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From hundreds of new jobs at one swoop to major craft brewers moving in, from a new hockey team to the comeback of a big ol’ locomotive, the Roanoke Valley had a very good year in 2016. Let’s take a look.
Dan Smith
The year 2016 was a busy one in the Roanoke Valley, one where a lot was improved, modified, added, enriched. Here is a list of 25 of the best additions to our quality of life.
Hot New Thing #1: Beer Capital
Craft beer brewer Deschutes of Oregon announced in March plans to build a new facility, spending $85 million to locate on 49 acres near Blue Hills Golf Club. Construction will begin in 2019 and beer will be shipped in five years, but the excitement the announcement generated was palpable in the Roanoke Valley. Deschutes wasted no time becoming a high-profile corporate citizen, sponsoring a popular downtown Street Pub (raising $81,000 for charity) and a Tinker Creek cleanup. Roanoke beat craft brewing-capital Asheville for the facility, which will employ 108 people. Meanwhile, at the end of May, Ballast Point of San Diego said it would build a $47.8 million Daleville facility to produce Constellation Brands. It is the 11th largest craft brewer in the U.S. and will employ 175 people.
Hot New Thing #2: Downtown Hotel
The new Hampton Inn and Suites atop Roanoke’s Market Garage downtown has 120 rooms and adds three stories to the six-story parking garage. The $17 million project had a fall opening. The hotel sits atop a garage that was the center of controversy several years ago when a few bricks fell off the façade and resulted in a multi-million-dollar project replacing all the bricks outside and closing the garage for months.
Hot New Thing #3: Education Expansion
Multi-million dollar additions at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Insitute will add considerable student capacity in Roanoke. The state has authorized $45 million to expand health sciences and technology research and training facilities in Roanoke at the VTC, which will chip in $21 million to construct a 105,000 square foot biosciences addition at the Research Institute at Riverside Center. The addition will house biomedical research facilities, including imaging equipment. The economic impact is estimated at $191 million annually, once the building is occupied. Additionally, Virginia Western Community College is planning considerable expansion in the near future.
Hot New Thing #4: Health Sciences Emphasis
Virginia Tech pounced on the state’s huge grant expanding its Virginia Tech Carilion Medical College and Research Institute by announcing plans for a comprehensive Health Sciences and Technology Innovation District in Roanoke. Michael Friedlander, who directs the research institute, is the executive director of the district. Said Gov. Terry McAuliffe at the formal announcement: “The expansion of the health sciences and technology innovation hub in Roanoke is a tactical investment to grow the state’s biomedical and health research enterprise.” The district designation is expected to help add 25 research teams, bringing the total to 55.
Hot New Thing #5: RAMPing It Up
A new program at Virginia Western Community College called RAMP (Regional Acceleration and Mentoring Program) will concentrate on making small business work. The program officially launches in early January, 2017, but is already up and running, says Samantha Steidle, who’s running it. Roanoke has a laudable history of supporting small, innovative businesses, but its workforce training has slipped in recent years and RAMP could play a role in getting it back where it needs to be. The program is set in the old—and oddly appropriate—Gill Memorial Hospital building as a centerpiece for the new downtown Health Sciences and Technology Innovation District. The program is a hybrid that is supported by Roanoke ($600,000 contribution for renovation of Gill); VWCC (classes and faculty), Roanoke-Blacksburg Tech Council (advisory board, mentorship and networking programs). Says VWCC President Dr. Robert H. Sandel (who is also head of the Innovation Council): “We believe we can grow and keep our talent, whether it’s in information technology, advanced manufacturing, bio-sciences or other entrepreneurial efforts.”
Hot New Thing #6: More Greenway
The Roanoke River Greenway project continues to be a whirlwind of activity, one that has expanded to include activities on the river itself—the Blueway. In 2016, there was considerable progress. According to Greenway director Liz Belcher, there are several nodes of trails in the greenway plan, where trail work is ongoing: Carvins Cove (First Deck Trail, Rock-n-Roll, Hotel Trail, Sawmill Branch Ridge), Mill Mountain (Sidewinder, Understory) and Fishburn Park (Hillside Trail reconstruction). Three facilities have been developed along the Blueway: access from the Roanoke River Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway; access at The Bridges apartments; Green Hill Park handicapped fishing pier. Other construction includes two Lick Run Greenway bridges; Creek Greenway; Glade Creek Greenway; Catawba Greenway, first phase. It is a lot of work, but the Greenway is one of the Roanoke Valley’s most popular recreational opportunities.
