ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, July 2, 1996 TAG: 9607020070
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN CASEY STAFF WRITER
ROANOKE'S CITY COUNCIL voted 7-0 to have the Capital Improvements Program consider funding a feasibility study.
Sixty-seven years after the last one was closed, City Council is considering bringing back what was once Roanoke's most popular tourist attraction: the Mill Mountain incline.
By a vote of 7-0, council on Monday referred to the Capital Improvements Program the question of funding a $90,000 feasibility study that would estimate costs, environmental impact and other factors in building a way to get from downtown to Mill Mountain without using any local roads.
Monday's action doesn't mean a new incline or a tram set-up is a done deal, or even that the feasibility study would be performed. In fact, some council members believe the city faces far greater needs in the years to come.
But the vote does place the item into the Capital Improvements Program, among a grab bag of desired public works projects that city administrators and council members rank in importance from time to time.
"It is a priority, within the context that there are other priorities - the railwalk, the transportation museum and Henry Street," said Mayor David Bowers, who called for re-establishing the incline in his 1995 State of the City speech. "I certainly do think we should complete those projects before we move on to other items."
Not everyone on council is willing to put a new incline high on the future projects wish list. After the first meeting of his four-year term, new Councilman Carroll Swain said curbs, gutters and schools are far more important.
"My first priority would be to analyze sewage and drainage problems in the city because that's health," Swain said. "You've also got to consider the greenway project proposed [for downtown to the mountain]. The citizens have got a pretty decent proposal there."
Vice-Mayor Linda Wyatt called the possible $90,000 study "hiring a consultant to see if we need to hire a consultant."
The old incline was a two-car cable system that ran straight up the mountain behind where Roanoke Memorial Hospital now stands.
What any replacement for it might be is still an open question.
One possibility is simply an incline like the one here that closed in 1929. It is similar to two that operate in Pittsburgh now.
Another is a combination tram and incline system. The tram would take passengers from downtown to the foot of the mountain, where they could transfer to an incline and ride it up the mountain.
A third possibility is a straight tram from downtown to the mountaintop.
Hill Studio, a local architectural and land use planning company, says the feasibility study would cost about $90,000 and would be divided into three parts.
The first phase, at roughly $15,000, would consider whether the project's cost makes it marginal, possible, or out of the question. The second phase, costing roughly $55,000, would figure out whether folks would use it and include conceptual designs. The third phase, at $20,000, would include an environmental assessment and financing alternatives.
Talk of re-establishing some form of incline or tram up the mountain has resurfaced every now and then since the old one was closed. But it seems to have picked up in recent years.
Barbara Duerk proposed it during her unsuccessful run for City Council in 1994.
The idea also resurfaced during a series of focus groups in 1994 by the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce to discuss the Roanoke Valley's needs. The chamber recommended developing Mill Mountain by moving the Mill Mountain Zoo to Explore Park and replacing it with a restaurant served by a tram.
Bowers in his State of the City address one year ago, said "the time is right" to begin talking about a tram or incline, even if it would take years to develop.
In other action, council:
* Passed a resolution naming Councilwoman Linda Wyatt vice mayor of the city. Wyatt drew more votes in May's City Council election than any other candidate seeking a four-year term.
* Passed resolutions welcoming three new council members who were also elected in May: Jim Trout and Carroll Swain, who were each elected to four-year terms; and Rev. Nelson Harris, who was elected to a two-year term in a special election to fill a vacancy created by the resignation in December of Councilman John Edwards, who was elected to the state Senate.
* Decided it will fill a vacancy created by Harris' resignation from the school board on Aug. 19. The deadline for applications from prospective school board candidates will be July 19. Council will hold a public hearing on the appointment Aug. 5 at 2 p.m.
* Approved, 7-0, the appropriation of $28,166 for an additional fraud investigator for the city Department of Social Services. The state will pick up all the costs of the new position.
LENGTH: Medium: 89 linesby CNB