Roanoke and community partners announce plans to revitalize northwest part of the city
ROANOKE, Va. – The details of a plan that aims to enhance the quality of life for those living in northwest Roanoke are starting to come together.
Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, the city of Roanoke, and other community partners made an announcement about plans for a new center on Tuesday morning. There will be a grocery store, an adult high school, a wellness center, and banking services in the new center.
As part of the proposal, the facility that has been used as the headquarters for Goodwill will be repurposed, and services will be brought back to Northwest Roanoke.
Goodwill Industries of the Valleys is led by Richmond Vincent, who serves as both president and CEO of the organization.
“We are not creating something brand new,” Vincent said. “We are not doing something that hasn’t been done before. We’re restoring this community back to what it was once before, before urban renewal.”
The plans to bring a grocery store to the area have been in the works for many years, during which time community organizers have been laying the framework for the endeavor. People who support the area think it would have a much bigger impact if it had a wellness center, financial services, and an adult high school.
“This is a place of hope, a place where we can have jobs in the community. That’s how I made it,” said longtime resident and neighborhood advocate Richard Chubb.
“We would like for it to be a Roanoke renaissance,” said Marion Ware with the NW Food Access Initiative. “We would like for businesses, like the ones across the street, black-owned businesses to have the support and sustainability to grow.”
The total cost of the renovation is expected to be more than $20 million. The city will pay $10 million of that cost with its share of money from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“The sort of icing on the cake came when the citizens advisory panel met to alk about how do we spend our ARPA dollars,” said Roanoke City Manager Bob Cowell. “And this project was number one. It was at the top both in priority and in dollars that they recommended the council commit.”
Goodwill’s current services on the site will still be available, but they will be moved to a different place.
It is possible that construction on Melrose Plaza will get underway during the second quarter of 2023, and the whole project should be finished by the end of 2024.
