Rebecca Barnett | The Roanoke Times

Two women walk along the sidewalk in front of the Roanoke City Market Building on Thursday. The Market Building Foundation Board, which sets policy for the building, leases the building and the sidewalks around it.

The Roanoke Times | File 2006

Prior to the renovations, activists with Plowshare Peace & Justice Center had long held demonstrations on the building’s sidewalk. However, a decision has been made to disallow any more such events.

Rebecca Barnett | The Roanoke Times

The Roanoke City Market Building recently completed $7.9 million in renovations, and tenants have begun to move in.

Rebecca Barnett | The Roanoke Times

Roger Simmons (right) helps Scott Horne with his homework outside of the Roanoke City Market Building on Thursday afternoon. Horne is a culinary arts student at Virginia Western Community College and uses the free Wi-Fi at the market building often.

The sidewalk in front of the Roanoke City Market Building has since 1978 served as home to demonstrations by the Plowshare Peace & Justice Center.

That practice ended this month — as did the chances for any other licensed public assembly at the iconic downtown Roanoke building.

The Market Building Foundation Board, which sets policy for the building, voted 5-1 in mid-September to deny requests to assemble on the awning-shaded sidewalk along Campbell Avenue.

"Our conclusion was it would have an adverse impact on our tenants — the vendors who are using the spaces in the market building to serve their patrons — to have public assemblies on that sidewalk," Chairman Doug Waters said.

But Michael Bentley, chairman of Plowshare's Peace Vigil Committee, questioned the decision to restrict assemblies in perhaps the most prominent, visible spot in the city. He said the sidewalk in front of the market building is Roanoke's version of London's Hyde Park Speakers' Corner — a place for free expression where anybody can say anything, so long as it's lawful.

"It's like the market building was designed for a free speech zone," Bentley said. "The sidewalk is to me a public space and completely free for public use."

The foundation board's decision was prompted by an assembly application submitted by the Plowshare group in late August. Since April 2005 it's held monthly, silent vigils against the Iraq War.

When the market was closed for renovations last year, the group moved to the fountain at the intersection of Market Street and Church Avenue. But with the reopening of the building on Labor Day weekend, the group wanted to shift the vigil back to its original site, Bentley said.

City officials sent the group to Hall Associates, which is handling day-to-day operations of the market building for the foundation. Hall Associates in turn sent the request to the foundation board.

Bentley said Plowshare's members were told that although they were welcome to attend the board's Sept. 14 meeting, their request was not on the agenda, and they would not be allowed to speak; they chose not to attend.

However, the board spent 90 minutes discussing the issue before deciding to deny the permit — as well as others that may be submitted.

"Clearly, in their view, their right to conduct commerce trumps our right to free speech under the Constitution of the United States," Bentley said. "Which are you for, business or free speech?"

Although the city owns the building and surrounding sidewalks, it leased both to the foundation for 40 years to help satisfy a legal requirement allowing it to use state and federal tax credits in the $7.9 million renovation of the City Market Building. The sidewalks were included in the lease to facilitate outdoor dining for the restaurants that lease kitchen and retail spaces in the building.

City Attorney Bill Hackworth said he had warned the city council that transferring the building lease would result in loss of control by the city over the property.

"I figured there would be issues like this," Hackworth said. "This is the first time any have come up, probably won't be the last."

Waters said many board members are sympathetic to Plowshare's cause but saw potential for the vigils to disrupt business for restaurants and other businesses.

"We need to do everything in our power to let these vendors be successful and have the fewest possible obstacles to conducting their business," Waters said.

Bentley and Plowshare Director Gary Sandman said the vigils don't interfere with customers entering and leaving the market building. They said participants silently stand along the edge of the street, leaving the sidewalk open to pedestrians and the building's entrance open to customers.

Beth Deel, a community activist and artist, represents the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce on the market board. Two years ago, she helped coordinate "Must See TV" - a performance-art spectacle in which 60 participants brought televisions downtown and at a preset moment proceeded to stare at them for five minutes.

Police charged one participant with impeding foot traffic and obstruction of justice. The clash of art and commerce resulted in a series of meetings among police, city officials and artists. It's also the type of event Waters said the board wants to prevent from happening in front of the building.

Deel said she fully supports free speech and expression, but that the board made the decision to put the businesses leasing space first.

"The issue is that the common space in the building is leased to the businesses in the building," Deel said. "It's not our space to permit assembly. So the common spaces that look like sidewalks are leased to the businesses in the building."

Deel said she hopes a revitalized City Market Building will spur more activity around the entire market district, and that goes for free speech and expression, too.

Bentley, however, said that moving elsewhere in the market area won't be the same. During the renovation, when Plowshare moved to the fountain at Church and Market — "the second best place," he said — the group handed out half as many pamphlets as it did when holding the vigil in front of the market building.

"There is no other space in Roanoke comparable — at least for visibility — for demonstrations," Bentley said. "There is no other place in the market area comparable."

Sandman said Plowshare will decide its next move during a meeting Oct. 10.

The board's decision to restrict public assembly will not affect the Star Trolley Line's stop at the building, at least in the long term. The stop was moved to Awful Arthur's during the market building's renovation.

However, Valley Metro General Manager Carl Palmer said the stop will shift back to the City Market Building as early as next week. The only delay, he said, is finding a new spot for drivers to layover to keep on schedule. Trolley drivers had previously done that at that City Market Building, but the board requested that Valley Metro shift that layover stop to another site.