Gene Dalton | The Roanoke Times

Radford officials want to create a park on 268 acres of land just off Exit 105 on Interstate 81. Shown is the property as seen from I-81 northbound over the New River bridge.

RADFORD -- For decades, 268 acres of steeply sloped land just off Exit 105 on Interstate 81 have remained untouched.

But some Radford leaders say the property, which lies in Montgomery County but is owned by the city, has potential to be a gateway to the New River Valley and a major tourist attraction.

Bob Nicholson and Dick Harshberger were appointed by the Radford Heritage Foundation to develop a conceptual plan for the property they call the New River Heritage Park.

Harshberger is on Radford City Council; Nicholson becomes a councilman July 1 to fill the remaining year of outgoing Councilman Oliver Lewis' term.

The draft plan, presented May 31 during the New River Symposium at Radford University, includes a river museum, welcome center and villages to model American Indian and early Colonial life.

Cable cars or chair lifts could carry visitors from the welcome center at the top of the slope to the edge of the New River. Roads and walkways would also provide access along the slope, which has a 15 percent grade.

Both Harshberger and Nicholson stressed that the park would preserve the land's natural resources and would tie into the city's biking and walking paths. A wall would buffer the site from interstate noise.

"If we don't do something, someone's going to come along and put a truck stop [there]," Nicholson said, referring to the site's prime location on the interstate.

He added that the river museum could serve as a research center for university students. It would "feature the unique historical, archaeological, anthropological, geological, biological and botanical heritage of the New River," according to the plan.

Meanwhile, the welcome center would market other New River Valley attractions and spotlight the Wilderness Road, which crosses the New River at Ingles Ferry, a few hundred yards below the proposed park. Individual localities would choose which attractions to market at the welcome center, and artists could exhibit and sell their work, according to the plan. It could also include an observatory deck for visitors to take in a panoramic view of surrounding mountains, the New River basin and Claytor Lake and its dam.

The Indian village would showcase the tribes that met in the New River Valley, which was a common hunting ground, Harshberger said.

The Colonial village would be modeled after Sturbridge Village in Massachusetts and would consist of replicas of homes, an inn, a tavern, a blacksmith shop, community meeting hall and the Ingles Ferry.

Harshberger and Nicholson don't have a timeline or budget for the project, which they said is in its beginning stages. They're working to develop a more detailed plan to present to philanthropic organizations and state leaders when they approach them for funding.

Nicholson said it would be ideal to find a major benefactor to get the wheels rolling and to then apply for federal and state grants.

The plan would need to be approved by Radford City Council as well as the Virginia Department of Transportation, which would sign off on extending a road from the exit interchange into the park.

So far, the concept has been approved by New River Community Partners, a group charged with protecting the New River, Nicholson said.

The plan coincides with the city's focus on tourism in the past year. The 2007-08 budget includes a $60,000 allotment for a visitors center and its staff, funded by a 5 percent increase in the lodging tax. A tourism committee made up of Radford officials, business owners, Radford University officials and civic leaders has been meeting since November to develop a tourism mission statement for the city and to identify possible draws.