Roanoke eyes improvements at Handley Springs Park
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The gazebo and other features at Handley Springs Park are in need of major repairs.
A neglected and somewhat overlooked historical site in Roanoke may be getting new life, if the Roanoke City Council has its way.
The council spent about 15 minutes at Monday’s city council meeting discussing the future of Handley Springs Park. The small grassy area has a gazebo as its centerpiece and sits at the corner of LaFayette and Guy Streets across from the back side of Handley High School’s main building.
The conversation was sparked by councilmember Ouida Delashaw’s inquiry about the condition of the park’s gazebo. City street department supervisor Keith Richardson told Delashaw the roof would have to be rebuilt.
“It’s not a patch job,” he said.
Mayor Adam Melton said he had preliminary discussions with a couple of possible repairmen, but those discussions had not reached the point of coming up with an estimate for what it would cost to rebuild the gazebo’s roof.
Water damage is evident in multiple spots of the ceiling of the gazebo, indicating long-term leaks that have caused irreparable damage.
“I just hate to see that go away,” Delashaw said. “It’s been there for so, so long.”
Councilmember Tim Jacobs took up for the park’s cause as well.
“I’d like to see some kind of small improvements over there,” Jacobs said. “We don’t have many parks. And I know the parking’s not great, but it is a city park. And if we could make some small improvements I think it would be great for the whole city. It’s just something to think about.”
Jacobs also spoke of creating a detailed plan for how to improve the area, to include upgraded accessibility both to foot traffic and to disabled citizens. There are remnants of a walkway leading from the small stone bridge down to the gazebo, but it’s a fairly steep slope and the walkway no longer extends all the way down to the park’s main area around the gazebo with sections either completely grown over or worn away.
Randolph County Chamber of Commerce director Dorothy Tidwell said that grant money could be available, particularly when it comes to creating greater accessibility to a public area.
“Basically there’s no accessibility for somebody who is disabled to go to the park,” Tidwell said. “That’s going to be your important thing that needs to be in that grant, accessibility for everybody.”
It was also suggested that the city involve the Roanoke Rotary Club and present to that group as a possible future project.
The council agreed to have a workshop meeting before the next scheduled council meeting July 20 to discuss in detail what needs to be done with the park. The councilmembers all agreed to visit the park to get a firsthand look at its condition and come up with suggestions for what improvements are needed.
“If you go back through the years and the yearbooks, so many pictures have been made over there,” Delashaw said. “Class pictures and senior class pictures have taken place over there. It’s just part of our history and I would hate to see it go by the wayside.”
