Spotlight FRONT’n About

New transit center planned seeks design feedback >

With the current Valley Metro bus transfer center at Campbell Court is reaching the end of its days, Greater Roanoke Transit Company is moving ahead with plans to build a 10-milliondollar up-to-date facility just down the road on Salem Avenue. It’s part of an effort to provide a better mass transit experience says Kevin Price, the general manager at Valley Metro/Greater Roanoke Transit. The city is now looking for local feedback; there has been opposition from residents and businesses in the Salem Avenue

neighborhood of downtown Roanoke’s West End, some of whom believe the transit station will negatively impact the community.

“With our design we want to make it welcoming; we want to make it smart – and something that someone could say and say, wow, Roanoke Virginia is really moving forward,” notes Price. Residents and local businesses can view the proposed design on the City of Roanoke website, and leave comments there as well. One in-person “open house” type of event was held last month and more are likely. The project still requires an historic review and approval by Roanoke’s Board of Zoning Appeals. Valley Metro is seeking additional grant funding to lower the local cost burden.

Making the most from a difficult situation >

The coronavirus pandemic put an end temporarily to the classes held on site at The Making Foundation, which was profiled in Valley Business FRONT last year. Aaron Ray-Dykstra and his staff preach another type of education – the time-honored living some can make with their hands as welders, woodworkers, screen printers, cabinet makers and the like. “Empowering through making” is how Dykstra, the founder and executive director of The Making Foundation terms what the small non-profit does. Now the staff has found a new way to keep in touch with students.

”We as educators were certainly dead in our tracks in terms of what we could offer,” says Dykstra, who was able to keep his

staff on the payroll thanks to the CARES Act. But in March the students (mostly from Making Foundation programs with Roanoke City Schools) stopped coming due to pandemic safety precautions. So, he and his staff started posting how-to videos on the Foundation’s Facebook page, with the materials suggested for those that could be find without leaving the house during the Stay at Home period. Three new “Make the Most” videos were posted every week. Dykstra says the business shutdown and the loss of jobs – those without “essential” skills were often among the first to be furloughed – again highlight why learning a trade is another sound education alternative. “We are certainly going to have to better equip our youth to survive and thrive in this new landscape.” Dykstra was still planning to hold in-person summer camps at his Patterson Avenue Maker Mart storefront at last word.