ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, August 12, 1996 TAG: 9608120113
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-5 EDITION: METRO
TYPE: READERS' FORUM
First, bring back the Rockledge Inn
THERE AREN'T more than a handful of cities in the United States that have the advantage of a true mountain in their boundaries, much less a mountain providing an exquisite overlook of their downtowns.
We invoked well our healthy sense of heritage, history and hospitality when we gathered together to restore Hotel Roanoke. The same civic spirit needs to be called upon again - this time to restore Mill Mountain to its glory days.
Bring back the Rockledge Inn that once overlooked the city. And once we've rebuilt a high-quality, small resort hotel atop the mountain, then we need to bring back the equally romantic access - the incline railway.
J. RICHARD WELLS
ROANOKE
Whatever else, keep it green
IN ADDITION to the zoo and the attractive wildflower garden, Mill Mountain will soon be the location of one of the first trails in the Roanoke Valley greenway system. During public workshops held last summer to obtain citizen input for a greenways study, Mill Mountain was identified as a favorite destination for a greenways trail. Funding for the trail was approved in June 1996 by the Commonwealth Transportation Board. And when completed, Roanoke Valley residents and tourists will be able to hike or bike from the City Market to the top of Mill Mountain via scenic Prospect Road.
Mill Mountain serves as a major scenic and historic resource for the Roanoke Valley. Its natural beauty should be safeguarded for future generations. Further development should be carefully considered with preservation of the mountain's natural state given top priority.
LUCY R. ELLETT
Chair, Roanoke Valley Greenways Steering Committee
ROANOKE
A summer home for the symphony
I'D LIKE to see the mountain developed further while maintaining its historical ties (the now-gone theater, the star and overlook, the park and the zoo), as well as its environmental and natural beauty. I'd like to see less paving, but more parking. I support the already-proposed parking garage modeled after the old theater by Hill Studio.
The Mill Mountain Zoo is one of our most vital tourist attractions and should be supported in its endeavor to expand and update its exhibits. One primary attraction of the zoo is its location on the mountain. By all means, the zoo should stay there.
A rustic restaurant, small gift/craft shop and outdoor terrace/amphitheater would draw more tourists into our city and provide more entertainment opportunities for our residents. An amphitheater could perhaps allow for appropriate outdoor entertainment, and even provide a summer home for the symphony.
DAVID TRINKLE
ROANOKE
As a park, it's for all to enjoy
DUE TO great good fortune and J.B. Fishburn's talent for composing a legal document, Mill Mountain still belongs to the people of Roanoke. A trip to the top on a sunny day will convince anyone that this is a place that welcomes everyone.
The view is free. First-come-first-served entitles anyone to a picnic table, and for a small fee, young and old can enjoy a zoo that's designed to blend with its surroundings. The choo-choo is fun, and adding an incline ride wouldn't disturb the lines of the mountain if it follows the old route and is used for enjoyment only.
Parking is a problem, but a plan is on the drawing board to add a parking garage that will fit into different levels of a small slope and is the same design as Rockledge Inn, the hotel that many of us still miss. The zoo will expand to the south-southeast into the saddle between Mill Mountain and the next mountain, leaving the rest of the area to the lovely wildflower garden that the Mill Mountain Garden Club has been generous to develop and maintain.
To be guided by the present plan for Mill Mountain is the wisest course. First and foremost, this is a city park and should be available to all.
SUE COLLINS
ROANOKE
Opportunity calls - so listen up
THE GREATEST natural asset in the Roanoke Valley is its Mill Mountain. Not many locations in the state have such an opportunity to transform a mountain into the biggest tourist attraction a valley and city could offer.
Mill Mountain should again have a funnicular railway, or better yet, a ski-lift-type suspended gondola lift (as in Gatlinburg, Tenn., but on a smaller scale). Such a lift would minimize impact on the environment (a few cable towers vs. tracks on the ground).
On top of the mountain should be a medium-price-range restaurant offering a view of the city and valley from an outside eating deck.
HEINZ W. HUBER
TROUTVILLE
God had the best development plan
LEAVE MILL Mountain alone. God made it and put it there. This lovely mountain lifted me up every time I looked out and saw it when I was in Community Hospital last summer.
Don't tear it down and make it over.
LUCY STANLEY
ROANOKE
Carousel rides and putt-putt golf?
