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The board that oversees Virginia's Explore Park plans to vote Thursday night on whether to turn the park over to a Missouri nonprofit company for 50 years. Virginia Living Histories plans to turn the 1,155-acre into a theme park, though Larry Vander Maten, the company's president, won't say what the theme might be. That will be determined by the results of a series of studies, Vander Maten said. "It will not be Six Flags over Roanoke," he said. Stan Lanford, a member of the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority and the fund-raising River Foundation, was one of the key negotiators who put the deal together. Lanford said in an interview this morning that Explore's board, the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority, will likely give Vander Maten a chance to do those studies and develop those themes. Once the contract is signed, Vander Maten will have five years to conduct marketing studies and begin construction. Vander Maten plans to attend a community meeting at Explore Park this evening. The meeting is scheduled in the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center at 7 p.m. The VRFA, meanwhile, meets at 7 p.m. Thursday at the visitor center. — Tim Thornton |
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