Downtown Roanoke On An October Day

[br1078lum]

When I go downtown to take care of my monthly business, every so often I'll bring a camera with me.  This time it was the Canon Sure Shot Zoom XL, with Fujifilm 200.


Roanoke City Market by br1078phot, on Flickr
The Roanoke City Market was closed down last year for major renovations.  A year later, and it opened back up for the Labor Day weekend.  With only one vendor ready on opening day, it was quite a let down.  There are now two vendors operating restuarants inside, but there are another ten empty stalls waiting to be filled, and so far only six more vendors lined up.


Roanoke City Market by br1078phot, on Flickr
One of the mosaics applied to the entrances (4).  This is at the main entrance, on Campbell Avenue.


Roanoke City Market by br1078phot, on Flickr
Inside, it is very airy and light, unlike the old version.  But then some say it has lost it's charm too.


Roanoke City Market by br1078phot, on Flickr
Four of the empty vendor stalls, and an upstairs eating area.


Roanoke City Market by br1078phot, on Flickr
Upstairs eating area.  This will be filled when all the vendors get up and running, and the lunchtime crowd comes back.There is a third level which is a meeting/dance hall, and where back in the old days boxing matches were held.

PF

[r-brian]

Nice photo essay.  Hope the City Market fills up and makes a go at it.  Will always have a soft spot for western VA, having spent 7 years in Blacksburg.

[radiophoto]

I too wish the market much success!  Buildings with a sense of history all too often tend to be neglected by those who have none themselves.  Very nice pics, Phil.  I love that mosaic!

[shadowfox]

Phil, that is a good reportage on the topic of rejuvenated historic buildings.
I care a lot about efforts to restore or maintain historic places.

I hope when the economy picks up, more vendors would fill the place up.
I wonder if the upstairs can be partitioned to allow for smaller meetings, like for clubs or workshops.
People always are looking for a good place to meet.

[jamesmck]

Nice presentation, Phil.  Good, crisp performance from the Canon.  It is good to see efforts being made to keep historic buildings alive.

James

[br1078lum]

Thanks, Guys.  One of the main problems with the rebuilding of the Market was it was bungled right from the start by the City.  They just kind of said to the vendors, "Oh, by the way, we'll be closing the place in a couple of months for a year.  Nice to know you."  And don't get me started on the company they hired to resign the leases.  Some of the vendors were so upset, they left town!  Others could not afford to be shut down for a year, and closed up shop altogether.  Then some that wanted to come back have run into roadblocks with the management company about their leases, so they've given up, and have relocated.  But this is how things get done in Roanoke.  You let the problem fester until you have to tick off everybody to fix it, then no one likes the fix either.  And on top of all that, the gas company is replacing all the lines downtown, the electric company is replacing several transformer vaults, and the other main attraction across from the Market (Center-In-The-Square, a museum and art space) has been shut down for renovation, with it's associated construction vehicles taking up half the square.  All at the same time.

So the City Market vendors got squeezed, and the Farmers Market vendors are getting squeezed.  No one downtown is happy with all this going on, and with the economy being as it is, the City Market may never get the business back like it was, with folks finding alternatives like packing their own lunch.  But I'm hopeful that all will be better some day, and we can get this debacle behind us.

On a lighter note, the technique I used to take the mosaic photo was to hold the camera above my head and pointing down, so the plane of focus would be flatter.  Luckily, I got enough of it in the frame to make a decent crop, eliminating the sidewalk sign out front.

PF

[lesged]

Phil,

I saw the excellent photo reportage of your Roanoke monthly visit when you posted it and thought I made a comment.  Well, I guess that never happened. Sorry!

I've been following your series of P&S cameras and have enjoyed seeing the great work you've made with those little guys. I tip my hat high in admiration when you disclose the camera was repaired or rebuilt by you. With your artisan touch a certain je ne sais quoi creeps into the essence of the photos. 

[LarryD]

Stunning.

[br1078lum]

Les, I highly appreciate your comments.  Coming from the Zen Master of NFf makes it all the better.  I'm going to have to watch it though while working on the cameras.  My Rollieflex took a tumble off the workbench with a Yashica Aux Telephoto lens on it, and it caved in the front plate.  Then I was working on an Olympus Accura View 90, and got across the flash circuit.  That was five days ago, and I still have the burn marks on my finger.

Thank you, Grandpa Larry.

PF

[LarryD]

Ohh Sheet.... That is a little one.. I had a 1970s TV capacitor get me... CPR and I was all fine...fine..fine.. fine.... fine... LOL

[martolod]

the ones that WILL kill yer are the caps in a microwave oven or a radar unit......thems are BIG MUTHERS......many a service tech is pushing up daisies because they forgot to short the capacitor out after discharging,or forgot to discharge the Caps in the first place. DC shocks are a lethal thing.....i should know(but that is another story for another time)

[br1078lum]

The really bad part about it was I had put a battery in the camera so I could test the drive train, so the cap had a full charge on it, plus.  Luckily, it made a soft landing when I reflexively tossed it.  I think from now on, I'll wear rubber gloves when I have the electronic guts of a camera exposed.

PF