Roanoke: The Next Great Thing?

Enthusiasm for growth in the Valley is squishing out like Play-Doh between your fingers when you squeeze it in your hand.

Think about the recent big news stories:  A plan for revitalized parks in Roanoke; An Office Park and Recreation Center for Roanoke County; Greenways projects (video); a debate not over “if” we will have an amphitheater, but “where.”  There are also river projects; Mill Mountain Zoo improvements; a debate over a lodge and restaurant on Mill Mountain; the Art Museum of Western Virginia; and improvements to Center in the Square.

Everything is being evaluated for expansion or improvement.  And I can’t seem to get from the parking lot to my desk without hearing about it.

Tiki Barber, arguably the hottest property on the planet of late, in town last week told me in an interview that Roanoke needs a kick in the pants.

Carlin: “Has Roanoke been too slow to progress?”
Tiki: “… It has its charm.  There’s a balance there and you have to find it … the young people in the Valley, the young professionals (need to) make things progress a little bit faster…”

Consider the Forum for the Future, last week’s first ever local event that was one part networking and three parts Valley “visioning” process. (And the reason Tiki Barber was here.)  Emerging leaders who call themselves Valley Forward put on the show and produced a commendable turnout.

Young professionals brainstormed at 35 tables with designated topics ranging from The Commonwealth Games, to Diversity and Tolerance to the Roanoke River.  This, as they tipped back cold beer and ate heavy hors d’oeuvres with toothpicks.

It was decidedly un-Roanoke—at least the Roanoke of the past 10 years, which has been stricken with paralysis.

Between round table sessions, panels of experts addressed enthused and engaged crowds.  Among the subjects was Design ‘79 – If you will the last great thing for Roanoke.  The movement gave us Center in the Square, and a downtown market full of niche shops and cafes and (mostly) void of drunks, drugs and prostitutes.

Design 79 came from a vision from our last generation of Valley leaders.  It’s a good model for moving forward.  Our young leaders would do well to emulate the successes of that project.

All of this crystallized in my brain as Center in the Square Executive Director Jim Sears made a presentation to the Downtown Rotary Club.  He showed us a photo of the Center building in the early 80’s prior to renovation.  Then he showed a current picture, followed by an architect’s rendering of the next morph of the building.

Center, he explained, is to the market area as Macy’s is to the mall.  It may be a building that houses the arts, but it’s an anchor.  It attracts enough people to support itself and small shops around it.  There were numerous other similarities that make a wonderful study in marketing – but suffice to say, he made his point.  As goes Center in the Square, so goes the market.

Sears says Center can be much more successful.  Though beautiful, the public often views it as uninviting.  “We watch people walk in, take a few steps, turn around and walk out everyday,” he told the Rotarians.

Sears says the next version of Center in the Square would, “Bring the inside out,” meaning people would have a much better idea of the treasures within just by viewing the outside of the building.  He also plans to place heavier emphasis on the Science Museum which attracts the majority of visitors.

The devil’s always in the details, but the concepts seem to make sense.  (By the way – Wiener Stand fans don’t worry – it won’t be moving more than 30 feet, if at all.)

Sears says project leaders are meeting weekly on plans for the building, but explained that changes at Center in the Square are tied to the Art Museum of Western Virginia’s completion since the current museum is located within the Center.

“Changes depend on the schedule of the Art Museum,” he said. “If they move to their new building in October 2008, we could begin then.  However, I am asking the architects if they can develop a schedule allowing us to begin renovation on the Church Avenue side of the building sooner—-perhaps as early as summer 2008.”

Whenever it happens, like many of the other questions facing Roanoke it’s a matter of “when” not “if.” 

That in itself is progress.  If you’re walking around downtown soon, don’t step in the Play-doh.