Architect's renderings

These drawings show the design of a proposed inn and restaurant on the top of Mill Mountain. See larger images of the drawing: First sketch | Second sketch.

Photo gallery

• See a gallery of sketches for the proposed inn and restaurant

A new organization of young professionals hopes to make Roanoke more progressive by bringing back a piece of Mill Mountain's past.

The group, Valley Forward, proposed at a Wednesday news conference that the city lease land on top of the mountain for development of an inn and restaurant that group leaders believe could unlock a brighter future for Roanoke's economy and tourism.

The plan might mark a second coming of the old Rockledge Inn that, until it burned in 1976, occupied a spot in the saddle of the mountain's summit for 84 years between the landmark neon Mill Mountain Star and the zoo. But this reincarnation would have the modern, upscale flair of 45 to 60 rooms, a fine restaurant, a jazz bar, meeting rooms and a coffee and sandwich cafe.

It would be designed to capitalize on views of the valley below from vast windows and broad terraces and become a destination for tourists and a place to seal a deal with a business prospect, the group's leaders said.

Valley Forward claims broad support among community and business leaders, including a majority of city council members and members of the Fishburn family, whose grandfather, businessman and benefactor Junius Blair Fishburn, donated the mountain to the city for recreational use beginning in the 1940s.

That support was apparent from the presence of dozens of people at Wednesday's announcement at the Roanoke Higher Education Center who included members of the Fishburn family and Mayor Nelson Harris.

Harris said he enthusiastically supports the concept as "environmentally sensitive and economically sensible."

The inn would provide a critical link between the Blue Ridge Parkway and the valley's cultural center in downtown Roanoke, Harris said.

Valley Forward chairman John Lugar stressed that the group doesn't stand to make money from the project. Rather, the group hopes to serve as a catalyst to win approval for the idea so an owner/operator could develop it.

Lugar and vice chairman Robert Fralin estimate the inn could be built for between $12 million and $20 million, but that estimate is not based on any actual architectural drawings or engineering. All costs would be assumed by the owner/operator. Meanwhile, the inn could generate as much as $300,000 annually in revenue for the city, they said.

Derek Cundiff, an architect on the Valley Forward board, drew renderings of one concept of the inn to help people visualize the project as the rustic mountain lodge the group has in mind.

The group will present its vision to the Roanoke City Council on Tuesday. From there, Harris expected the council would support releasing a request for proposals to attract a qualified owner for the project.

Harris also proposed that the council appoint a proposal-review committee, with representatives from Valley Forward, the Fishburn family, a member of the Mill Mountain Advisory Committee and the business community joining city staff. The city council ultimately would have to approve the structure and lease.

From there, it's up to the private sector to bite on the idea.

Lugar and Fralin said informal talks with people in the hotel and restaurant industries give them plenty of hope.

"We expect to have a number of interested, qualified parties," said Lugar, who is president of Virginia Varsity Transfer.

Valley Forward announced its existence just two weeks ago as a group of young professionals who want to make Roanoke more attractive to young professionals. They promised bold ideas carried into action.

But the reborn Rockledge Inn has been on the minds of the group's founders for a couple of years.

They say they have strived to make the inn something respectful of the mountain's natural assets. Cundiff's renderings show earth-toned and natural materials on the exterior of a building snuggled into a slope to reduce its profile from the already developed mountain summit. The building can't help but be visible from the valley below, Lugar and Fralin said, but its appearance shouldn't be jarring in its natural surroundings.

A proposed parking structure would be built on a slope across the road to the star with its top level even with the road, Fralin said.

While Valley Forward's leaders anticipate resistance from people who prefer Mill Mountain as it is, they have lobbied hard to win broad support. And they've won over at least a few potential detractors.

Rupert Cutler, a conservation-minded former city councilman, praised the group's sensitivity to the environment and called the inn a good fit. He proposed it be coupled with a conservation easement that would protect the rest of the mountain from further development -- an idea Lugar and Fralin said they support.

"I have been someone who has been reluctant to see the mountain developed," said Scott Shackelford, a grandson of J.B. Fishburn, who died in 1955. But Shackelford, too, was impressed by the inn idea. He said the Fishburn family supports the idea, but "the integrity of the mountain must be held together."

Fralin and Lugar also touted the inn as a boon to the struggling Mill Mountain Zoo.

Zoo director Sean Greene sees the same potential, though he stopped short of endorsing the inn specifically.

"We're out of sight, out of mind," he said. "To me, it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it preserves the natural beauty of Mill Mountain and gets people up there."

The proposal seems not entirely consistent with the city's Mill Mountain Management Plan, adopted in 2005. The plan, now part of the city's comprehensive plan, generally advocates keeping the mountain natural and calls for the summit to be limited to civic and recreational uses. The plan notes a shift in public consciousness that turned interest in the mountain from profit potential to preservation in recent decades.

The inn idea seems poised for a smooth journey through the city council, but its advocates expect plenty of public questioning.

"Be forewarned," Harris told the friendly crowd Wednesday. "The idea does represent change. There will be those who will intentionally characterize this as destructive development."

But Lugar said part of his group's mission is to get the valley talking about big ideas again. He's waiting to see how a city prone to interminable debate receives this one.

"It's really a litmus test on what Roanoke wants to be."