ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, March 6, 1996 TAG: 9603060050
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: METRO
MONEY TO begin planning for a higher-education center in downtown Roanoke has been approved by the state Senate. But the $250,000 appropriation isn't guaranteed. To be included in the final version as approved by both houses, it probably must survive current talks between House and Senate conferees as they reconcile the two chambers' budget bills.
The $250,000 is to be used in the upcoming fiscal year to determine the costs and best methods of converting the mothballed Norfolk and Western General Office Building North into an education center. This would represent an important first step for a plan that would simultaneously and cost-effectively boost:
Higher education. Not only would the center provide much-needed room for burgeoning programs such as the Roanoke Valley Graduate Center's. It also would accelerate development of new initiatives and partnerships, such as Radford University's upper-level courses and Virginia Western Community College's customized worker-training programs to meet the future's demand for lifelong learning.
Economic development. Not only would the center increase higher education's presence in the Roanoke Valley, an important economic-development plus in itself and a marketable asset in recruiting new jobs. It also would tie in with the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center just across the street, and with proposals for resurrecting a Henry Street entertainment district, to help broaden a critical mass of activity downtown that had long been limited to the south side of the railroad tracks. Eventually, it could serve as a catalyst for the phased conversion, as market conditions warrant, of both old Norfolk and Western buildings into office and even residential space.
Historic preservation. Not only would the center spare from the possibility of demolition a building that is arguably the valley's most important historically and architecturally. It also would bring the structure back to life through adaptive reuse, and greatly improve the chances of preserving the Norfolk and Western GOB South - a similarly valuable and handsome legacy from Roanoke's railroad past.
How often does the General Assembly see a project with so much to recommend it? May lawmakers see that the time has come to put down earnest money on the job.
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines KEYWORDS: GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1996by CNB