You Say You Want a Resolution

[Our Take]

from the News Editor

(with apologies to John Lennon) A week late, here’s a few resolutions and actions I’d like to see take place in 2009. Let’s start with a complete makeover of the City Market building, turning it in to a tourist attraction like public markets in Seattle, Philadelphia and elsewhere. (Remembering Tom Hanks at the Pike’s public market in Sleepless in Seattle, where they throw fish around? Been there myself; it’s a lot of fun.)

That means a City Market building that has longer hours and offers more variety, maybe some retail and Farmer’s Market vendors in the winter - like a plan offered by Downtown Roanoke Inc. The food court should be open in the evening and on weekends when there are spring/summer events at nearby Elmwood Park, and it is ideally situated to take advantage of traffic at the adjacent Taubman Museum of Art. Where the money comes from for all of this is another story.

Speaking of the Taubman, let’s hope for later hours on the weekend, like a closing time of 9 or 10pm on Fridays and/or Saturdays. Keep the café open also or set up an expresso bar in the lobby – would make for a great date night and downtown eateries should benefit once the Taubman did close for the night.

Let’s also hope that Center in the Square museums, the Taubman and the Virginia Museum of Transportation get together to offer pay one price discount tix, even on selected days, so that downtown visitors can take in all the cultural attractions with their families at an affordable price. (And why aren’t there signposts, brightly colored maps on billboards, etc. downtown pointing visitors to these museums?) Perhaps the new trolleys can be used on special weekends for these “museum crawls,” which could also include art gallery stops.

Planning for new public parking garages downtown and at the Roanoke Civic Center would be nice – one at the corner of Campbell and Williamson downtown and another somewhere near the coliseum/performing arts theatre complex, where there seems to be some open spaces for one, even if it is purchased from private property owners. Hello?! People don’t like shuttles from remote lots and in the (mostly) blue-collar Star City they don’t want to pay for parking in downtown Roanoke. Businesses that leave for the 'burbs often cite the perceived lack of parking as one reason they bail out.

Assuming that Roanoke City Council finds the tree where money grows on it, movement on the amphitheater issue would be nice – fix the Elmwood Park site for community concerts and festivals. Right now it’s almost impossible to sit comfortably in a chair there… feels like being on the deck of the Titanic, after it struck the iceberg. Speaking of ice, the kind under your feet, not floating in the North Atlantic – wouldn’t a new, dedicated ice skating rink be nice, perhaps equipped with 2500-3000 seats that could also accommodate a lower-level professional hockey league team? (Would be a nice addition downtown, or perhaps near Tanglewood Mall as a way to attract people to that underused property).

And approve a larger amphitheater for the old Victory Stadium property – something low tech, where flood water damage from the nearby Roanoke River wouldn’t be fatal; maybe 5000-7000 seats and room behind them on the grass for thousands more. Otherwise those fields could still be used for recreation leagues in a city badly in need of athletic venues. Aren’t you tired of traveling to Charlottesville, Raleigh or Virginia Beach to see major acts under the stars?

That’s it for now, I’m done spending other people’s money … personally, I hope to help turn out more interesting Star-Sentinel papers for our readers. As for the 20-30 pounds I want to lose – every year – that truly is another story.

Correction: Dr. Diane Christopulos finished off her journey on the Appalachian Trail last year – she did not “through hike” (do it in one shot) as reported in a previous Our Take column. And her significant other, Mark McClain, did not hike the entire AT with her either. McClain said he often provided the shuttle service that brought Christopulos to and from trailheads along the 2000-plus mile trail. Other than that McCain said he appreciated the story on the couple’s visit to William Byrd High School, where they talked to students about green technologies and cool cities.