ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, April 11, 1996 TAG: 9604110009
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY CAMPAGNA-HAMLIN
ANYONE WHO reads The Roanoke Times has read a slew of editorials lately about Henry Street, most expressing a desire to see the Roanoke Development and Housing Authority implement Hill Studio's proposed land-use plan for Henry Street.
The successful Beale Street in Memphis, Tenn., was developed by John Elkington's entertainment group in the early '80s, a plan replete with adequately high quotas for the hiring of minorities.
That's why you won't see Elkington doing much more than developing clever ideas that power brokers can flaunt around Roanoke. No ``Bealesque'' action on Henry Street, folks. Accepting minority quotas for urban planning in Roanoke is simply too vanguard an idea for a town with a track record like the Star City's.
Most of the power brokers and monied elite (including some of both Caucasian and African-American races) keep telling us not to look at the track record, discharging that dark era of Roanoke's history to the unfortunate ``wasteland'' created by urban renewal.
What's so painful to confess is that Roanoke's historical pattern of government has been, and continues to be, citizen-exclusive, power-elite driven, and manipulative of federal and state money to the point of regularly denying citizens' rights.
Federal urban-renewal programs just made it easier to manipulate vast sums of money. When Richard Nixon's ``new federalism'' was implemented in the '70s, provisions could be dispersed in block grants, to be supervised by city managers.
Perhaps the emergence of the block-grant system was one reason why Gainsboro missed about $40 million in federal funds supposedly earmarked for that particular part of town between 1968 and 1995. Why, no doubt, we don't see evidence of that $40 million down on ``The Yard'' today.
But we do see that the Coca-Cola bottling plant is no longer owned by Wometco, and that dozens of the community's minority residents are no longer working there, despite the Housing and Urban Development monies linked to job promises for the economically depressed community.
Roanokers ought to know by now that the ``new'' Henry Street plans aren't new at all. They're part of the plans made by city officials years ago to funnel both federal and state funds into the visions of an elite group of decision-makers that planned the Wells Avenue and Second Street changes, the hotel (need I say, I'm not speaking of the Comfort Inn?) and conference center, and a new Henry Street commercial district as part and parcel of the same package.
Funny thing is, in the planning stages, they thought it was a done deal. ``It's a deal!'' the big ol' boys exclaimed before clinching hands.
But that was before the people said no.
Mary Campagna-Hamlin of Elliston is author of a book titled ``Gainsboro: The Destruction of a Historic Community.''
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