In Roanoke, the People Speak, but Is Anybody Listening?

Roanoke City Market Building.

I got this e-mail from Spectrum Design's John Garland this morning:

A news article today "reported on ideas submitted to EnvisionRoanoke.com.  The most popular ideas included:

• “Pedestrian only plaza in downtown Roanoke.”  We designed a pedestrian only plaza for Downtown Roanoke Incorporated in front of Center in the Square that got no traction with our City Council.
• “Rooftop dining over the Roanoke City Market Building.”  We proposed that to the city when we were first hired to perform a conditions study for the City Market Building that was promptly discounted, and we again proposed this as an idea when we interviewed for the Market Building renovation project, which we lost to the D.C. firm.
• “Closing Market Street to vehicles in favor of foot traffic.” Again we recommended this on different occasions.We recommended the rooftop dining at the Market Building and also when we were developing plans for Center in the Square.

"I guess really good ideas take time to incubate?"

This continues to emphasize just how wrong the city was when it selected an out-of-town (out-of-state) firm to renovate one of the city's icon structures, the City Market Building, which looks like a warehouse these days. The people are speaking (again). I hope somebody's listening.