Hot New Thing #7: Libraries
The Raleigh Court Library expansion in Roanoke and brand new Vinton Library in the center of town provide bigger and better facilities. The upgraded Raleigh Court Library, which opened March 15, was one of Roanoke’s smaller facilities at 6,800 square feet. It has been expanded to 10,300 square feet at a cost of $3.5 million ($1.5 million—70 percent—over budget). The Vinton Library was actually finished just as 2015 ended (late November 2015) and has 23,000 square feet and a $10 million price tag. It is the latest of three new or renovated Roanoke County libraries.
Hot New Thing #8: New Town Growing
The relatively new and innovative Daleville Town Center in Botetourt County saw its profile considerably improved in 2016 with a series of 34 free events that attracted as many as 2,000 people at a time to the mixture of new homes and businesses. Big Lick Entertainment’s Flat Pickin’ Fridays was especially successful in the town that was an apple orchard six years ago. The new Daleville Institute has taken over the cultural development of the little town and plans to have additional events in 2017.
Hot New Thing #9: Cregger Center, Roanoke College
The spectacular new $37 million home for athletics at the 175-year-old Salem college, which opened in October, houses offices for athletics, a fitness center, labs and offices. Cregger overlooks Kerr Stadium. The center is 155,000 square feet and houses a performance arena, seating 2,500 for athletic events and 3,500 for speakers, and field house with a 200-meter indoor track, one of the few in the region.
Hot New Thing #10: More Downtown Living
Lucas Thornton is solidifying his position among downtown Roanoke developers—and there are some dandies—with his new $8 million complex on Williamson Road just off City Market, Grammercy Row. Thornton has been one of the stars of the redevelopment community with three significant downtown projects, but this time his Hist:Re Partners LLC is building new (70-80 units) on .77 acres. The apartments feature six joined buildings with a distinct old-Roanoke look. The city gave Thornton quite a break by selling the parking lot where Grammercy Row will rest for $50,000. It is valued at $1.4 million.
Hot New Thing #11: LuxuryRetreat
ρ The new Retreat luxury apartment complex on Cove Road had its opening delayed in December of 2015 and was still under construction in mid-2016, but was reserving apartments and saw some occupied. It features 252 units in 12 buildings on 24 acres. The complex is expected to come in at between $20 million and $30 million and has created more than 100 construction jobs. Rentals ranged from $979-$1,646 per month.
Hot New Thing #12: Bon Apetite
The Kitchen is a LEAP (Local Environmental Agricultural Project) commercial kitchen and food business incubator that is new to downtown Roanoke. New food businesses—chefs, caterers, food trucks, bakers and the like—can rent spaces and open without overwhelming startup costs. It is also a community space. Its uses are all but limitless. LEAP is a non-profit organization at the West End Pavilion Market on Grandin Road.
Hot New Thing #13: Back on Track
The famous Class J steam locomotive is back to doing what it does best: carrying passengers from the Virginia Museum of Transportation on J611 excursions. The 611 has been at the North Carolina Transportation Museum which has a lot of room. NCTM has held a number of events with 611 that the Roanoke museum doesn’t have room for. It even let guests operate the locomotive. The J611 was back in July and August, but returned to NCTM after Labor Day. The museum in Roanoke has made plans for 2017, but they weren’t expected to be approved by Norfolk Southern until very late in 2016.
Hot New Thing #14: Dawg House
There’s a growly new dawg in town and it has a sparkling, upgraded place to play. Replacing seats in Roanoke’s Berglund Center Coliseum and securing the Rail Yard Dawgs of the Southern Professional Hockey League are two big additions to/for our community. The coliseum has also resurfaced the floor from deep into the ground, up. It is a complex—and needed—resurfacing which will hold the ice for the hockey team. One of the primary players in landing the hockey team is hardcore hockey fan Robyn Schon, the Berglund Center’s manager.
Hot New Thing #15: Ice Skating in Elmwood
A new downtown Roanoke ice rink opened for the winter of 2015-2016 (November-February) in Elmwood Park beside the new amphitheater. The rink is 60 by 65 feet and will hold 75 skaters at a time. It was often full.
Hot New Thing #16: Pickups
Single stream recycling in Roanoke City means all recyclables go into one Carolina-blue can and are collected every other week. No more paper this week, plastic and glass next week. Even more popular for many homeowners was the jettisoning of a strict brush collection regulation that limited pickup to piles that were at least 4X4X4 feet. As one brush truck driver said recently, while loading up a collection of large tree stumps (which are technically off limits), “We figure if you go to the trouble of cutting it and stacking it, then we should pick it up.”
Hot New Thing #17: Park Swap
Huff Lane Park’s new playground and multi-purpose courts are popular in a neighborhood where Roanoke City Council dared not show its face some months ago. The city sold Huff Lane School for development, but set aside land for this upgraded neighborhood park. Said neighborhood association president Colbert Boyd: “This is proof that community activism can sometimes win over corporate greed and bad decisions by local government.” Indeed.
