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NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

For more information, contact:
Fred Anderson, Chairman
Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority Board of Directors

Explore Park’s Contractual Relationship with Virginia Living Histories Ends
Five-Year Lease Option Agreement Expired June 13, 2010

Roanoke, VA (June 14, 2010)—The Virginia Recreational Facilities Authority (VRFA) – the state authority tasked with the development and operation of Virginia’s Explore Park – entered into a lease option agreement with Virginia Living Histories (VLH) in June 2005 for the development of Explore Park, an outdoor living history museum and recreation park located at milepost 115 on the Blue Ridge Parkway in Roanoke, VA. Virginia Living Histories, owned by developer Larry Vander Maten, sought to create a family destination resort on Explore Park’s 1,100-acre property. The lease gave the developer a five-year period to develop plans and commence construction. The lease option was set to expire on June 13, 2010, unless construction began or an extension was agreed to by both parties.

The VRFA Board of Directors and Virginia Living Histories were optimistic that the $200 million project would move forward. However, continuing uncertainties in the general financial markets have made financing for recreational project development such as VLH’s not possible at this time. Although Virginia Living Histories was unable to begin construction by the deadline and requested a one-year extension to June 2011, negotiations to extend the lease were held without reaching an agreement to continue the relationship.  

Fred Anderson, chairman of the VRFA, believes that the VLH project would have created a major tourist destination for western Virginia and become an economic driver for the region through tourism and job creation. When concerns about the financial markets continued into the summer of 2009, the VRFA appointed an economic development consortium to create alternative plans for Park use in case VLH was unable to proceed. The consortium, a diverse group of Park stakeholders, has met regularly and will present preliminary recommendations to the VRFA Board this summer.

Adds Anderson, “The VRFA Board of Directors is confident that the future of this beautiful land and all that it represents – education, recreation, history, and conservation, among others – will have a new lease on life. We certainly wish Mr. Vander Maten our best.”

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