On Monday, the Roanoke City Council will consider approval of an application for a historic marker through the Department of Historic Resources that would sit outside Fishburn Mansion on 13th Street in Southwest Roanoke.
Proposed by local historian and former mayor Nelson Harris, the marker would tell the story of Junius Blair Fishburn, a philanthropic leader in Roanoke who gave land to the city that established or expanded multiple city parks, including Mill Mountain Park, Wasena Park, South Roanoke Park, Lakewood Park and Norwich Park.
In 1955, Fishburn donated his residence, Mountain View, to the city for recreational purposes. The building, constructed in 1907, is now known as the Historic Fishburn Mansion but was formerly called the Mountain View Recreation Center.
Fishburn also personally funded land surveys that helped create Shenandoah National Park, the agenda report states. He went on to serve as chairman of the board of the First National Exchange Bank and, in 1909, acquired The Roanoke Times and The World-News with several other businessmen.
[Disclosure: The Katherine Nelson Fishburn Foundation Fund of Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia is one of our donors, but donors have no say in news decisions; see our policy.]
Presentation on solar
Also on Monday afternoon, the council will receive a joint presentation from Roanoke City Public Schools and Secure Solar Futures proposing adding solar panels to more of the division’s buildings. The presentation is sponsored by Councilmen Phazhon Nash and Terry McGuire.
Several of the division’s buildings already have solar panels on their roof to generate electricity, including Fishwick Middle School, Fallon Park Elementary School and others.
There are a number of schools listed in the presentation under Phase 2 as “works in progress,” including William Fleming and Patrick Henry high schools and Grandin Court Elementary School.
The presentation proposes solar panels for 13 additional buildings, including DAYTEC and Crystal Spring Elementary School.
The presentation states that after all three phases of the proposed project are completed, 32 of the division’s buildings will be equipped with solar panels, for a total of $56.75 million in savings after 35 years.
Those who wish to see the full agenda for Monday’s 2 p.m. session and the 7 p.m. public hearing that will follow can find it here. For those who cannot attend the meetings in person, the meetings will be livestreamed on YouTube.