Hot New Thing #18: More Botetourt Jobs
Eldor Corporation, an Italian Auto Parts manufacturer, bumped the Botetourt County employment levels up another 350 with the announcement in mid-March that it would invest $75 million into a facility at the Greenfield Center. The company makes ignition systems, engine control units and electronic systems for hybrid and electric vehicles. Construction is expected to be complete in August, 2017, and eventually the company could employ as many as 600 people.
Hot New Thing #19: More Bridges
The continued expansion of the Bridges development across the street from Carilion Clinic hit high gear at mid-year. It continues the 1960s Soviet group housing architectural motif. It has 127 units, areas for outdoor recreation, swimming pool and a viewing deck on the fourth floor. The first 157 units have remained at 98 percent capacity since completion and much the same rate is expected for Phase II. The new one- and two-bedroom units rent for $850 to $1,650 per month. The development also includes an approved kayak launch, Starbucks, Moe’s Southwest Grill in the 100-year-old salvaged horse stable and Dr Pepper Park.
Hot New Thing #20: Punching Tickets
While the big chain movie theaters have been moving their ticket booths inside to the concession counter (so you can order popcorn and tickets at the same time), the Grandin Theatre, Roanoke’s last remaining independent, has spent its time and effort remodeling the ticket booth/lobby. It has also completed an important digital upgrade bringing the Grandin into the 21st century from a technology standpoint, while keeping it firmly in the mid-20th century from the standpoint of moviedom.
Hot New Thing #21: Coaching Up
New head football coaches at Virginia Tech and Virginia brightened fans’ outlooks, even though one of them replaces a retired legend in Frank Beamer, who will be revered forever in Blacksburg. Jason Fuente (from the University of Memphis) and Bronco Mendenhall (BYU) took over at Tech and UVa respectively, both facing building projects. Virginia’s premier programs have underperformed to fans’ expectations in recent years (no bowls for UVa, lower tier bowls for Tech). Tech roared back from a 24-point deficit at the half to defeat Arkansas 35-24 in the Belk Bowl in Charlotte, while UVa was competitive in most games, but finished with a 2-10 record.
Hot New Thing #22: The Other Football
The former Countryside Golf Course has yet another new purpose: a home for five full-sized soccer fields and one junior pitch. Roanoke and the soccer club Roanoke Star have joined to spend $1.5 million in creating the parks, which will also have access to Roanoke’s greenway. The Roanoke Star will be host for state, national and international tournaments at the site in the future, an economic development coup of a sort.
Hot New Thing #23: Infra-structure Improvement
Paving has been ubiquitous in the Roanoke Valley this past spring/summer season. Many areas—Raleigh Court, Grandin Court, Cave Spring, Southeast, Orange Avenue, 10th Street, downtown, all over—have been nearly inaccessible at times because the roads leading to them have been under construction. And it hasn’t just been the road surfaces, but also curbs, sidewalks, bike lanes and utilities (gas and electric lines, fiber optics lines), sewers and landscaping. Many of the renovations have been coordinated, which is a good thing. Roanoke Times Metro columnist Dan Casey called it “a perfect storm of beautification projects, plus beefed-up annual paving, plus infrastructure upgrades.” The sparkling finished product has been worth the inconvenience.
Hot New Thing #24: Salem Upgrade
City Planner Benjamin Tripp explains it this way: “Salem is undertaking a comprehensive effort to enhance downtown as a regional destination. This includes the replacement of all sidewalks with brick pavers and a new more historic look; the addition of new distinctive festival-style lighting; and places for sidewalk dining. Hand in hand with this is an effort to hold more special events downtown for people of all ages, from the Salem Half Marathon and some craft beer related festivals, to live music and lawn games at the Salem Public Library.”
Hot New Thing #25: Broadband Expansion
The Roanoke Valley Broadband Authority has created 47 miles of new broadband width and geeks everywhere are turning cartwheels. That means speed and capacity, baby. The authority was created under the Virginia Wireless Services Facilities Act by Roanoke Valley governments. The principal goal of the authority is to improve affordable broadband services in the valley, primarily for businesses and governments, operating as an open-access network. The Resources Authority spent an initial $6.2 million (from a bond) to cover the start-up costs, and the local governments must pay that back.
Bonus: Hot New Thing #26: Yes, It’s A Chain, But . . .
The Mellow Mushroom in the downtown of the unmentionable North Carolina mountain town we have left in our wake with the above 25 things and more is an inviting, good-vibe place with good food and fun. By all indications the big new one on Franklin Road next to the Carilion Institute for Orthopaedics and Neurosciences (nee Ukrop’s) building—it’s still an hour wait to get in most any days as we go to press—will extend the “Keeping it mellow since 1974” mantra of the company. I