Since the Art Museum of Western Virginia unveiled its plans last month for a modern new building to be located behind Billy's Ritz Restaurant, readers of The Roanoke Times have raised many questions. Here are answers to some of them:

Where will people park?

The museum is negotiating for parking lot across Williamson Road from the new museum. Visitors would walk under the Williamson Road bridge to the museum entrance. Parking also may be made available in the Wachovia Tower parking garage.

Why was the IMAX Theater dropped from the project?

The IMAX was initially included in the new museum's plans because the museum saw it as a way to make money. Later research indicated the theater could add significant red ink instead. The figures are debatable, but some who have studied the matter say there just aren't enough people here to support an IMAX.

Why not put the museum someplace where its radical design won't clash with other downtown buildings?

The museum project isn't likely to move. For one thing, the land was donated by the city. Also, the design is site-specific. It jags inward at one corner to accommodate several existing buildings. Aesthetically, the design is meant to reflect the verticality of the City Market buildings on one side and the linear quality of the railroad tracks on the other. In short, a museum on another site would have to be redesigned from scratch. The museum has also purchased a warehouse a stone's throw away to house its education programs.

Were other sites considered in the beginning?

The museum considered several options for expansion - including reconfiguring its current quarters at Center in the Square, moving to the downtown library and renovating the old Grand Piano building on Campbell Avenue - before deciding to construct an entirely new building behind Billy's Ritz.

The city's offer of land was the reason they picked the site, museum director Georganne Bingham said. City officials and museum officials love the high visibility of this location and its relationship to downtown. So does Randall Stout, the architect.

Fund-raising chair Jenny Taubman said no other sites were seriously considered for a new building. "We really wanted it downtown, in the whole cultural corridor. That's where the people are."

How will I see the H&C coffee sign once the museum goes up?

There are plans to restore Roanoke's beloved coffee sign and move it to the nearby Mill Mountain Theatre's Atelier (formerly the Shenandoah Hotel), where it should be visible to passing motorists on Williamson Road and Interstate 581.

How many historic downtown buildings will be torn down to make room for the new art museum?

The museum owns one building adjacent to the site, the former Tony's Place restaurant. Its fate has not yet been determined, Bingham said. The other buildings on the block, including Billy's Ritz and Roanoke Valley Printworks, are not owned by the museum and will not be torn down.

Will the roof leak?

Check back with us in a couple of years.