ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603180001
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: F-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP
YES, REDEVELOP IT!
JUNE HERINGTON, Southwest Roanoke
"We moved here just five years ago. We had gone to see the musical 'Henry Street' and it was just wonderful, the history of that area. I'm just afraid that's what happening right now is the property is going unused. Yes, I would love to see it redeveloped. I think everybody would benefit eventually."
SEAN GANEY, Blacksburg
"The question was 'Should Henry Street be revived?' The answer is an overwhelming 'yes!' What should not be done is to build a series of strip malls and fast-food places. This street should also not become an extension of the Hotel Roanoke. There is no room in this neighborhood for a Disneyland-type street. The worst thing that could happen is for the street to become a tourist attraction. The street was historically a center for the neighborhood. It should and could be that again. Whatever the community would like to have in walking distance should be there. But most important, it should have people. There should be people living along the street. We do not need to have the city extended out to the residents. Bring the residents into the city. There should be residences, commercial spaces and opportunities for entertainment. Give the people the services they want; it is their street."
JIM ARNOLD, Botetourt County
"I definitely think that Roanoke and the investors should proceed with Henry Street, similar to what they have drawn up. I don't understand the local residents demanding that they should take more time. These local residents have had 20-some odd years to come up with something to correct that eyesore and now that we have someone that wants to make a nice entertainment district of it, they all of a sudden decide they want a chance at it. Well, they've had a chance at it for 20 years and they haven't done a thing except to let it deteriorate."
RESPONSE:
Why wasn't Henry Street preserved?
"There was a possibility of restoring Henry Street when the old buildings were standing, but at that time nobody with the city felt Henry Street was significant. The neighborhood did develop a plan for Henry Street. There was no concerted effort by the city to see if the neighborhood plan did have merit. It would appear to me that the deterioration of Henry Street was planned. In most urban renewal projects, the essence of it is not to acquire property when the property values are high but to wait until the property has decayed so that the property value is lower."
- George Heller, former director, Gainsboro Neighborhood Developmen Corp.
"The history of Henry Street is different from some of the other redevelopment projects [in Gainsboro and old Northeast Roanoke]. By the late '70s, businesses had closed; the buildings were empty. Henry Street was a rather forbidding and desolate place. The city asked the authority to acquire the property, which the authority did. The city, not the authority, removed all the buildings they considered unsafe or uninhabitable - not for redevelopment, but because the buildings had been condemned." |- Willis "Wick" Anderson, chairman, Board of Commissioners, Roanok Redevelopment and Housing Authority
LET BLACKS DEVELOP IT AND PAY FOR IT
JAMES C. DAVIS, Southwest Roanoke
"I want to go on record as not in support of anything in Henry Street. We only run into turmoil. It's a low-income situation to the city, tax-wise, and if we improve it, it's just an additional burden on our tax system." He understands why black residents want more input on the plans. "They ought to have some say-so, but they ought to pay for it, too."
BOBBY ELLIS, Roanoke County
"I think that if the blacks want it, they should buy the property and build [it] themselves. If they think it ought to be for black business people, that's their prerogative, but taxpayers should not pay. Taxpayers are being ripped off because they want a lot of things but they don't want to pay for it."
NO, DON'T REDEVELOP IT!
ESTHER M. JOYNER, Southwest Roanoke
"I am against any projects being developed in the city right now. We have so many projects going on. Let's pay for some of the projects under way!"
WILLIAM E. ANDERSON SR., Northwest Roanoke
"I see no reason or good to build Henry Street with taxes needed by all residents for a larger need. This is a cause that will destroy Roanoke in race relations and disrupt all citizens. If this area is to be developed, let those who claim a rich inheritance do so. City Council, Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Henry Street Revival Committee and TAP should let this area develop on its own course and not force a change on an area of Roanoke not welcome to all citizens."
VIRGINIA BINDER, Northeast Roanoke
"I was born in the city of Roanoke 77 years ago, so Gainsboro is a place I know something about. We moved to the Williamson Road area in 1941 and became somewhat familiar with that area by driving through from downtown Roanoke. The Henry Street area was in poor condition then. The blacks took care of nothing and the place was a shambles. The so-called homes and businesses had windows out, junk everywhere and just one mess. We do not want any money wasted on Henry Street redevelopment. Since the city built the fancy bridge to town, it should spend the monies toward further upgrades to Center in the Square. The Norfolk Southern office building can house a small college or offices. Forget Henry Street."
RESPONSE:
What about the needs of the whole city?
