Roanoke County’s master plan for 1100-acre Explore Park is beginning to come into focus with the latest rounds of public meetings and online surveys giving Parks, Recreation and Tourism more details on what the public wants to see there in the future. The County now has a 99 year lease, from the Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority, to manage the former living history attraction.
“We’ve taken all of the feedback we’ve received through the first round of community meetings and online surveys and used that as the baseline for developing the first draft of the conceptual plan for Explore Park,” said Parks, Recreation and Tourism Executive Director Doug Blount. At more recent public meetings, just held at two locations in the county, those initial plans were rolled out for further review.
Those plans show a proposed road and trail system, how the different venues in the park are connected, and “activity pods,” as Blount terms them, “such as mountain bike trails, camping, RV, cabins, different type of aerial activities, with rope courses, treehouses etc.” A zip-line has been an often-requested feature, said Blount.
A concept for a much more commercial type of living history attraction failed after the county had already changed zoning requirements in anticipation of hundreds of millions of dollars in development by an out-of-town builder. The unfulfilled project was blamed in part on the economy slump brought on by the 2008 recession.
Explore Park has long been seen as an underutilized property that could provide a nice bookend to Roanoke County’s Green Hill Park near Salem. There are some trails and a small boat launch ramp now, along with a Blue Ridge Parkway visitor’s center staffed in large part by volunteers.
Outside consultants Wallace, Roberts & Todd from Philadelphia are working to help develop a master plan for Roanoke County at Explore Park. Two other consulting groups including Balzer and Associates locally are also in the mix. The latest round of public feedback will be compared to the early draft master plan to see where any tweaks might be made, according to Blount.
“Then we will finalize, in terms of what we have, for a conceptual plan.” Then comes cost estimates and developing a business plan. Showing how the park can cover its operating costs and then generate additional revenue is at the top of the wish list. Some opposed the county’s ambitious plans for Explore Park, saying it has been a drain on resources and on the taxpayers in the past.
The Roanoke County Board of Supervisors should see the conceptual plan draft at a work session in March said Blount, who aims to have it approved by that same board in April or May. The only capital funds requested at this time are for water and sewer infrastructure work needed at the park before the public-private partnerships envisioned to build lodging, campgrounds, a mountain bike center and other attractions can move forward. The 2017 budget year is where more funding will be requested for anything beyond that. said Blount.
Having an approved master plan in place will make it easier to find those private partners and to apply for grants that might be out there, Blount adds. “They understand – the private industries that are looking at this – that these are the priorities we have for the park.”
Gene Marrano
