City Leaders Need Vision for Countryside

Dear Editor,

As a member of the Roanoke Park & Rec. Advisory Board I would like to express my thoughts on Countryside Golf Course. We were asked to do so at a recent meeting.  My opinion is strictly my own and in no way represents the Board’s which I’m privileged to serve on. I have run my opinion by a number of friends and associates and they expressed support to the degree that they felt it should be shared with the public for their consideration and support.

I think it would be short sighted, from a long term perspective to do any major development of this land.

Other than the land that was once the proposed site of the Stadium/Amphitheater at Orange Ave., isn’t Countryside the largest parcel of undeveloped land left in the city?

Given how land locked the city is, this could have a profound economic impact on an unknown future for our city; it would seem it would be in the best interest of the future of our city to have some land bankrolled for the future.

One of the major issues with the property is the question of what it would cost us today to keep this land undeveloped for the future.  But, since we are not able to see twenty, thirty, fifty years down the road, we would do well to remember that whatever cost we might have to incur to preserve this land today, may very well pay unforeseen dividends in the future should some project for development come along that simply can’t be imagined today.

Obviously, a golf course will have as little impact as could be achieved, but the city should keep the above considerations in mind as to what, if any, development it will consider for now and in the near future.

I believe if the American Theatre had been saved it would have proven to be a crown jewel in the heart of downtown Jefferson Street. They could not have seen the future back then, just as we cannot see the future now. I believe the day will inevitably come that will prove that tearing down Victory Stadium was one of the worst mistakes the city has made.  No one was able to see or predict the need or use for such a facility, but the day will come when we will want such a facility of that size, which consultants eight years ago estimated would cost over $30 Million to replace.

In closing, what the city decides on Countryside today, could have a far reaching impact on tomorrow. It is incumbent upon those making the ultimate decision to decide in the best interest of the future of Roanoke and not let money be the ultimate determining factor.

– E. Duane Howard