ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 31, 1996 TAG: 9609030046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
A PROPOSAL FOR a touristy street of restaurants and clubs has been rejected by black Roanokers, who have called instead for a chance to buy back the properties.
Mayor David Bowers has become chairman of the controversial Henry Street Revival Committee and called on committee members to help him raise the level of trust between City Hall and the black residents of Roanoke.
The committee has struggled without success for a dozen years to redevelop Henry Street, the city's black commercial and entertainment district until family-owned properties were acquired and torn down by the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
Though the city can't replicate the Henry Street or Gainsboro neighborhood of old, Bowers said in a letter to committee members this week, something good should come of the project.
"The city should try to heal the wounds of resentment and distrust - wounds that may have been the last remnants of intolerable racial segregation in this Southern city," Bowers said.
A consultant's proposal for a tourist-driven Henry Street of restaurants and nightclubs - patterned after Memphis' Beale Street and placed under the control of a developer - has been hotly rejected by black Roanokers. They have called instead for a chance to buy back the properties and build businesses and social centers primarily for the neighborhood.
Former Mayor Noel Taylor, blaming medical problems, retired this summer from the committee he founded in 1984. Committee member Robert Manetta said Bowers offered last week to fill in as chairman. "We were very pleased that he wanted to do that," Manetta said.
"He's the mayor now. It's a mayor's committee," member Lawrence Hamlar said, explaining why Bowers is now chairman.
A public workshop on Henry Street will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 10 at the Roanoke Civic Center Exhibit Hall. A revised Henry Street plan, incorporating residents' suggestions from that and an earlier workshop, is tentatively set to be presented at a public meeting on Oct. 3.
Bowers recalled in his letter the pride he felt as a student at Patrick Henry High School in the late 1960s when the city broke ground for the civic center.
"Driving through Roanoke on I-581 must give visitors an impressive view of our All-America city as they view the [civic center] coliseum and auditorium, standing there on the edge of our vibrant downtown, with St. Andrews Church on the hill, the renovated Hotel Roanoke, our gleaming high-rise buildings, and the star. It is impressive!
"Little did I understand back in 1968, that what was viewed as progress by most of the community was viewed as destructive by much of the African-American community of our city." The city tore down hundreds of black homes to build the civic center, the interstate, a post office, motels and industries and reneged on promises to let families rebuild homes and businesses there.
"That resentment continues to this day," Bowers wrote. "My position has always been that the city has helped rehabilitate other blighted neighborhoods, schools and business districts such as Old Southwest, Downtown East and Jefferson Center. We should be involved in the rehabilitation of Henry Street and Gainsboro, also. But we must go forward only at the behest and with the approval of a majority of the community."
Some black Roanokers are skeptical about Bowers' motives. "I think he realizes that if he messes up in this, he won't get elected again," said Jeff Artis, an unsuccessful candidate in spring council elections.
"Mayor Bowers has always said that he wants to bridge the gap between the communities," said Artis. "Now we'll find out if he's for real or he's just another politician that likes to talk out of both sides of his mouth."
The Rev. Charles Green, president of the Roanoke Branch of the NAACP, said Bowers called him Thursday to tell him he had become committee chairman. "I think he's trying to shed his old image, like Bob Dole," said Green.
Green said he'll be watching to see how sincere Bowers and city administrators are about opening up Henry Street plans to the people.
"They've never had citizen participation," Green said. "They had a few old people they picked out who didn't know what they were doing, and they painted them a pretty picture. ... They've been doing that too long."
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