Can you spot your SAVVY publishers at the Virginia Museum of Transportation on this Class J No. 1218 steam engine?


company), and a $6.5 million loan from a bank consortium. That left a $6 million gap, and one year to fill it. Virginia Tech turned to the community for assistance. Working closely with the City of Roanoke, a community-based fundraising effort called “Renew Roanoke” was launched. With leadership provided by the Mayor, former Mayor and other local dignitaries, an aggressive public awareness campaign was implemented. The Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Roanoke, Inc., and several civic organizations coordinated the placement of collection boxes throughout the city. Over 2,800 individuals and businesses gave or made pledges, ranging from pennies to $2 million. In six weeks, the $6 million was raised.


In 1993, the restoration and remodeling of Hotel Roanoke began, and the hotel re-opened in April 1995. Hotel Roanoke carefully preserves the past with its antique-filled lobby, original Czech-made chandeliers, a restored Regency Room (home of the signature Peanut Soup), Pine Room (formerly an Officers' Club in World War II), and the Palm Court, the original ceiling of which was painted to show the constellations as they appeared in the skies the day the first train came to Roanoke in 1852. Simultaneously, the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center embraces the future with a 63,000 square- foot meeting space featuring state-of-the-art technology and accommodating more than 1,200 people.


Currently, The Hotel Roanoke is privately owned by subsidiary corporations of the Virginia Tech Foundation. The conference center is owned by the Hotel Roanoke Conference Center Commission (HRCCC), a public entity established by the Virginia General Assembly in 1991. The City and Virginia Tech equally share in the operational expenses and revenues of the conference center. The property is operated by Doubletree Hotels, a part of Hilton Hotels Corporation. To learn more about this historic hotel, visit www.hotelroanoke.com.


Downtown Roanoke currently holds the reputation of being Southwestern Virginia's preeminent business address, where 12,000 people work. With the completion of The Patrick Henry, Sixteen West and City High School residential conversions, the downtown' population will break 1,000 residents; and each of these projects are taking vacant and underutilized structures and returning them to vibrant tax generating additions to the urban living scene.


The downtown area boasts three primary museums. The remodeled historic Norfolk & Western freight station houses the Virginia Musem of Transportation, home to the largest collection of diesel and steam locomotives in the United States, including the Class J No. 611 and 1218 steam engines, with over 50 pieces of rolling stock in the Museum yard. Also on display are antique carriages, cars, trucks, buses and trolleys and more. The O. Winston Link Museum is named for the internationally acclaimed photographer who cataloged the history of the locomotive years with stunningly-artistic, often-surreal photography and audio recordings.


The railroad gave Hotel Roanoke to the Virginia Tech Real Estate Foundation and hoped that the foundation would be able to renovate the hotel and the City of Roanoke would help build a conference center adjacent to it. Yet there was a give-back clause associated with the gift: Virginia Tech had four years in which to assemble financing for the project, or the hotel would remit back to the railroad. There was no doubt that this would mean the demolition of the historic structure. Virginia Tech was able to raise most of the needed funds in three years. These amounted to a $6 million HUD 108 loan, $7 million from the Virginia Tech Real Estate Foundation, a $1.3 million loan from Doubletree Hotels (the hotel's subsequent management


While these two museums aptly preserve Roanoke's interesting past, the modern Taubman Museum symbolizes a new era for Roanoke.


Thanks to its rich history and the residents determined to preserve and add to it for the next generations, Roanoke will continue to be known for its rich railroad heritage, blossoming arts community, abundant markets, and much more including the fact that the Roanoke Valley has the highest number of restaurants per capita ratio than any other city in Virginia. Its beautiful location in the Shenandoah Valley continues to draw residents seeking all that the city can offer and the opportunity to participate in a diversity of adventurous outdoor activities available right in their backyard. The Greater Roanoke Valley has a population over 300,000, and Money Magazine has ranked it as one of the top three “Best Places to Retire in the United States.” For more information, visit www.visitroanokeva.com


In Mobile, MoonPie Means Money


Gras coronations in Mobile rival those of real coronations in Europe. General madness overtakes Mobile annually in the weeks and days preceding Ash Wednesday as chants of "Moon Pie! Moon Pie!" (the favored “throw” of Mardi Gras maskers) fill the air of this historic Port City. But more than just a lot of fun, according to overall economic impact studies, Mardi Gras in Mobile pumps some $408 million annually into the local economy and supports nearly 13,000 jobs!


The 12-foot-tall, electronic MoonPie atop the 34-story RSA Bank Trust Building is a defining symbol of Mobile, Alabama—site of the New World's first Mardi Gras dating back to 1703. (That's more than 60 years before New Orleans adopted the tradition.) National Geographic says the Mardi


that consistently passed through. Their legacy is written across the area in its art, architecture, food, religion and the names of its citizens. Today, every visitor is affected in some way by Mobile's past.


Mobile's colorful history is splashed with growth, loss, triumph, battles, shipwrecks, hurricanes, celebrations and just about everything in between. Its influences were shaped by the diverse cargo and exotic travelers


Mobile Bay was the first body of water in the New World to be accurately charted. This was done by Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, when he set sail with four ships from Jamaica to explore the northern Gulf Coast in 1519. Founded in 1702, Mobile became the capital of French Louisiana. With a deep bay and harbor area, Mobile has always been the perfect shipping port. The barrier islands of Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island were ideal for military strategists who built strong forts on them to assure that only welcome guests ventured into the bay. Battles fought for control of this strategic location put Mobile under a total of six flags in the course of its history—first the French, then Spanish, British, Republic of Alabama, Confederacy and finally the US flag in 1813.


Attention Green Builders:


Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains above the Rock Castle Gorge Wilderness Area, Chateau Morrisette is a short scenic drive away from Roanoke that produces some of Virginia's premier and most popular wines. But what may interest builders most about it, is the fact that it is the largest timber frame building of its kind in the country. Salvaged timbers from across the United States used in its construction include Douglas fir reclaimed from the floating sidewalks that were once used on the St. Lawrence Seaway and timbers from a historical warehouse in Seattle, WA.


IXII GREATER DFW METROPLEX BUILDING SAVVY MAGAZINE


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SAVVY TRAVELS


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