Dan Casey | The Roanoke Times

The old tollgate and booth on Mill Mountain's Prospect Road were damaged in a windstorm last year. Some residents, city officials and contractors are working together to see that they get fixed.

Dan Casey is The Roanoke Times' metro columnist.

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Dan Casey

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The damaged tollgate along Prospect Road on Mill Mountain is a largely forgotten piece of Roanoke history.

But recently, plenty of folks are remembering it: A small group of public officials, contractors and residents is forming to restore the beautiful stone arch and tollbooth to their former glory.

"The pieces are all there for a public-private partnership," said City Councilman Rupert Cutler, who's spearheading the repair efforts.

Built near the bottom of Prospect Road by William Henritze in the early 1920s, the gate was damaged in February 2008 when some large trees smashed into it during stiff winter winds. It knocked shingles off the small roof over the arch and tore holes in the top of the adjacent booth.

Long before my March 10 column noted that damage, Nancy Dye had been jawboning city officials about repairs.

She and her husband, Kevin, have the good fortune to live in Rockledge, the famous house on the side of Mill Mountain just below the star.

They walk that gorgeous "old road" every day and regularly clean up litter and debris that winds up on it. Recently they've been working to bring back the tiny antique roses that grow above the road's rock retaining wall.

After the column, Cutler stepped forward and solicited help from contractors Jay Turner and Stan Breakell. Both told him they'd be willing to donate some labor.

City Manager Darlene Burcham distributed a list of necessary building materials that totals about $7,500. It includes shingles, plywood, lumber, copper flashing and band borders. Scaffolding rental would be extra.

Meanwhile, City Councilman Court Rosen, who's a real estate developer, promised to try to arrange donations of materials from some of his suppliers. Other people have stepped forward as well.

Two of them are Chip and Ashley Donahue, founders of the 300-family organization Kids in the Valley Adventuring, which organized a 79-person hike up Prospect Road in August.

"We can put together a team of the finest, smallest, hardest working people you have ever seen," they wrote Cutler in an e-mail.

Nothing has happened quite yet, of course. As Rosen notes, it's not an ideal time to be begging for building supplies.

But with so many people committed, I'm betting something will happen on that tollgate soon. Watch my blog on roanoke.com for updates.

This is a small project, but it illustrates a larger issue -- a community of committed people working together for solutions.

"It's an example ... of what can be done, across the board, on a lot of things," Cutler said.

There's no shortage of that in the Roanoke Valley.

You can see it during events such as the Roanoke River cleanups, tree plantings along the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Gallop 4 the Greenways fundraising race.

You can taste it at down-home barbecues and pancake breakfasts, such as the giant one sponsored by the Roanoke Kiwanis Club, or the fancy late-night soirees organized by the Square Society.

You can overhear it during weeknight tutoring sessions at the West End Center for Youth (which needs more volunteer tutors, by the way).

That community commitment is just one of the great things about living here.

Dan Casey's column runs Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.