Todays Roanoke Times

God, I almost wore out my Blog This! button this morning.

The exceptionally historic Gainsboro section of town has gained State recognition and is now on the Virginia Historic Register. You might think of Gainsboro as "that place across the tracks," Henry Street, and other certain places pop to mind. But we all have an interest in Gainsboro. It's the predecessor of Roanoke itself.

Gainsboro is where Roanoke begins. In time, in history, and in the community - there would not be a Roanoke were it not a Gainsboro first.

Now we come to the write up on the meeting between Norfolk and Roanoke on what is essentially Operation Broken Windows. Of course, this means that Roanoke itself HAS to start taking responsibility for all those unoccupied buildings downtown. Especially those buildings which are long-term unoccupied, default on back taxes, or generally of a ruined nature. (ie. - The Heironymous Building, the Virginian Railway Station.)

As I was growing up in NYC back during Op Broken Windows, I remember going to Rockaway Beach and seeing abandoned homes and buildings everywhere. And each one had its windows boarded up, from the inside. And each window board had a scene painted on it - some had curtains and flowerpots, others painted with blinds that were drawn. Somewhere in my familys archive of photos, Im sure theres a photo with these windows in the background.

And now we move onto the Public Action portion of our programme. You, yes you, now have the opportunity to GET INVOLVED in the future of Roanoke. Roanoke is about to undertake a study of the City Market plan, the Library plan, and the Jefferson St. Revitalization plan.

Lets be honest here, while its nice to see political headquarters go into empty spaces on Jefferson, they dont last - they don't contribute much to the area for the short time they are there, and they certainly do not generate revenue. We need a distinct idea for what is essentially Roanoke's Main St (part 2, Campbell being part 1)

With the changing nature of the Patrick Henry Hotel, the empty storefronts lining the street, the Jefferson Motor Lodge being the absolute best location downtown for a hotel and the worst type of hotel possible for downtown, the abandoned (at this point) Heironymous building, Lee & Edwards shutting its doors, Kara O'Cairns being gone, and stories and stories of empty office space - Jefferson needs help.

And what will happen when Carilion finishes its Bio-Med park, will they consolidate all facilities to it? The Wachovia Building (not tower) houses much of Carilions financial-billing-human resources offices. Are they going to the Bio-Med park too?

I would not blame Carilion in the least, why not move your holdings to the land you own? But from end to end, Jefferson has problems. Yet Jefferson LOOKS great, it looks like a place where commerce should be king, and De Espresso is doing a fair amount of business there.

Heres an idea - take the old Heironymous building, and finish stripping off the granite exterior at ground level. Clean it up, and use it to open The Museum of the City of Roanoke. Certainly Roanoke has enough history inherent to properly run its own museum, and the former US Airways ticket counter could serve as a "one stop" location for tickets to all Roanoke venues and events. Even that.. thing theyre building.. the one for art... (I feel dirty now.)

Launch a partnership with Salem, and tickets could be sold to Salem Avalance games, Center in the Square, the Roanoke Civic Center, the Salem Civic Center, O. Winston Link Museum, Virginia Museum of Transportation, events like Affair in the Square, the Mill Mountain Zoo... all of it, in one place. And located close to the Market.

This is possible, but only if Roanoke steps up and wants it. Otherwise, it will just come down to more talk, more committies, and more of the same. Haven't we all had enough of Victory Stadium-style decision making?

Floyd and Fincastle are moving forward protecting their assets, planning for the future. If they can do it, why can't Roanoke?