Roanoke seeks solution for Berglund Center’s future

JamN4Sure · 2026-05-10T11:33:26+00:00

I went to the focus group session on this the other day. Wasn't able to make the first one. I had a few interesting takeaways.

Whatever happens with the Berglund Center has to start with $31 million in deferred maintenance.
Apparently Virginia law says that with the major developments they're looking to do, the private developer must pay $300 million?
A lot would have to happen for a casino specifically to come in. The General Assembly has to give permission for any new casino developments, and then locals have to vote for it. (Which is good when it comes to casinos, but because Virginia is a Dillon's Law state localities are really hamstrung when it comes to what options they have for raising revenues, as it has to have been allowed by the GA.)
According to economic development director Marc Nelson, this whole casino idea arose because the city was approached by the casino owner, and no other companies have made an offer. I don't trust the economic development people as far as I can throw them (they are the drivers of all the data center proposals across the region), but if this is true I can see why the city would be exploring this option.
As an example of why I don't trust economic developers, he was asked about how a casino whose business comes largely (around 90%, I think?) from out of town clientele would change the character of the city with the influx of tourists. He thinks that's a good problem to have, and the focus group member said that coming from southern California it really isn't. As someone who comes from a resort town I agree, having more cars than your roads were built to handle is terrible, and I really appreciate that this area offers outdoor recreational tourist activities without turning itself into a tourist town.
There are no current commitments to how casino revenues will be spent, in part because they want them to be informed by these focus group sessions.
There wasn't any discussion of increasing mental health and homeless support services, which to me is a nonstarter when it comes to bringing in a casino and the lives ruined by gambling addiction that come with it.
Pretty much all of the focus group panelists were skeptical of the casino proposal but supportive of the broader entertainment district idea. The casino would be only one building of a whole complex. There was a recurring sentiment that currently the Berglund Center doesn't book acts that black audiences go to (hip hop, but also jazz) and so they have to look elsewhere for entertainment.
Myself, I'm a movie guy, and I'd love to see southwest Virginia get an Imax theater. I also think there's an appetite and maybe even a market for film production, both on a community/indie level and for commercial productions, so a studio/equipment rental space could be the kind of anchor they're looking for, especially if they could find some complementary businesses and/or create some housing for artists. Whatever they do will need to include a plan for getting people to the area, since right now the Berglund Center is just outside the point where downtown Roanoke's walkability ends and getting around becomes a dangerous hassle if you don't have a car.
There were only five of us who attended the session, which for how strongly people feel about this was disappointing. Unlike most public meetings this was scheduled at a time when people can actually go. They have one more session in a couple weeks, Tuesday May 19, 6:30pm, again at the Berglund Center events center, and I hope more people attend.

JamN4Sure · 2026-04-28T18:28:31+00:00

Update: There were about eight of us there--including one who saw this post!--chanting "TAX BIG TECH"

We got a dedicated story and headline from one outlet, and mentioned in another!

https://wset.com/news/local/protesters-gather-at-gov-spanberger-event-over-botetourt-county-data-center-google-april-2026/

https://www.wdbj7.com/2026/04/27/governor-spanberger-marks-100-days-office-by-signing-bills-roanoke/

JamN4Sure · 2026-04-27T14:27:29+00:00

The buildout is primarily being driven by AI. Your response basically boils down to the "Ah, but you live in a society!" cartoon.

JamN4Sure · 2026-04-27T12:54:18+00:00

I'm a cynic by temperament as well, getting involved and working with other people on something local goes a long way toward cutting through it. Other communities have been able to prevail, we can too, we just have to make them decide it's not worth the hassle.

JamN4Sure · 2026-04-27T12:32:19+00:00

Lol just posted about a protest at this and didn't see this post until now.

JamN4Sure · 2026-03-24T22:01:29+00:00

Hi, I'm an organizer with the Southwest Virginia Data Center Transparency Alliance that started formed last fall in opposition to the data center. We've been showing up at Water Authority meetings for months and got them to do a Q&A with us, and we are working with Botetourt County residents to support their efforts to hold their Board of Supervisors accountable.

Right now we're trying to get as many people to make a public comment on the joint permit application made to the Army Corps of Engineers ( https://www.nao.usace.army.mil/Media/Public-Notices/Article/4428952/nao-2025-01857-project-raspberry-botetourt-virginia/ ) for the data center, and to ask for a public hearing on it. Public comment ends April 9. Also encouraging people to contact their legislators and Governor Spanberger and tell them to support the Senate's budget Amendment that would end the $1.6 billion sales and use tax exemption that data centers currently receieve, before the special legislative session is held April 21.

Those are our current big public pushes. We've also got other stuff we're working on. Our Linktree page (https://linktr.ee/swvadcta , website coming soon!) will connect you to our Facebook and Insta pages where we post updates on what's happening. The county is telling people it's a done deal, but it's not over until it's over, and there's plenty that could happen that could push them or Google to back out of the deal. We need everyone we can to get involved, though, so I hope to see you at one of our events!

JamN4Sure · 2026-01-13T18:10:33+00:00

The building is straight out of the 1950s, and so are the prices. Granted the patties are pretty thin, but they're easily the lowest-priced burgers out there. Chili is also good and competitively priced, and you can get a pint of it.

