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The Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority is an unwieldy name for a group appointed by Virginia's governor to oversee a state-owned park that isn't a state park and doesn't routinely receive state funding. If that seems unclear, you probably have a firm grip on the facts. Twenty years ago, when Explore Park was just a gleam in then-Roanoke City Manager Bern Ewert's eye, some of the Roanoke Valley's most powerful businessmen formed the River Foundation, determined to turn that gleam into a tourist-attracting jewel. The group - driven by Roanoke Electric Steel Founder John Hancock, Grand Piano Chairman George Cartledge and developer T.A. Carter - was decried by former state Sen. Granger Macfarlane, D-Roanoke, as "a small group of businessmen who want to impose their will on everyone in this valley." Last week, Rupert Cutler, a Roanoke city councilman and a former executive director of the park, called the foundation's founders "the big hitters around here that had a pretty idealized vision of that place." Eventually, foundation members concluded that Explore had a better chance to succeed with state backing, so they persuaded the General Assembly to establish what state code calls "a political subdivision of the commonwealth," the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority. The VRFA was supposed to create "a recreational attraction," promote tourism and economic development, conserve scenic areas and open space, and foster research and education. The governor appointed the VRFA's members, but only with the River Foundation's approval. The original VRFA had nine members. Gov. Gerald Baliles named Lawrence Hamlar, George Nester and the seven members of the River Foundation. In addition to Hamlar, Nester, Carter, Cartledge, and Hancock, the VRFA included banker Doug Cruickshanks, then Roanoke College President Norman Fintel, former Roanoke County Supervisor May Johnson and former Gov. Linwood Holton. Holton made few of the group's gatherings, but he's still listed as a director emeritus. So is Fintel. Carter is still active on both the VRFA and the River Foundation. At its 1987 organizational meeting, the VRFA elected Hamlar, a funeral home president, the authority's first chairman. Nester, then Vinton's town manager, was named vice chairman. That was apparently meant to mollify critics suspicious of a group of businessmen who had done much of the organizing, fund raising and political horse trading that fueled Explore's early development behind closed doors. Ewert, who was by then Explore's director, called it "symbolic and important" that people outside the River Foundation were chosen to lead the VRFA. Of course, those outsiders could still be out-voted by more than 2-1 by River Foundation members. Over time, the River Foundation's control waned. In 1988, housecleaning legislation meant to remove anomalies and contradictions from state code took away the foundation's veto of gubernatorial appointments before hardly anyone noticed. Even so, four foundation members still serve among the VRFA's 11 current members. Beginning July 1, the board, which is supposed to have 13 members, will grow to 19 with the addition of six state legislators: two senators and four delegates. In 2001, when Roanoke County began putting roughly $700,000 in cash and services into Explore's annual budget, the VRFA created a new category of membership. Pete Haislip, director of Roanoke County's Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, and Diane Hyatt, the county's chief financial officer, are advisory members of Explore Park's Board. |
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