ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, December 31, 1996 TAG: 9612310057
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAN L. FREI
THERE SEEMS to be a question of "Who's minding the store?" with regard to planning for the higher-education center proposed for the old Norfolk & Western's Office Building North across from the Hotel Roanoke. And, in fact, there will have to be two sets of plans - one for the higher-education center as an institution itself, and another for the companion real estate that would be a part of the grant from Norfolk Southern to the city of Roanoke. The grant would include Office Buildings North and South, the old passenger terminal and other miscellaneous parcels.
The city would have to absorb the costs of liability and maintenance for those buildings and assets, should a plan for their use be put forth and NS deed the assets to the municipality. This is quite an undertaking, and because the benefits of the higher-education center and the companion real estate would accrue regionally, regional input and burden sharing seem appropriate.
The functional operation of the higher-education center itself is not at issue. The issue is the companion real-estate assets that would be included along with the higher-education structure. The higher-education facility would no doubt be governed by some other separate authority responsible for its funding, membership, curricula and so forth.
Because the real estate would eventually become governmental assets, however, a governmental jurisdiction in planning and execution is essential to ensure accountability of public funds spent on the project. It would be difficult for Roanoke city to go it alone. Shared involvement by the city, Roanoke County and Salem governments would ensure that the project and connected development is a cooperative venture among the jurisdictions most likely to benefit directly from it. That way, the commonwealth would be more likely to assist in some aspect of funding, such as through the reward mechanisms of the Regional Competitiveness Act of 1996, in developing the companion real-estate parcels apart from the higher-education center itself.
Further, the higher-education center, and companion land and buildings, should not be approached in the same manner as was the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center project. The education center is less a commercial enterprise than an educational enterprise. Profitability should not be the motive here.
A special-projects coordinator funded by private individuals to make recommendations on the use of municipal or governmental assets may be well-intentioned, but accountability to the governmental jurisdiction(s) and the citizenry is an important issue. If we're going to spend taxpayer money anywhere, it makes good sense that a project of this importance would be a logical and appropriate one for public investment, and in this case, a shared public investment.
I encourage our local governments to create a five-member joint commission - two members from the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors, two from Roanoke City Council and one from Salem City Council - to oversee the planning and development of the companion real estate and assets, until at least the opening of the higher-education center.
The commission would oversee the infrastructure and real-estate components associated with or near the higher-education center, creating shared-funding mechanisms for their improvements. It would work in tandem with the governing body of the higher-education center itself to see to it that parking, water, waste management, curbing, exterior lighting and other urban amenities are in alignment with the highest and best use of the real estate, to accommodate the higher-education center and to fit in with other planning that may affect downtown Roanoke.
The commission would hire a project coordinator, and the jurisdictions would share in the costs of staff, planning and execution, and even in bonding, should that be the chosen method to pay for parking garages or institution of a master plan. It could be that ownership of the land and debt would eventually fall to the authority that oversees the higher-education center. But at least initially, planning and decisions concerning the use of the land and buildings now owned by Norfolk Southern would be in the hands of members of our local governments, and would be subject to input from the citizenry and interested organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce, arts organizations, the library boards and others.
With such a cooperative approach, the development of the land and structures companion to the higher-education center can be planned in a coordinated way under an accountable authority. The entire valley would be able to be part of this important project, a project that will have significant regional impact.
Dan L. Frei is owner of Dan Frei Communications in Roanoke.
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