In six months Roanoke's new $66 million Taubman Museum for Art will open. Thousands of tourists will pour into the downtown streets many getting their first look at the Star City.
Of the museum, City Council candidate Anita Price says, “It's one of those things that catches your eye and you say, ‘Wow, what is that?’ Hopefully we can capitalize on that.”
But are we ready to do that? Four of the six city council candidates and all four mayoral candidates tried to answer that question at a candidate forum Thursday afternoon. It was sponsored by the Roanoke Valley Hospitality Association, so naturally tourism was a major component of the entire discussion.
There were a lot of ideas that were all over the map, from the bold like tackling the Market Building.
“I think we need to slowly rehab because that's an icon here,” said independent mayoral candidate Anita Powell.
Democrat Court Rosen, who is running for one of three open seats on city council said, “We have got to make it the gem that it once was and an attraction to people.”
Others had plans that were less ambitious like Dale Anthony Edmonston, an independent for council, who said, “Certainly there's some beautification that can be done on the market area.”
David Bowers, a former mayor and independent candidate for this job this year, said council needs to focus on more parking and maintaining many of our current amenities.
“The charm of the City Market is having those craftspeople, having those farmers, having those small business people,” he said.
Some say we need more business like independent mayoral candidate George Sgouros, who ran for the same office unsuccessfully four years ago.
“You go a block away from the Market and you have vacant storefronts,” he said. “That's not an attractive thing.”
Current Mayor Nelson Harris, a Democrat, added that we need more businesses and boutique hotels in downtown.
“Particularly with the closing of the Patrick Henry Hotel, there really is a deficiency as far as hotel rooms go,” he said.
All of the candidates had good ideas, but remember the museum opens in six months and they're still talking ideas. Are we doing enough? It depends on who you ask.
“We are doing the right things let's just continue doing them,” Rosen said.
But Bowers had a very different response to the same question. “No, we’re not.”
The museum is 85% done. The clock is ticking.
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