ROANOKE, Va. – Last July, Melrose Plaza opened its doors to much celebration.
Fast forward to today and the Plaza is still offering up unique experiences and acting as a premier one-stop shop in Roanoke.
“We see more visitorship; people are attending our programs,” Director of Community Engagement for Mail World Supplies and Goodwill Industries Donna Davis said. “They’re shopping in the grocery store, going to the bank. We have a great class going on in the adult high school, the Excel Center.
However, the Melrose Plaza has also served as a place for people to remember Roanoke’s African American history with places like the Harrison Museum of African American Culture and the History Wall.
These exhibits allow visitors to have a glimpse into the lives of historical African American figures who have made an impact on the city’s history.
“We wanted to make sure that we give people an opportunity to see and learn about some of those people, places, organizations that were part of that history.”
The Plaza itself is located in, as Davis puts it, the middle of Roanoke’s African American community.
“This community has gone through a lot,” Davis said. “It’s had a lot of issues of the urban renewal and all of that and having to be relocated from one part of the city to northwest Roanoke.”