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A Missouri company may soon have the power to dismantle Explore Park's living history exhibits, move the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitors' Center, sublease parts of the 1,155-acre park and mortgage anything the company builds there. The proposed lease also allows the company to avoid paying rent.
In return, Virginia Living Histories promises to invest at least $20 million in the park at milepost 115 on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The company, which has not disclosed plans, has five years to begin constructing its version of Explore Park. The park's board agreed to try to keep the park open until the company takes over. Discussions between the Virginia park and Virginia Living Histories have concluded, according to a letter Explore board chairman Fred Anderson sent Monday to Tayloe Murphy, Virginia's secretary of natural resources. The Roanoke Times obtained a copy of the letter and the contract Wednesday. Anderson's letter points out that state funding for Explore Park has dried up and Roanoke County's agreement to support it ends next year. That, the letter says, has moved the authority to seek a private partner. The deal with Virginia Living Histories "appears to be the best alternative," Anderson wrote. After months of closed-door discussions, the VRFA has scheduled a public meeting for March 24, one day after Roanoke County Supervisor Mike Altizer plans to hold a community meeting. The VRFA could vote on the proposal March 24, but Anderson's letter asks Murphy to respond in time for the board's April 19 meeting. The VRFA hasn't officially approved the plan, but Anderson's letter says, "it appears there is a consensus to move forward on the proposal." The proposal would allow the company to develop and operate "a destination resort, theme park or other attraction" that could include "hotels, restaurants, amphitheaters, complimentary retail operations, water parks and water-based recreational facilities, themed towns or village centers and similar improvements and operations of a family entertainment and destination resort." The company must pay rent - $50,000 for the first five years of operation, gradually rising to $200,000 for the last 29 years of the 50-year lease. But that rent can be pro-rated. For example, if the company uses only 115.5 of the park's 1,155 acres, the rent would be $5,000. That could be reduced further by the company's maintenance expenses. If the rent is $5,000 and the company spends $20,000 on maintenance, Virginia Living Histories would pay no rent that year. The $15,000 difference would go toward paying subsequent years' rent. The company would also have to share a percentage of its annual net gate receipts with the VRFA. But that provision doesn't kick in until receipts top $5 million. Parking and lodging fees are exempted from that calculation. What Anderson described as "a small, core group" has negotiated with Larry Vander Maten, president of Virginia Living Histories, for at least a year. Vander Maten, a certified public accountant, also heads a nursing home management company and a real estate company. Tom Brock and Stan Lanford are at the core of the negotiating group. Brock is chairman of the River Foundation, a private fund-raising organization that supports Explore Park. Lanford is a member of the River Foundation and the VRFA. The VRFA did not authorize the group to negotiate on its behalf and much of the board was unaware of the deal. Anderson learned of the negotiations in December, when he became chairman. Wanda Reed, who has been nominated to represent the park's neighbors on the VRFA, calls the park "a jewel of a piece of property." But she doesn't think Roanoke County should continue to foot the bill. "I am a proponent of Explore Park, therefore, I hope the final project would somehow incorporate the excellent outdoor recreational opportunities, education and environmental programs currently being offered while generating revenues to sufficiently build, operate and maintain new structures and programs," Reed said in an e-mail. "... Those agencies and the community impacted by this new venture should have an opportunity to negotiate critical long term issues before a contract is signed." The company is unlikely to offer a plan before it completes a marketing study. That would begin after the contract is signed. From 2000 until October, Virginia Living Histories was called Old West Living Histories. Its mission, according to papers filed with the Missouri secretary of state, was "to increase the knowledge of the general public about historic events of the Old West and involving the general public in historic re-enactments of early western daily activities." According to the company's filings with the Internal Revenue Service, it has not spent money on such programs. That doesn't worry Reed. "If Virginia Living History can provide the revenue for such a large-scale project, certainly creative and qualified staff will be brought on board to handle the details," she wrote. |
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