Wal-Mart may be an anchor store for planned development at Exit 47

[Spree]

I Love Burger King and was so disappointed when they left :(

I agree on Pal's also and a closer Dip Dog Stand :)

[Ken H]

The founder and owner of Pal's, "Pal" Barger, actually got his restaurant start here in Marion at the old "Wadie's Swamp Fox" before it was Wadie's. The Sauceburger at Pal's is, from best I can remember, the same as the old Biff Burger. Now you're talkin' old school - Biff Burger, Dairyland, Ray's Kingburger... those were the glory days of fast food in Marion for me!

Any time I happen to be in Abingdon, I take in the Burger King. The old space here in Marion is available again, and I've made preliminary contact with corporate. I haven't heard back, but am guessing they'd be looking for a franchise partner instead of doing a true company store.

Fatz Cafe has some interest in Marion, but they obviously want interstate access. The new development didn't excite them, so I'm kinda stuck, between topography and land owners locking down the other good sites along the I-81 corridor. But we'll see - there may be more news coming in the days ahead. In the meantime, let the restaurants you like know you're a loyal customer and want them in Marion. It does indeed help!

[kia]

oh gee wrote:

good comments mr. heath(ken h), but i have heard that some folks stood in the way of marion getting a cracker barrel which basically ended up in abingdon, and recreational areas for kids

Marion is a great community and not very different from others.I was born and raisA great place to live and raise a family.ed here.I moved away and lived in the dc area for 14 years.Thank goodness i came back home.By the way,Lowes was on Bear Creek for many years.

[Ken H]

oh gee wrote:
good comments mr. heath(ken h), but i have heard that some folks stood in the way of marion getting a cracker barrel which basically ended up in abingdon, and recreational areas for kids

Oh Gee -- thanks for the compliment!

Cracker Barrel was a strange one. One of the major guys at the company came to Marion and went around with the Chamber director, giving out free dinner coupons. Next thing I heard, they had skipped Marion because "too many people knew about their plans".??? Now, I got that second hand, so who really knows. I think the traffic in Wytheville, because of the 81/77 interchange, is what drew them there. The fact that it's taking a major, major investment to develop this site, and that there has been very little near the interstate that could be developed because of the way the land lays or because owners don't want to sell it also plays a part in what comes to our town. Lastly, the town's sign ordinance was always argued as a reason big chains wouldn't come to Marion, but we corrected that during my first term, about six years ago.

As far as a kids recreation area, I've worked on this for years. The Town has Riverbend Park, but if you have much traffic, there is no parking. But the town does offer the pool, rec program, and several playgrounds. The Lincoln Theatre offers children's theater, and of course the schools have their programs. I don't have kids - two yellow labs are plenty!! So I don't have a clue what kids would like. I tried working with a group on a teen center several years ago, and that didn't work out, and most recently, tried a Teen Night downtown to showcase high school "garage bands" and provide a fun thing for kids, but it didn't work out either. I'm not giving up - I've proposed the development of a Youth Council to learn about local civics and government, and to participate in the process - to give young people a voice. And a couple of churches, led by First United Methodist, are looking at a downtown building for a teen rec center, so I'll keep you posted! In the meantime, if you have ideas and want to help me, stop by my office and let's see what we can get done!

[Gayle Jackson]

That project was supposed to start in April. Why are all the heels dragging? The economy is terrible. My husband has been out of work since January. People need jobs and insurance. Please get this going to help our town.

[Ken H]

Gayle Jackson wrote:

That project was supposed to start in April. Why are all the heels dragging? The economy is terrible. My husband has been out of work since January. People need jobs and insurance. Please get this going to help our town.

Gayle:

The project is indeed taking longer than expected, but it's in the developer's hands now. Marion and Smyth County have passed the CDA ordinance, and the next step is for the developer to ask for the boundary adjustment. The whole thing still hinges on the developer being able to make the dollars work, and that's what they are working on now. We've got our fingers crossed, too, and I'll keep you up to date as I can.

[radar]

Ken, I hear E47 is on hold now. What's the latest, at least the part you can share?

[Ken H]

I haven't heard anything official. I've heard the same as you - tightened credit plus big box retailers and restaurants holding back sure don't look good for us.

I'll let you know as soon as I get word, one way or another. I only hope that the current walmart stays in town - not that I'm a great fan, but they hire a lot of people and generate a lot of tax revenue.

On the other hand, the scuttle is that Sheridan Ridge is still moving forward. I would have thought that would have been tougher to get financed, but maybe not.

There are more empty spaces than any of us want downtown right now, but there are some good things getting ready to happen - keep your fingers crossed for us all - and remember to support local businesses!

Wish I knew more, but the county has the lead on both Sheridan Ridge and Exit 47. We're in the position to offer secondary support when we're asked for it.(I hate being in the background, but that's the way it works, I guess).

[Ken H]

Good news! Word is that everything at Exit 47 is still a "go", just the timeline has shifted because of the economic mess! Again, keep your fingers crossed for this, and some other economic development, that is working right now. If the economy would get back on track, Marion and Smyth County have a really good shot at diversifying our retail/service sector, developing new housing, and expanding both our tourism base and our manufacturing.

Even while unemployment is up, I still hear from employers that it is difficult finding workers. The call center in Saltville held a job fair, and they're looking to do another one, maybe in Marion, soon. The Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a job fair at the Blue Ridge Job Corps later this month, and the afternoon is open to the public. I don't have the date in front of me, but will post it here tomorrow.

