With Bold Museum, a Virginia City Aims for Visibility (NY Times)

From The New York Times:

By Pamela J. Podger
Published: December 29, 2007

ROANOKE, Va. — Since the 1980s, this old railroad and manufacturing city has been trying to transform itself into a magnet for white-collar families, who expect amenities like the ballet and symphonies.

The downtown area has been revitalized, and wine bars, boutiques and condominiums have replaced empty storefronts.

The latest addition is the new $66 million Art Museum of Western Virginia, one of the most expensive and controversial projects in the city’s history. The museum’s avant-garde architecture is a gamble intended to put Roanoke on the nation’s cultural map.

Nationwide, other mid-size cities, including Milwaukee and Biloxi, Miss., hope similarly bold museums will revitalize their downtowns, replicating the success of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/29/us/29roanoke.html?_r=1&oref=slogin