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The Roanoke Star-Sentinel
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Community | News | Per spective
May 28 - June 3, 2010
NewsRoanoke.com
Proposed Meeting Room Ban Quickly Derailed
[Roanoke City]
A Measure of Progress? Mike Keeler
The Wrong Reasons
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P7– Mike Keeler points out “the unholy power of popculture” in his column on the reason behind the most popular baby names.
Two large trackhoes break up the remains of the National Guard Armory that served Roanoke for over 55 years. Much like the stadium which it once stood beside, the concrete and brick structure did not give up without a significant fight, lending credence to the old saying, “They don’t build ‘em like they used to.”
end your vacation at the lake!
The sign reads, “A Measure of Progress.” Well, ultimately perhaps, but certainly not in the short term. Demolition crews struggled to bring down the National Guard Armory building located on Reserve Avenue in Roanoke and now all that remains in place where the old armory / stadium complex used h. Boat. hike. Dine. shop. Relax. enjoy! to be are two “very rough” athletic fields and a pile of rubble. P4&5– Shoreline Miles Memorial Day is Once the final debris is removed there are no present plans Special here Events. . . Are you ready for Historic Attractions for the land other than “using the city’s Master Plan to come up some Summer Fun? Check Golf Courses with a good use.” Proposals for the old stadium / armory site ational out Monuments our “Sum-Fun” section have included everything from a water park complete with a pages 4-5. A FrEE on ViSitor GuidE man made “kayak river” - to specialty shops - to an amphithe800.676.8203 or go to visitsmithmountainlake.com ater heavily supported by Councilman Dave Trinkle. Trinkle recently commented that if he had known how difficult it was going to be to get support and a commitment for an amphitheater at the location, he might have voted differently on the Victory Stadium issue. The fate of the stadium and ultimately the armory seem to be right in line with an unfortunate tendency by Roanoke officials
Summer Fun!
Happy’s is Hoppin’ P12– The Roanoke institution that is Happy’s Flea Market thrives in both good times and bad.
P13– After 300 performances over 60 years, Showtimers continues to offer up a variety of popular theatre.
to allow high value city assets to sink into disrepair through continued neglect while resources are spent on what many citizens charge are low priority items. On the list of neglected properties in addition to the now demolished stadium and armory are the City Market Building, the Fishburn Mansion, the Commonwealth Building, Fire Station Number 1, The Buena Vista Recreation Center and the soon to be razed Parks and Recreation building among others. Regardless of what the present council might desire to do, the city faces a significant budget shortfall going forward and there is no money available to improve what, for all practical purposes, has become a vacant lot. Which begs the question: Why did the City force the National Guard to vacate the building to begin with? When asked for his thoughts on what has become of the site, former Councilman Brian Wishneff remarked, “I don’t want to say I told you so, but I believe certain chickens are coming home to roost . . .”
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> CONTINUED P2: Meeting Room
Countryside Alliance Blue Ridge Marathon Continues Mourns Golf Course Positive Impact on Roanoke Valley
With the golf course slowly turning to seed – literally – and the greens eroding away, the fifth annual Countryside Alliance picnic, held last weekend during May Neighborhood Month, could have been a wistful affair. Instead, members of the Alliance, who first banded together in an attempt to save Countryside Golf Course, chose a bit of irreverence by wearing black ribbons on their Thomas Ryder yellow “Save Countryside Golf Course” and Anita Price. tee shirts. They also blacked out the word “Save” on a banner hung out near the 11th fairway. Ken Saunders, who attracted some attention when he chose to mow the grass on the 11th fairway near his house, was all smiles as he cooked hot dogs on his 70th birthday. At one point he even delivered a plate of food to a man chipping and putting on what was left of the once manicured green – now mostly brown as the soil takes over. “It’s so close to the house, I didn’t Land Use want it growing [too tall],” said Saunders, concerned that Countryside could end up with low-income section 8 housing on it. “We’re all worried …that’s the way we feel.” Noting how Roanoke City now has a dog park which just reopened after having sod replaced, Saunders said the city government “thinks more about dogs than they do about people on this side of town [in Northwest]. They could care less about us.” Saunders was a charter member of Countryside in 1967; his son Kenny Jr. runs a golf course in Cancun, Mexico after overseeing several
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The Show Goes On
As currently proposed, the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors meeting room would be used for “government purp o s e s County Govt. only.” That leaves the Roanoke County Republican and Democratic Committees out in the cold. At Tuesday’s 3:00 p.m. board meeting the county attorney, Paul Mahoney, prepared a policy that would limit use of the board’s meeting room to board meetings, county departments, agencies, committees, commissions, training sessions, and State and Federal government. B oard Ed Elswick members had discussed the policy change in a May 11 work session. Gone were uses requiring a $50 fee - no more political, cultural, religious, civic and education gatherings. “A mass meeting held by the county’s Republican Committee on April 15 brought more participants than expected,” explained Mike Bailey. Bailey was challenged by Al Bedrosian for party chair. Bailey was re-
> CONTINUED P2: Countryside
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The inaugural National College Blue Ridge Marathon, held last month, generated a lot of excitement, attention, and funds that positively impacted the Roanoke Valley. Things just seemed to come together in ways that even organizers did not necessarily expect when they were in the planning stages. The hope was that the event, highlighting the 75th Anniversary of the Blue Ridge Parkway, would let people outside Roanoke know more about the area as they traversed the rigorous course which took participants up on the Parkway and back into downtown Roanoke, winding up near the impossible-tomiss landmark, the Taubman museum. The idea of “connecting the dots” of many of Roanoke’s important and beautiful landmarks, while simultaneously designing one of the more difficult marathons in the country turned out to be a success on many levels. And, this past Tuesday, true to the commu-
Photo by Cheryl Hodges
Blue Ridge Marathon Co-Chairs John Carlin (left) and Pete Eshelman (right) hold up a $20,000 check with the help of Phil Francis, Superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway. nity spirit generated by the coAccepting the check was operative effort, organizers of FRIENDS Executive Directhe Blue Ridge Marathon pre- tor Susan J. Mills, Ph.D, who sented “FRIENDS said “100 percent of the Blue Ridge of this donation Marathon Parkway” a check will be used to for $20,000 which provide funding will be used to “further its mis- for events along the Blue Ridge sion to preserve, promote and Parkway and FRIENDS Save enhance the scenic highway” which is considered to be one of > CONTINUED the biggest draws in this area. P2: Blue Ridge
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