City Market Building, Amphitheater Get OK

OK, now we’re moving. Roanoke City Council—in the waning months of City Manager Darlene Burcham’s administration—has decided to proceed with City Market Building renovations ($5.7 million) and build a 5,000-seat amphitheater in Elmwood Park ($1.2 million for the architectural/engineering study).

The Market Building project, which had a unanimous vote, will get started with a $700,000 engineering study on top of its third $120,000 architectural study, completed recently. The renovation is scheduled for 2011. The amphitheater vote was 6-1.

There has been considerable criticism of the city for giving many of these architectural/engineering contracts to out of town firms. The Market Building study has been of special concern (see Dan Smith's My View column in the June issue of FRONT).

City Council has agreed that the National Guard Armory on <, which used to front Victory Stadium in the north end zone, should be razed with the demolition scheduled this winter. There is no plan for the site, which sits across the street from the Carilion biomedical park. The status of the controversial Countryside Golf Course remains in limbo as responses to request for proposal for the property are evaluated. The Countryside project was at the center of a Roanoker Magazine piece on Darlene Burcham (“Queen Darlene"). Council set asked $2 million for improvements at the course.