"While it is true that the Land Use Plan as currently written envisions an expenditure of approximately $4 million in public improvements, City Council has not committed the funds at this time and I'm sure they will take the needs of the total city into consideration before undertaking such a project." |- Neva Smith, executive director, Roanoke Redevelopment and Housin Authority
HENRY STREET WAS A BAD PLACE
JIMMY R. STEVENS, Troutville
"I think that some of the people who are speaking of putting Henry Street back like it was should go back and look at the police records from the '50s and the '60s. I was a teen-ager in the '50s and Henry Street and that area - 1st Street - used to be known for all its nip joints. You could go down there after dark, after the ABC stores was closed. You could buy pints of liquor. It's where all the prostitutes hung out. It was then what 11th Street Northwest is now, OK? - except that crack cocaine is now on the scene. Now, I'm trying to keep racial overtones out of this. The Market area used to be the white prostitutes and the nip joints and what-have-you, and that was moved elsewhere."
HENRY STREET WAS A GOOD PLACE
THE REV. ALFRED PRUNTY, Salem, whose family owned a drycleaners on Henry Street.
"A whole lot of people don't know about Henry Street. There was one man - Rev. Noel C. Taylor [former mayor and still chairman of the Henry Street Revival Committee] - who placed his hopes on it for 17 years. It used to be our social gathering place. It was a place where we could get the medicines prescribed by our doctors. It was a place where we could go to restaurants. It was a central place. It would be nice to bring it back. It would bring us closer together. It would make us feel like we're more a part of the city of Roanoke."
ROSE CARTER, Roanoke County
"I'm only 45 years old and I was brought up in New York, but the way my family was telling me, they used to come to Roanoke and they always went to Henry Street and they always had a good time. They said they had nightclubs and jazz and all the old jazz people used to come."
BRENDA C. RANDOLPH, Northeast Roanoke
"I moved here in 1965 from Fairmont, W.Va. I was in shock to see that Roanoke was in the Dark Ages but one thing good was blacks had their schools, businesses, cab service, hospital, drug stores, night clubs and restaurants. I worked at Hotel Roanoke and lived in Northeast on Wells Avenue. I loved Henry Street. When I was pregnant with my daughter I had the chance to go to Star City Auditorium and see Joe Tex singing 'Skinny Legs and All.' I also remember the city taking people's homes in Northeast. The home I once lived in is gone and now stands Roanoke Gas Co. What has the city done to help blacks? They take your neighborhood, your homes, your dreams and give you nothing in return. What all-white neighborhood has the city took and displaced its residents? NONE! Why can't the city work with blacks in the valley to help bring our Henry Street back to life? We would have our proud traditions of being working-class people, business persons to stand up and be a vital part of the Roanoke Valley."
ROANOKE NEEDS OTHER THINGS MORE THAN HENRY STREET
MARIE McKINNEY, Northeast Roanoke
"Fix a place for the homeless and the lower-income people. We don't need another tourist attraction, not on Henry Street."
C.H. LITTLE, Northwest Roanoke
"I think that if y'all put clubs and things like that up on Henry Street, it would bring more crime back to the neighborhood and it would bring more drugs and killings back in the Gainsboro neighborhood. I don't think clubs should be up there. Maybe they should put a black YMCA, maybe a couple of restaurants, something small."
BARBARA M. DICKINSON, Southeast Roanoke
"I am not in favor of targeting this area as a 'tourist mecca.' Roanoke does not appear to have a sufficiently large, affluent supportive community nor the prerequisite other mega crowd-pleasers of cities such as Nashville, Memphis or New Orleans. I am in agreement with Mrs. [Evelyn] Bethel - 'more facilities for youth and the elderly.' Why not designate a major part of Henry Street for those who would use it - our young people? One only has to look at the stellar success of the West End Center, the fledgling youth projects at Hurt Park and other after-school athletic programs to see how badly all our young people need some supervised place to go."
RUTH BROWNING, Northwest Roanoke
"I don't think they should redevelop Henry Street and I think they ought to build a housing project down there because I think it's more people need housing than they do a place to congregate."
JANE GOTT, Northwest Roanoke
"I think that if they want new entertainment centers, they should make use of the historical buildings that are sitting empty downtown right now. There is nothing historical there left in Gainsboro, no historical buildings. It is too much money for right now. They should finish the Explore project so that families and tourists can go there."
RESPONSE:
What history is there to preserve?
"Although there are not many original structures left, there will always exist the history of Gainsboro. Henry Street District's theme will be music - the jazz and blues of the period when Henry Street was most active. Music attracts all ages and races and will serve to draw patrons to the district.
"Just as the downtown Market area is reminiscent of the former farmer's market, the Henry Street District will be reminiscent of the former black business district, offering its patrons the experience, spirit and character of the old district, rich with entertainment and music and small, locally run businesses.
- Don Harwood, Henry Street project manager, Hill Studio
A COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY WOULD BE BETTER
B.P. MULLEN, Southwest Roanoke
"I was born and raised in Roanoke. I think redeveloping Henry Street is about as ridiculous as anything that Roanoke has ever come up with. Henry Street could be used as a college for the downtown area, for the large influx of young people downtown, and you could use the N&W building as nucleus for it. They ought to have Henry Street College. Doing the other thing is the equivalent of rebuilding salt marshes downtown for the Indians."
