ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, February 15, 1997 TAG: 9702170107
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
A new study by Pittsburgh consultants suggests improvements for downtown, based on interviews with Roanokers.
Downtown Roanoke needs the headquarters of an outdoor-related company, dozens of new housing units and redesign of major thoroughfares leading into downtown, according to a new study.
The recommendations come from "Outlook Roanoke," a study by Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh. The consultants visited Roanoke last spring and based their report partly on interviews with local officials and residents. The study is still in draft form and does not yet set priorities for projects.
"Now is the time to speak up" about potential changes, said Matt Kennell, executive director of Downtown Roanoke Inc., a private group that represents merchants, property owners and others interested in the central business district. Copies of the report are available at his office in the Crestar Bank Building.
The consultants said office and retail expansion downtown is best served by expanding the regional economic development strategy. Roanoke's strengths compared with other cities are its access to outdoor recreation, its compact and historic downtown and its short commuting times.
The region's marketing campaign should link downtown Roanoke with the outdoor, quality-of-life message, the consultants said. That means attracting businesses with "some relation to outdoor recreation and environmental quality." The study cites the Orvis Co., a Manchester, Vt.-based retailer of sporting goods and apparel. Orvis, which is privately owned, operates a warehouse and distribution center for its mail order business in Roanoke and has two downtown stores.
One approach, the report said, is to raise the capital to buy controlling interest in such a company - but one that is public, stockholder-owned - and move it to the region. "The effort is focused, and the results are cost-effective," the report said.
An alternative is for private economic developers to form a venture capital firm that would supply funds to target companies willing to move here or to expanding local companies.
Also, the consultants suggested putting more emphasis on creating apartments above retail stores downtown. They said the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority, churches and other nonprofit groups should develop housing complexes.
The consultants proposed a 24-unit building on what is now a parking lot on the northwest corner of Church Avenue and Williamson Road. Eight other apartments would be built above retail stores on the market.
Another would be Salem Mews, with 10 to 20 dwellings to be constructed on the south side of Salem Avenue across from a proposed renovated Warehouse Row. The consultants also endorsed plans for apartments in the recently sold State and City Building, whose new owners plan renovations. The consultants also proposed converting Crystal Tower office building into living space.
Housing would also be constructed at Franklin Road and Elm Avenue, along with a new city park. The consultants suggested 36 condominium flats or up to 72 units for seniors. But first, the consultants warned, the city must take steps to remove the "stigma" of this section as a high-crime area.
The final residential center would be created along the newly realigned Second Street in Gainsboro and would consist of houses with back yards and service alleys consistent with the neighborhood's architectural style.
The former Norfolk and Western Railway General Office Building South on Jefferson Street would be converted into 30 to 50 housing units for the elderly. The bottom floors of the building would be used for offices.
The report expanded on existing proposals for a Rail District along Shenandoah and Norfolk avenues between Williamson Road and Fifth Street, taking in the Transportation Museum. This would cover plans for a park, development of Warehouse Row into shops and apartments and use of the former Norfolk and Western Railway General Office Building North for a higher education center.
For these proposals to succeed, the consultants said, Roanoke must improve the area. The consultants suggested an interpretive walk and exhibits about the city's rail history, new light fixtures and landscaping. The old railroad passenger station would become a visitor center.
The consultants said any visitor coming into downtown along Williamson Road from the north must go past the market if he misses the hard-to-see right turn at Salem Avenue. The streets approaching downtown appear "frayed," they added.
The consultants would landscape Second Street and Williamson Road into urban streets, improve the walkway to the civic center, restore two-way traffic to Salem and Campbell avenues, and improve access to downtown from the Blue Ridge Parkway and Interstate 81.
The report suggested narrowing and landscaping the five main entrances to downtown: Williamson Road, Jefferson Street, Second Street, Campbell Avenue and Franklin Road.
Williamson Road, for instance, would have narrower walkways, plantings, two lanes of travel and on-street parking. Jefferson would be completely refurbished with asphalt-block paving (similar to Monument Avenue in Richmond) and narrowed to create planting areas.
The consultants suggested designating downtown neighborhoods, each with distinctive signs. They proposed six: the Market, Rail District, Financial District, Courthouse District, Warehouse District and Uptown.
LENGTH: Long : 103 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Stephanie Klein-Davis. Roanoke's Warehouse Row sitsby CNBalong the railroad tracks off Salem Avenue downtown. color. Graphic.
The illustration below shows the consultants' proposal to develop
shops and apartments along Warehouse Row. Chart: The Downtown
outlook. KEYWORDS: MGR