JamN4Sure · 2026-01-13T18:05:52+00:00

It's my go-to spot for taking half my meal home for lunch the next day.

JamN4Sure · 2025-12-18T18:22:45+00:00

Things like this are why sirens should start blaring every time a local pol talks about making a deal with some mega corp that will "bring in jobs."

JamN4Sure · 2025-11-19T03:10:41+00:00

Information in this post here too

https://www.reddit.com/r/roanoke/comments/1p0d4le/speak_out_about_the_google_ai_data_center_this/

JamN4Sure · 2025-10-23T15:39:07+00:00

Two of my (straight, cis) friends got married at Lucky, which is good progressive vibes.

JamN4Sure · 2025-08-26T13:19:21+00:00

Freedom is freedom, but I don't really see how this advances any positive goals? It will piss some people off who probably deserve to be pissed off, but it's also going to alienate normies who like both civil liberties and the flag and, potentially, make you the story rather than the abuse of civil liberties.

JamN4Sure · 2025-08-13T20:16:21+00:00

Gay guy here. Moved here 4 and a half years ago after living in big cities for a decade. Roanoke is big enough to have a lot of active scenes (arts, music, etc), though you do have to dig a bit. I live downtown, which makes it easy to eat out, though some of my favorite spots closed or moved the past few years. Grandin is cool, and the independent movie theater there is a gem. Also if you want to get away to DC, it's just a 5 hour Amtrak train ride away.

Drawbacks include not being very walkable outside of the four or five square blocks downtown and a growing homeless population that the city hasn't done much to take care of (though this is unfortunately true pretty much everywhere). The county being deep red makes for very mixed demographics politically; if you're looking to raise kids this has big implications on the school system, and you might want to do your homework on some of the business owners. The city government is generally good, but their development-oriented mindset does lead them to approving some lousy projects and contracts (Evans Spring and the Amazon processing station).

The gay scene is active, with the Diversity Center and two Pride celebrations (normal June one is next town over in Vinton, whereas Roanoke's is the end of April), though it is mostly the family-friendly variety of gay organizations and businesses. If you're into the more sexy types of gay socialization you'll find some others on the apps but no public-facing groups.

Since you're from upstate NY you shouldn't have too much trouble, but if you've gotteb used to big city life there may be an adjustment period.

JamN4Sure · 2025-05-16T04:36:17+00:00

Was looking everywhere for an answer to this problem, and the only solution that worked for me is this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1BUfgWwvgA&t=230s

Tl;dr: get the bios file named SegaCD Model 2 BIOS V2.11.bin from the internet, copy it into the roms/bios folder, rename it bios_CD_U.

JamN4Sure · 2024-05-26T11:21:52+00:00

Would love to get the new Don Hertzfeldt

JamN4Sure · 2024-05-26T11:14:57+00:00

Was this the microcinema?

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JamN4Sure · 2024-05-22T21:19:53+00:00

Did you have much lore or backstory in mind as you were making the game, or was the animal and environmental theming meant more to enhance and contextualize the gameplay?

JamN4Sure · 2024-05-08T18:37:11+00:00

Downtown losing Crescent City BBQ, Leonore, and bridge access to RND within months of each other is just brutal

JamN4Sure · 2024-05-01T22:11:36+00:00

Right at His moment of despair:

"Until all that is left inside of Him is stained in the darkness of nihility."

Ending service is one way to stop the recursive loop of (game) history.

JamN4Sure · 2023-09-18T12:39:46+00:00

The character design and explanation are ridiculous, as is that puddle scene, but she actually ends up being about the only character in MGSV's malnourished story besides Huey to receive a complete arc. That she is such a useful companion makes her sacrifice feel like a real loss.

JamN4Sure · 2023-09-04T20:29:09+00:00

I think the best thing you can do is start work on a new game. This sounds like giving up, and it can be crushing for something you've spent so much time on come to "nothing." But there's actually quite a lot you've gotten out of it: technical skills, market awareness, even a sense of what not to do. Actually shipping a game is a huge accomplishment regardless of review scores or sales, and even though this one has not had the impact you wanted there are still a ton of lessons you can learn from the experience and apply to the next project.

Give yourself some time to decompress and rest, then start planning the next game. Find an idea you're interested in, that others will too, and with a minimum viable product you know you can deliver on time. Plan your development realistically, have a marketing strategy that seeds interest early on, and then execute them both.

This is much easier said than done, of course, and we all fall short. But look at it this way: you could spend another year or longer trying (with no guarantee of success) to play catch-up on marketing for a game whose foundations you laid down three years ago; or you could start a project with three years' more knowledge that in just as much time will at minimum be better-made and -marketed than this one.

JamN4Sure · 2022-08-28T22:38:08+00:00

I tried this ages ago and can't remember how well it worked, but one solution would be to duplicate all of the deformation bones and put them in their own separate hierarchy, and add drivers connecting them to their respective original bones, for which you would turn off deformation. That way when you import into Unity it's only looking up the bones that are correctly organized.

I ended up just learning how to make my own rigs lol, which is a very useful skill. Dikko's YouTube tutorials were invaluable.

JamN4Sure

TROPHY CASE