[SongofJoy]

Ken H -
My people are from Smyth County, and many of them still live there. I have enjoyed reading all the posts here tonight, and your posts are like letters from home that my late grandmother (who is buried in Roselawn Cemetery) used to write. I have enjoyed reading the posts and hearing from home, and my dream is to someday move to the area. Our economy is hurting here also. Keep up the good work ... I hope your readers take your advice by registering to vote, and attending town meetings. God Bless You All! Sign Me: Homesick

[Ken H]

SongofJoy wrote:

Ken H -
My people are from Smyth County, and many of them still live there. I have enjoyed reading all the posts here tonight, and your posts are like letters from home that my late grandmother (who is buried in Roselawn Cemetery) used to write. I have enjoyed reading the posts and hearing from home, and my dream is to someday move to the area. Our economy is hurting here also. Keep up the good work ... I hope your readers take your advice by registering to vote, and attending town meetings. God Bless You All! Sign Me: Homesick

Bless your heart! I sure appreciate your kind words, and I really do thank you for taking the time to post here. We'd love to have you come home to Marion!(Just bring in a pound or two of that famous NC bbq and I'll trade you a Dip Dog dinner!)

Ken

[SongofJoy]

lol ... I know exactly where DipDog is ... it was my late uncle's favorite place to eat.

[Ken H]

SongofJoy wrote:

lol ... I know exactly where DipDog is ... it was my late uncle's favorite place to eat.

It's been a favorite of mine since I can remember. Most people have vivid memories of growing up related to sports or vacations or whatever. My dad was in the restaurant business (Ray's Kingburger), so my earliest memories are of the Dip Dob, the Biff Burger, Dairyland, Deward Miller's Marion Diner -- and that explains my "girlish figure"!!!

[SongofJoy]

LOL!!! Rays Kingburger was my first job out of high school after I graduated in 1975 ... I caught a cab to work morning ... Next I worked at Happy's as a hostess. These were short term jobs, as I moved back to NC to liv with my aunt. Small world.

[Ken H]

Lordy mercy! Who was your manager back then - do you happen to remember? My dad was John Heath -- I remember Walt Robinson, Dean Stikes, Wayne Berry, Dennis Wyatt all taking turns at the helm at the Marion store (which is now a dry cleaner).

My first official job was at Rays Kingburger on 52 in Mount Airy. Worked my way up from dishwasher/mop boy to fry cook, to night assistant manager. I thought I was top dog, since my dad was director of operations and I had actually earned my stripes the hard way -- until he came in one night and fired me because one of the guys working for me didn't put mustard all the way down the weiner on a hot dog he fixed for the company owner. Tough gig!

Took me a long time to realize he had to be even harder on me than anyone else because I was his kid. But I still remember the sequence for the Kingburger - mayonnaise, two squirts ketchup, lettuce, three pickles, onion. And the "queenburger" secret sauce was two parts ketchup and one part mustard mixed together - remember that? And I still despise mustard -- LOL!

I actually have the old doors off Happys in my basement! The town took them off about 10 years ago to put in new metal ones, and instead of putting them in the landfill, I "repurposed" them as a bar in my "mancave"!

[checkitout]

Dennis Wyatt is my uncle and we always had to stop at Rays when he took all of us somewhere. It was really a good memory. He was and still is a Pepsi drinker and he always got us Pepsi's at Rays if nothing else!

[Ken H]

Little Dennis, or "George" as we knew him when he was a baby, is on the volunteer fire department with me - truly a small world!

[SongofJoy]

Wayne Berry = my cousin

I quit at Ray's because one morning the lobby was filling up ... I kept writing down orders, and handing them back to this older man (who kept standing there ...) Tension was building in the lobby from people wanting their orders... I finally went, and called the manager telling him to get down there because I was leaving ...lol ... what an uptight teen I was ... much later .. I found out that the man could not read ... I felt bad when I found out that ... I should have been calling out the order when I gave it to him ... no one told me that ... Wayne was at Happy's when I got there ... that was a neat old building ... is it still in business?

[checkitout]

Sadly, no.

[Ken H]

Happy's closed a few years back after several years of decline. The Town of Marion actually owned the building, and we advertised that we would take proposals to get someone to open a restaurant there - rent free! No takers! I even tried to get the culinary school at VI and the one Ricjard Erskine runs, but there wasn't interest there, either. So the Town auctioned the building off, and Kris Gandi, who owns the old Pepsi plant next door, bought it at auction.

He has renovated the pepsi plant into a day care and a very unique spa, and has plans to re-do Happy's as well. Don't know his time frame, but generally, it's not a quick one.

The building was originally built as a mercantile, and being "so far" from Main Street, struggled to stay open in the late 1800's. Gary Peacock and some friends opened it as "Happy's" in the late 1970's (I think), serving pizza and showing old black and white three stooges movies. Jerry Hounshell (Dairyland) took it over later on and ran a very successful business there. He and Judy decided to retire, and subleased the business. The other owners struggled, even holding rap night and karaoke night to get business back, but a combination of factors closed it for good about 8 years ago (again, my memory is fuzzy about the exact date).

The Town is working to extend the Historic District to include both the Pepsi plant and Happys, and the old building where Bill Jones invented Mountain Dew, too - which will provide great incentives for owners to renovate and restore these properties to their historic grandeur. Unfortunately, being in a state and national historic district doesn't prohibit inappropriate work being done to the buildings, or them even being torn down. But we're trying our best to preserve as much of our history as we can!