Sunday, November 30, 2008
Editorial: Finally, explore some options
If a Florida developer can't come through with financing for converting Explore Park into a resort, the region will need alternatives.
From the RoundTable blog
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It's no surprise, given the frozen state of the credit market, that the defunct Explore Park's potential developer might need a second extension of his option on remaking the tract into a family-oriented vacation resort.
The recreation authority that for now retains oversight of the property may be obliged by its deed to go along, if asked. But the state would need to extend the authority's oversight of the park for at least another year. The state should do so.
The Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority has oversight of a 99-year lease arrangement with Florida developer Larry Vander Maten.
Last week, the authority board decided -- at long last -- that it had better prepare a backup plan, just in case Vander Maten can't come up with the $90 million he promised to spend.
For more than three years, the authority has put all its hopes in his developing the tract into the tourist magnet that Explore was meant to be.
The board desperately needs a "Plan B" that would clarify what alternatives the region or state might have for using the park's 1,100 acres, which straddle Roanoke and Bedford counties just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.
As things stand, the land is to revert to state ownership on July 1, 2009, if Vander Maten's plans don't gel before then.
The state bought the land for Explore Park, envisioned as a public-private partnership that would develop the tract into a history-themed tourist attraction. Virginia continued to funnel some money into the project for several years, making a total $17 million investment in the failed venture, but it never has shown any interest in developing or managing the property.
Roanoke Valley localities, on the other hand, have a huge interest in its fate.
Local governments, the nonprofit River Foundation, businesses and individual donors contributed close to $21 million over the years to Explore. The money and in-kind contributions were an investment in an educational, recreational and economic development asset.
After state support dried up, Roanoke County, in particular, stepped in temporarily to keep the park open in the hope it could become self-supporting somehow.
Vander Maten is supposed to achieve that end, and reportedly remains confident that he will be able to begin construction of his resort by the final deadline in his lease of June 2010.
In case he cannot, the board needs to have examined other viable options for the tract, if there are any, and be ready to weigh them according to the region's best interests.
