Downtown revitalization on track for town of Blacksburg

It’s not hard to see how the town of Blacksburg has changed over the years.

“We have become a ten-year overnight success,“ said Leslie Hager-Smith, Blacksburg Vice-Mayor.

Smith is also on the downtown revitalization committee.

It’s a group working hard to make sure Blacksburg is on the right step towards growth and revitalization. “We have ten or twelve new businesses in town each month,“ said Smith. “People don’t cease to want to be here.“

Some new businesses to set up shop are Green’s Grill & Sushi Bar and Rita’s, the national italian ice chain.

Also in the heart of downtown is the Main Street Inn, which opened last November.

Another new feature downtown is the environmentally friendly Theatre 101.

“We have done everything from looking at extravagant, expensive examples from other communities to getting on the road and actually traveling to see other towns,“ said Smith.

She adds the primary focus of the downtown revitalization committee now is to create an incentives package to attract new businesses to the area. “Rebates on sewer and water fees. It will give them rebates on their business license taxes.“

Looking towards the future…Smith says “I think we will concentrate our recruitment efforts on specialty retail and also on arts related business…“