Roanoke Shed Wins Reprieve

On-again, off-again plans for a 5,000-seat amphitheatre in Roanoke, Va., are on again – for now – with a 4-3 vote Aug. 3 to reverse a decision the previous week to shelve the shed.

For the moment, the project is back in the city’s capital improvement plan.

Officials from the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce and another civic booster organization said they were surprised at a July 20 vote to kill the project and urged the city council to reconsider, according to the Roanoke Times.

They were apparently successful in convincing one councilmember – all that was necessary to keep the amphitheatre on life support.

The capital plan includes $13 million for amphitheatre construction in 2013. Before the first shovel is turned, architectural and engineering work at the Elmwood Park site is expected to ring up another $1.2 million.

The council’s shed shuffle comes after years of debate and spans two elections in which it was a campaign issue, according to the paper. Squeamish councilmembers have reportedly cited economic uncertainty in opposing the project.