Larry Bly

Larry Bly runs an ad agency and does freelance writing in the Roanoke area.

Recent columns

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• Column archive

• Recipe of the day

Maybe we've all heard and read way too much about the food vendors in the City Market Building downtown. But the Market Building is important to downtown and to those of us who champion its significance to a vital business area. It's getting more important all the time, what with the Taubman Museum of Art opening in its new digs nearby, and with the planned changes at Center In the Square.

But here's the thing: The recent problems with the health department and the closing of the food court are very complex issues, caused in part by everyone involved.  It would seem that, in serving just one meal a day -- lunch -- keeping the areas clean would not involve an inordinate amount of work each day on the part of the vendors. After all, there are restaurants all over town that serve three meals a day that manage to keep their places clean. Yes, perhaps larger restaurants can afford bigger staffs and thus are easier to maintain, but we all want clean facilities, no matter the size. Lots of full-service, self-standing restaurant operators have expressed to me how "nice it would be if we could lay our many problems at the feet of the city of Roanoke, but we don't have that luxury."

Having said all of that, I can tell you that I always feel sorry for anyone who has the city of Roanoke (or any other municipality) as a landlord. I've run a business -- an ad agency -- in this town for nearly 40 years. And I can tell you that the hoops you must sometimes go through to get anything done are substantial. And sometimes they've cost me plenty. On the other hand, the city has been given the job of protecting the public and they have to legally cover everything, it seems, in this litigious society in which we find ourselves. The health department, the fire marshal's office -- all of them have jobs to do, and if they don't do them, they get plenty of guff from the public. 

Now we read that some of the vendors have hired a local attorney (a well-respected one, I hasten to add) to threaten the city with a lawsuit for the handling of this food-court episode. The theory they espouse is that the city is a lousy landlord that doesn't take care of its properties and its renters. So much so, they say, that large gaping holes allowed mice and bugs into the building. The fact that photos showed many areas that had not been cleaned in goodness knows how long -- well, who was responsible for that? 

Another theory now put forward for blaming the city: Business is now off by 50 percent, thanks to the problems, the closing and the failure of some regulars to come back after all the publicity. Well, guess what? Nearly every self-standing restaurant around Roanoke that I've visited in the last two months or so has told me that their businesses have tanked as well. It's the economy, stupid! People are cutting back, eating lunch at the desk, skipping dinners out except on special occasions and generally skipping breakfast altogether. Things are tough in retail as well, and it's not the city's fault.

I want the vendors to do well. They work really hard and it's not easy having someone else dictate your hours and days of operation, or when you'll be shut down without notice.

I recently visited the Market Building. It's shiny and clean, updated in décor, features new comfy chairs and tables and has a much more open and bright feel to it.  I visited with friends who were enjoying the food and the ambiance. I hope everyone will want to come back and support the vendors. What's   good for the Market Building is good for Roanoke.

It really doesn't matter who's at fault here. The city couldn't make repairs without shutting the place down, apparently, and the vendors obviously didn't want to shut down and lose valuable income -- a living, for many of them. So there appears to be no black or white, no right or wrong. 

I have no answers. And I'm not sure that anyone does. This whole thing's been argued and debated and editorialized upon, to no good conclusion. Bickering, yelling and hauling people to court won't accomplish much. Some sort of long-term plan might be in order. Many of my restaurant friends find it all a bit curious. Others, like myself, just want everyone involved to do what's expected of them.

Bly for now.