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We are all indeed immersed in the inescapable issues that characterize the dynamic conditions of our time. As a contemporary case in point, the Blacksburg Town Council and the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors must deal with the issue of the potential development of the old Blacksburg Middle School property through commercial rather than civic / educational uses. The issue itself was prematurely thrust into the news spotlight via the front page of The Roanoke Times.

Since the council and the supervisors are not developers and neither of them owns or has control of the old Blacksburg school, they could not and have not ever solicited project proposals relative to the development of the school property.

In recent weeks, however, there has been coincidental and unsolicited interest from two separate developers who could potentially use the property for multimillion-dollar projects. Perhaps these prospective clients know something about Montgomery County's potential that local officials, citizens and the news media do not.

Parenthetically, it's interesting to note that Blacksburg, in terms of population and size, ranks 15th from the top of a list of Virginia's 229 cities and towns. For comparison, Roanoke ranks ninth.

Given the circumstances, the elected officials of Blacksburg and Montgomery County had only two options: Tell the developers to take their enthusiasm, creative ideas and considerable capital and go somewhere else (and, no doubt, receive an appropriate welcome) or listen to what they had to say in a perfectly legal closed session that would curtail misinterpretations in the press accompanied by red-flag headlines.

If the county school board should ever release the property, all of the required public hearings and open information sessions would subsequently take place in a logical sequence easily understood by all interested parties.

To say that the subject elected officials have no common sense or that they are ignoring the citizens they represent is a crass and unwarranted accusation.

Why is it that the subject of revenue, or lack of it, is always missing from debates about what is best for a community? Sure the old middle school, under different circumstances, could make a home for the activities of artists, actors, musicians, community colleges, YMCAs, senior citizens and a host of civic programs.

Blacksburg itself needs a good public auditorium and exhibit space. The county needs a new football field and really decent lockers and shower facilities for local and visiting teams.

Sadly, the old school is just that - a really old school. Buying the property, bringing it up to current codes and modern standards for habitability and usefulness, paying for architectural redesign and construction to provide adaptive reuse for all the noble causes listed above could easily consume $20 million. This capital outlay would literally have to be a gift or a forgivable loan or grant. Even the operating costs would, historically, require public and private subsidies.

And thus the irony. Visionary retail and commercial projects are needed to raise the big bucks that greatly enhance the general funds of local governments and thus enable support for all the noble community and civic enterprises that cannot support themselves.

Before labeling an architecturally visionary mall as an incompatible specter, a little "what if" may furnish some perspective:

What if the mall were to be a real architectural attraction (especially internally) and provide an "experience" of shopping, dining, entertainment, some residential and just plain enjoyable ambience not readily found in this region?

What if the mall were not accompanied by the traditional sea of asphalt typically found in the New River and Roanoke valleys?

What if the mall contained department stores and other retail shopping as requested by two-thirds of the citizens in a recent Blacksburg survey?

What if the diversity and drawing power of such a mall actually provided the customer base that would also patronize and enhance the sales and rental demand for the other nearby malls?

As a corporate citizen, the press should be devoting equal and thorough investigation to all facets of this middle school issue and also ensure that editorial postures do not single out any particular segment of the affected populace for special treatment.

What if the citizens themselves commented that they were becoming annoyed with the "this just in" types of partially researched stories and the disquieting headlines that merely leave one frustrated?

What if they said, "I'll just wait for the whole story, thank you"?