INSTEAD of a cable-car (tram) ride, which would be expensive to build and maintain, give Mill Mountain a face lift!
Move the zoo to Explore Park. The old zoo area could become a family-activities park. Leave the infamous white fountain shop and choo-choo ride, and expand the existing amphitheater with a shelter for various age-level (local) talents and events. Consider a mall-like carousel, free-style race-car rides, a putt-putt golf course, etc.
Keep the gardens leading to the picnic area. Clear for more valley viewing toward the old entrance and southside of the Mill Mountain Star. Design walker, biker, roller-blading greenways throughout. Add trackless trolleys to tour up the old mountain winding entrance. Offer a mix of indoor-outdoor deli cafe and a New Orleans-style Cafe DuMonde with (soft, local) live entertainment.
DELILAH B. PUCKETT
TROUTVILLE
Railroad theme can be followed
THE FUTURE Mill Mountain Park should have a concessionaire-financed amusement complex replete with cable car, calliope and lodgement in railroad thematic motif.
ERNEST F. REYNOLDS
ROANOKE
The centerpiece could be the zoo
DRAWING together some of the many projects that have been suggested in the past, keeping in mind a tie-in with what the natural beauty of the mountain already holds, would be the direction to go.
The Mill Mountain Development Committee has heard many of these ideas in the past: Expand and improve the zoo; upgrade and improve the present park site; more focus and recognition of the award-winning Mill Mountain wildflower garden; and expand parking for the many visitors who are already coming to see the star, the view and what the park offers!
Also, the possibility of a family-style restaurant and the return of an incline could be a wonderful addition.
The Mill Mountain Zoo is in a position to be one of the main elements of a tourist draw that the region is working so hard to achieve. We already draw some 70,000 visitors annually, and sit on top of a landmark, which is one of our greatest assets. In addition, we have a wonderful master plan, with ties to our Sister City friends, just waiting for community attention.
Once completed, an improved Mill Mountain Zoo will easily draw up to 230,000 visitors. Please, Roanoke, look on your own mountaintop for what one of our greatest assets can be.
BETH POFF
Executive Director Mill Mountain Zoo
ROANOKE
Include a shop for arts, crafts
BUILD A three-story contemporary building (plenty of glass) overlooking the city. On the bottom floor, have a shop containing arts and crafts made by the people in the community. The second floor would house a nice restaurant, and the third floor would be for private parties, wedding receptions, etc.
ROSE ANN BURGESS
ROANOKE
J.B. Fishburn had the right idea
BEFORE WE start a wish list for the future of Mill Mountain Park, we need to go back to 1990. Our city paid $35,000 for a six-month study and report on the park. It included a survey of about 500 citizens on what they wanted the park to be. The consultants concluded that preserving the mountain's natural woodland canopy was very important for its future, and also to avoid the blasting of bedrock.
The report noted that the majority of citizens didn't consider Mill Mountain Park to be a ``revenue-generating opportunity.'' This caused five development proposals to be dropped: a national D-Day museum; phase-one expansion of the zoo; a restaurant; an incline; a gondola ride from the City Market to mountaintop.
My vision for the park is the same as J.B. Fishburn's: Preserve the park for our children and grandchildren from further development. Perhaps all the nature on our mountaintop could be labeled ``nothingness,'' but it's nice not to have to buy a ticket to see and feel it.
BETTY FIELD
ROANOKE
How about having a B&B?
HAVING moved away from Roanoke eight years ago, I was really surprised when I moved back that Mill Mountain hadn't changed at all.
What would be wrong with having a tourist attraction at the top of the mountain much like Niagara Falls does? What would be wrong with having a restaurant or two, with some breathtaking views of our valley and a bed-and-breakfast? What would be wrong with a nice campground with all the nice amenities that larger campgrounds could offer?
It would be nice to have something else to do except to drive all the way up there just to stand in front of the star.
FRANCES CROOM
ROANOKE
Don't sell out a natural habitat
I THINK Mill Mountain should be left as much as a natural habitat as possible. No mechanization or motorization is needed. Create hiking and biking trails, if anything, for the citizens and visitors of the city to enjoy.
How many cities the size of Roanoke can boast having a mountain, a potential bird and wildlife sanctuary, within its city limits?
CAROLYN PAYNE
VINTON
LENGTH: Long : 198 linesby CNB