3 minute read
There’s Something Happening Here
Support the Arts
Before the then-executive director for the Roanoke Regional Partnership, Beth Doughty, issued a challenge before local government boards, maybe 10 years ago (?), telling them we were not taking full advantage of promoting the outdoor amenities (many locals don’t even know how to get to the Appalachian Trail she noted), arts and culture was something Roanoke City specifically was hanging its hat on it seems. Professional and community theater, Center in the Square, Roanoke Symphony Orchestra, Opera Roanoke, several ballet companies, the art galleries etc. Then the Taubman Museum became a community arts focal point, now more than ever. Remember the museum building is a piece of art itself, like it or not.
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The arts were also touted as an economic development driver and a quality-of-life issue that can draw new residents and companies here. Then the greenway really started taking shape, more people started getting outside, the Blue Ridge Marathon took root. We also became an East Coast Mountain Biking center. And now we have an Ironman.
And that’s all good. But continue to support the arts. Who doesn’t like Mozart or Beethoven? Go listen to the RSO. I saw three plays recently, a musical She Loves Me at Showtimers, The Cake at Mill Mountain (based on the same-sex couple and a baker who refused to make them a wedding cake) and Virginia Children’s Theatre’s tough take on teen suicide, Apologies. All were very well done. Hundreds or more showed up at the Taubman for Roanoke Arts Pop! which they hope to turn into an annual festival. There’s all sorts of live music venues big and small.
It was a bit odd to see the Russian Ballet Theatre perform Swan Lake – the music written by Tchaikovsky, the great Russian composer, the day after that country’s President invaded Ukraine, but the sign they projected on a screen before the curtain came up said “We Dance for Peace,” and it was an experience. Support local arts and cultural venues, go check out the Zoo (the Zoo Choo coming back this spring by the way.) The Roanoke Cultural Endowment is raising $20 million before it starts issuing grants to local arts organizations. Support the arts.
THERE’S SOMETHING HAPPENING HERE
Submitted
By Gene Marrano
Executive Summary:
Supporting arts and culture is good business – and there are plenty of options locally.
Field / On Tap
from Page 36
bid to secure the contract, every provider—from the smallest HVAC crew to the largest deconstruction/construction builder to the architects and engineers to the sub trades and specialty agents (IT, solar panels, etc.)—was keenly aware of an exceptional benefit when you’re in the marginalized labor and materials market: Projects at the VA are guaranteed to last a L-O-N-G, L-O-N-G, L-O-N-G time.
We have reported on numerous multi-million dollar complete facilities that were originated, financed by capital campaigns, designed, constructed, built, and put into operation in less time than a plumbing repair at the VA.
An exaggeration? Not at all. You can look it up; or you can just answer one question:
Why is the Salem VA STILL in a state of disrepair?
Exactly. In essence, the Salem VA is under a perpetual contract with multiple entities who aren’t just maintaining or developing anything new. They’re fixing the old place.
While other campuses that could be in the same shape—aren’t.
Are we ready now? Ready to point the finger at whom is to blame? Is it the ineptitude of the people managing the campus, the mismanagement of the Veterans Administration, the regulatory environment or exploitive contractors?
Or is it deeper than that? Yes.
It’s systemic.
The Salem VA is a perfect microcosm of our national infrastructure crisis. You know the one; the one the current president keeps saying we’ve got to fix.
The irony is, the exact same entities we see building and maintaining successful private sector projects are the ones you see at the Veterans Administration facilities across our land. They’re the same ones you see paving interstates and fixing bridges. It’s not government employees and equipment doing the work.
Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced a New Deal to improve our lot. His public work projects were essentially a financial restructuring that some attribute to getting us out of the Great Depression, while others point to the tripled federal taxes and catalyst for our national debt.
We’ll see what happens to our Salem VA. The only solution though, will be a systemic one. Because the system we have now—is not working.
