ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 15, 1996 TAG: 9606170062
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: NARROWS
SOURCE: CLAYTON BRADDOCK STAFF WRITER
A $700,000 state grant was awarded to the town of Narrows to promote a downtown revitalization project, Mayor Donald Richardson announced Friday.
With additional support from other sources, the grant could reach a total of $1.26 million, the mayor said.
The grant, awarded as a "letter of intent," eventually will be matched with an additional $560,000 funds and services.
In addition to renovation and commercial growth, the town has a special need for this project: too few motorists are familiar with its location, perched beside the New River.
Narrows was among 30 other towns and counties in Virginia that received awards from a field of 70 applicants.
Hundreds of potential shoppers drive by downtown Narrows on their way to Princeton, W.Va., to the north and Blacksburg and Christiansburg to the south, without seeing the downtown.
Motorists not familiar with the town could only see it by turning at the last traffic light on U.S. 460, turning north at a bridge and following signs to the downtown area.
Downtown, while often described as charming, began a steady decline in the 1970s after the shift of traffic from Virginia 100 to U.S. 460.
Town leaders see changes on the way.
Narrows will use the grant in the first part of the redevelopment effort for "a number of ambitious undertakings to stimulate commercial growth," Richardson said.
Among the changes proposed, the mayor said, are:
* Acquisition of a proposed parking lot to serve 50 vehicles.
* Acquisition of a 13,000-square-foot former automobile dealership on Main Street to be converted to a "small business incubator," which Richardson said " would help new or emerging businesses."
* Renovation of a one-block section of Main Street dressed with 1950s vintage lamps.
* Wider landscaping of sidewalks and benches.
* Burying overhead power lines.
* Providing assistance for parking facilities to two existing commercial businesses.
* Renovation of sagging business exteriors.
* Restoration of the downtown section of Wolf Creek's shoreline.
LENGTH: Short : 50 linesby CNB