ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 1, 1996 TAG: 9604010087
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A4 EDITION: METRO
LET'S NOT let Henry Street die all over again.
Some black Roanokers old enough to remember the genuine article are outraged by the process and initial proposals for developing an entertainment center around the skeletal remains of the erstwhile black business district.
The process has been poor. People with a stake in the street's fate weren't granted enough opportunity early enough for genuine input - an error consistent, unfortunately, with the record of city officials' dealings with the black community over the decades.
Even so, it would be a shame if, in mute testimony to past sins, Henry Street were to remain a wasteland for yet another decade.
Painful as the venting of old grievances has been, the controversy offers an opportunity. Roanokers who can look at what is now a mostly lifeless First Street Northwest and see vividly the Henry Street of segregation days - alive with neighborhood businesses, and with entertainment that once featured such giants as Count Basie and Duke Ellington - have something to contribute to efforts to pump life back into the abandoned commercial strip.
The depth of feeling displayed at community meetings underscores the sense of ownership that some have in just the memory of Henry Street. That street is gone, a part of the past. Even its most ardent admirers don't expect it to be duplicated - nor should they. It was a product of Jim Crow.
A Henry Street for the future would recapture some of the sense of place, without the sense of separation. It would be alive with African-American culture, but would reflect the culture of the region as well. It would be welcoming to all - a visitor-attracting, quality-of-life and tourism asset for Western Virginia - without neglecting the interests of those still living in the nearby Gainsboro neighborhood.
For current and past Gainsboro residents to play a part in helping to create this atmosphere, the housing authority, which owns the land, and the Henry Street revitalization committee and other interested parties need to return to the drawing board. After all, architects' renderings at this point represent only a conceptual framework. Some of the stated wishes for neighborhood enhancement - a movie theater and ice cream shop, for example - would improve the project.
But everyone, including those grieving lost communities, also needs honestly to face certain facts. Such as: Most of the development must be built from scratch - we're not talking restoration here. Such as: For decades Henry Street has gone nowhere. It won't be revived by government fiat. Nor is it likely to be revived anytime soon by piecemeal addition of small retailers serving the immediate neighborhood.
Redevelopment needs to build on the success of the Hotel Roanoke, conference center and City Market area. To attract the millions of dollars of capital needed to get off the ground, it will need to attract large numbers of visitors, from across the region as well as off the parkway and interstate.
Investors would stand a better chance of success if a revived Henry Street had real character, drawn from its history and compatible with its neighborhood. But that is all the more reason why Roanoke needs to look ahead - and those who truly want re-vival need to sit down and work to-gether in good faith - if Henry Street is to have a future as well as a past.
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