JERRY G. PHILLIPS, Southeast Roanoke
"I think the more pressing thing now - the city and everybody around here ought to get on the boat here about this - [is ] this university in the old N&W office buildings. If we develop this land around there too fast, then we might choke out prospects of that [university] developing. It don't take but a second to think: Where is hundreds and hundreds of students going to park? I ain't saying turn Henry Street into a big parking garage. Just don't say we're going to develop Henry Street and choke off a much-needed higher education facility that would really benefit this valley much more than Henry Street."
RESPONSE:
What about nearby development?
"Development of the [railroad] office buildings will certainly bring additional activity and vitality to the district. As recently discussed, the use of these buildings for educational facilities would be a good use of the buildings.
"Any development creating jobs and activity will create additional parking needs that have to be addressed. The daily parking needs for the Henry Street District as discussed in the Land Use Plan can be handled with internal surface parking. Special events will be handled at remote parking areas located adjacent to the district's perimeter. The addition of educational facilities will increase the parking needs of the district, but not to a point of preventing its development or of prohibiting development of other areas within the district."
- Don Harwood, Henry Street project manager, Hill Studio
BE FAIR TO BLACK CITIZENS
POLLY AYERS BIXLER, Southwest Roanoke
"There's nothing left on Henry Street. Unfortunately, all this happened when ... you didn't talk about historic preservation in Roanoke. [People thought] what was there to save? And because there was no interest in that at that time, we were all asleep. Mea culpa, mea culpa, it is gone.
"I think the city ought to be honest and not jerk people around and tell them 'You can own businesses there.' Tell it like it is! It's for economic development; it's for tourism. It'll be a Williamsburgy thing, trying to make it like it used to be. And above all, don't let's tear down the Stone Printing building!"
LINDA PARKER
"I think that Henry Street should be developed, but I think it should be developed by the black citizens of this valley. That's their little community over there and I'm sure there are well-trained construction workers that can very well do that building. I don't understand why every time that Roanoke City or Roanoke County needs anything done we always have to go to outside sources that's not even in our town, to pay them money when we've got very capable, talented people here - brick masons, architects. Let the black people build that community. It belongs to them."
RESPONSE:
What about minority ownership?
"As the proposed Land Use Plan states, one of the most important facets of the Henry Street revitalization effort is the degree to which it will affect all members of the community. It is more than just an improvement of the two existing historic buildings and construction of the new facilities. It is the human and financial investments which will be made here. The Henry Street District development and its management will encourage minority participation by opening doors that might have been previously closed."
- Neva Smith, executive director, Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority
"It is important to note that the Land Use Plan is merely a framework on which to build. The residents of the Gainsboro area, as well as those families who have grown up, worked, played or run businesses in the district, have a great opportunity to play a major role in creating the character and spirit of the district, as well as to own and operate small businesses within the district.
- Don Harwood, Henry Street project manager, Hill Studio
Where HENRY STREET stands today
WHAT'S PROPOSED: Construction on Henry Street of new central offices for the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority, a radio station, an ampitheater and other buildings to house a tourist attraction of 11 music clubs, restaurants and retail stores.
WHO PROPOSED IT: The Henry Street Revival Committee, headed by former Mayor Noel Taylor, and the board of commissioners of the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority with support from authority consultants at Roanoke's Hill Studio.
THE COST: $18.5 million - $13.5 million that might be raised from private sources and nearly $5 million from the city to upgrade the First Street Bridge, utilities, paving, sidewalks, lighting and parking; to stabilize the Ebony Club; and to construct a jazz memorial. Authority board Chairman Willis "Wick" Anderson says that no money would be requested from the city until private investment is certain.
WHAT'S HAPPENED SO FAR: The authority delayed taking the proposal to Roanoke City Council after black Roanokers complained that they were left out of preliminary planning, that city government quietly bought most of the Henry Street land over the last 10 years and that the Gainsboro area needs community centers and stores more than a tourist attraction.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: Last week, the housing authority was reviewing the public comments it has received about the Henry Street proposal. The authority board has requested a meeting with the Henry Street Revival Committee to decide what happens next. Both the authority and the committee have approved the Land Use Plan. It eventually must be approved by City Council.
WANT TO GET INVOLVED?
Call Devona Springer at the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority, 983-9203.
LENGTH: Long : 340 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. 1. Dozens of Henry Street buildingsby CNBhad dwindled to just a few by the early 1980s. 2. Just across the
First Street bridge from downtown, the street would be rebuilt
around the former Dumas Hotel, now the TAP Music Center, and the old
Lincoln Theater, which became the Ebony Club. 3. These abandoned
buildings would be replaced with larger ones. 4. Earthmovers are on
Henry Street now - but for construction of the new Second
Street/Gainsboro Road. 5. This plaque adorns the former Dumas Hotel,
the only building in use on the street today. color. Graphic: Chart
by staff. color. Map. color.