Seeking Opportunities - #1

North Jefferson Street

near the entrance to the Higher Education Center

In the 1950’s the grade crossing over the railroad tracks was closed between North & South Jefferson Streets creating a separation in the core of downtown. When The Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center was developed, the developers (The City of Roanoke & the Virginia Tech Foundation) saw no need to provide any connection to North Jefferson St with the exception of some service and delivery activities because the NS Office Building North had been recently vacated by the NS. When the Higher Education Center was created, its main entrance was oriented to the West to take advantage of parking & expansion opportunities. As a result North Jefferson Street lost even more of its prominence and utilization as the City’s central corridor.

Recent investigation into immediate neighborhood interest in re-establishing vitality on North Jefferson Street revealed HRCC concern that opening the Conference Center to North Jefferson would likely have a negative impact on revenues for the hotel and conference center. The Higher Education Center, the Claude Moore Educational Center, and the Dumas Center all have numerous spaces available for booking for a variety of meeting functions and sizes. Easy accessability to these alternatives presents competition to HRCC.

Apparently, the greatest immediate need at the hotel is more guest rooms. An architectural firm has been retained to develop a preliminary design that responds to this need. It is my understanding that part of the design program includes additional meeting facilities. Currently additional meeting facilities are not required, but additional guest rooms create the additional need.

In 1992, the "Renew Roanoke" campaign was launched to raise enough money to reopen the hotel. Individuals and businesses from Roanoke region donated generously to this campaign. Further funding was provided by the citizens of Roanoke via tax dollars through the City of Roanoke. The City built the conference center and the multimillion dollar pedestrian bridge to the famous City Market. As a result the City of Roanoke became partners with the Virginia Tech Foundation as owners of the facilities. In its current configuration, the HRCC is the only beneficiary of the pedestrian bridge.

The irony is that the City of Roanoke government is now positioned as an obstacle to cultivating economic development in the northern sector of downtown.