventures. Afraid of losing convention business to Roanoke, downtown business owners had to ask themselves what they offered adults - whether a convention goer or a hometown shopper.
Some downtown businessmen, such as John Kline of Gentry Studio, say it's time to go after an often-overlooked consumer - the middle-aged professional. He means someone like Jane Abraham, a 46-year-old Blacksburg resident who's pursuing a doctorate in psychology at Tech.
For entertainment in this small college town, she and her neighbors have to throw potluck dinners, Abraham said. There's nothing for adults to do after the sun goes down.
Said Bob Denton, communication studies department head at Tech: "Where can you go downtown and have a beer and not bump into students? The town of Blacksburg does not cater itself to the middle-aged business perspective."
Joe and Roya Nazare are two downtown business owners who hope to change the atmosphere with the addition of The Cafe at Champ's, a jazz cafe the Nazares opened on the first floor below their second-floor Champ's sports bar.
The Nazares plan to replicate a European setting to give Blacksburg something different, he said. They plan to book first-class jazz acts - such as singer Jane Powell, who performed this weekend - to attract both students and adults.
Greg Ames, a 25-year-old newcomer to the Blacksburg business community, also is banking on the lack of options for adults downtown. He and a partner recently opened a Cajun restaurant called Boudreaux's on Main Street in the old Brown Insurance Agency building.
"I think a lot of businesses have given up on the faculty and townspeople, and that's a mistake," Ames said. He would serve an older crowd with a full-service restaurant that doesn't make its money as a bar. Early signs are encouraging for Boudreaux's, if a recent line to get in is any indication.
While merchants might pay more attention to the adults in town, they can't afford to ignore the student business. That's why many favor the recent relocation of TGIF and The T-Shirt Factory to the heart of downtown, which they hope will increase student traffic.
Even with the new businesses shooting up around downtown, the key to Blacksburg's future may lie vacant on College Avenue.
Efforts to revive and restore the Lyric Theatre have reached a standstill while supporters negotiate a lease with the building's owners, but enthusiasm for the project hasn't waned.
"When the Lyric Theatre closed, evening business died downtown," remembered Mary Riley, owner of Mainstreet Bazaar. Shops started closing earlier without the drawing power of the theater.
Reopening the theater could do just the opposite. Lyric supporters hope to make an announcement in the next few weeks about the theater's future.
Bonnie Srvchek, assistant town manager, applauds efforts to bring back the Lyric and said the theater could make downtown "a more family-oriented place to shop, visit and go to for entertainment purposes."
Larry Linkous, chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors, thinks the Lyric project may be one the county should get behind.
"The Lyric revival is as much economic development as attracting industry," he said.
Photographer Kline, who sits on the board of Friends of the Lyric, doesn't want to stop with the theater project. He sees other improvements that need to be made.
The new sidewalk behind The Cafe at Champ's, which turned a rut-filled gravel path into an attractive walkway, is a good example of what needs to happen all over downtown, Kline said. The town and HCMF Corp., which owns and leases space to Champ's and many other downtown businesses, jointly sponsored the sidewalk project.
Kline would like to see that kind of public-private partnership in other areas - improving alleyways, installing better lighting downtown and making other cosmetic changes to create a more inviting environment, especially at night.
More parking is another necessity for economic success, he said.
John Hardie manages properties for HCMF Corp. which owns a large chunk of downtown real estate. He favors such projects, which he said were good for the town and good for the businesses that lease space from HCMF. The company's long-term plans call for adding rear entrances to Davidson's and Mainstreet Bazaar because of the walkway.
Riley, since she bought Mainstreet Bazaar in 1984, has had to be fast and flexible. The town's economic landscape changed drastically in the late 1980s, when the mall pulled large retailers such as Leggett - and shoppers - out of Blacksburg.
Riley saw her business drop 30 percent after Wal-Mart opened in 1990. She fought her way back by stocking more upscale kitchen merchandise and strengthening her customer service "Because we're small, we can turn on a dime a lot quicker than those elephants on 460."
Blacksburg merchants also hope to give the Farmers' Market a permanent structure, Kline said.
The market brings downtown lots of folks who often linger to browse in the shops, he said.
One hurdle to a face lift is limited resources, Kline said. Hard-pressed local business owners also have limited time.
He spends a lot of time on the Lyric project, others, such as Riley, are busy with Steppin' Out. "You can't do too many things."
Srvchek, the town's liaison to the Downtown Merchants Association, also thinks more merchants need to participate.
"The downtown will thrive even more with the involvement of more people."
The merchants association meets at 5:30 p.m. the first Wednesday of each month in the Municipal Building's first-floor conference room.
by CNB