Sunday, January 06, 2008
Rockledge won't make, or break, Mill Mountain
Dan Radmacher
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From the RoundTable blog
When I flew in to Roanoke to interview for my job here, then-editorial page editor Tommy Denton drove me up to the top of Mill Mountain to see the star -- a trek, I gather, most out-of-town applicants for jobs in the valley are eventually taken on.
My original thought was, what an odd thing to put at the top of a mountain. But I've come to share the attachment most Roanokers seem to feel toward the neon landmark.
Still. What an odd thing to put on top of a mountain.
Odder still is the intense reaction in opposition to a proposal to put a restaurant/community center on top of the same mountain, which is also home to a zoo (speaking of odd things to put atop a mountain).
Granted, this newspaper's editorial board, of which I am a part, opposed the proposal by Valley Forward. I agreed, somewhat reluctantly, with that opposition.
But our opposition was anything but intense. We weighed the proposal carefully, listening to Valley Forward Chairman John Lugar with an open mind.
It took several days after that meeting to even settle on a position. In the end, we decided the potential for failure was too great. Restaurants are a chancy business, after all, and Mill Mountain is not the most accessible location.
Personally, I was torn. I could see the appeal of the restaurant, and I appreciated how the members of Valley Forward had listened to critics of their first, far grander and more obtrusive proposal for an inn.
Their second take had a far smaller footprint, and addressed many of the concerns others had raised.
The compromising attitude won them few admirers, though. Letter writers protesting the proposal said it would "desecrate" the mountain and asked, "Is Mill Mountain there to be conquered?"
I enjoy Mill Mountain as it is. I've taken visitors to the star and my son to the zoo. I've hiked the trails on and around the mountain.
The proposed facility would not detract from that experience. It wouldn't block access to any trails, or compete with the star for attention.
This is hardly a pristine environment, after all.
It would even be nice to have a place to go after a hike to get some lunch. Or a restaurant to take visitors to after the obligatory 10 minutes looking at the star and taking in the view.
The passion of the opposition is inexplicable to me.
But then again so is the passion of Valley Forward members in pushing the project.
As I said, the proposed restaurants and meeting space would be nice. I can see the allure of eating out with a view of downtown Roanoke spread below.
But "nice" is about as far as it goes. I just can't see this facility changing Roanoke's future, for better or worse.
Valley Forward's stated objective is to work to make Roanoke more attractive for young professionals. It's a worthy goal, a vital one really. I applaud the participants for their energy and enthusiasm.
I just don't understand their obsession with a restaurant on Mill Mountain. When they first put forward the notion of rebuilding Rockledge Inn, Valley Forward's prime movers insisted they didn't want to make money from this themselves. They saw it as a valuable amenity that would make Roanoke more attractive to the kind of young professionals the city needs to grow and prosper.
Valley Forward just wanted to be a catalyst for the idea, which they hoped some developer would leap at.
That didn't happen. Blame Roanoke's backward-looking ways. Blame opposition from heirs of Junius Blair Fishburn, the man who gave Mill Mountain to the city.
Whatever the reason, no private developer answered the city's call for a proposal.
Valley Forward didn't give up. Instead, the members put together a proposal themselves. They suggested formation of the Mill Mountain Community Foundation to raise money to build the facility, which would be leased to a restaurateur. The foundation would put profits from the lease into the zoo and other improvements on the mountain.
Persistence can be a virtue, but I hate to see Valley Forward pound its head against this particular wall. The forehead, I fear, will give in long before the wall does.
It would be a shame if Valley Forward used up all its energy and commitment on a futile effort to push a project that will not make or break Mill Mountain -- or the Roanoke Valley.
Radmacher is the editorial page editor of The Roanoke Times.
