The Virginia Tech Foundation Executive Committee will consider the annual budget for WVTF Public Radio and RADIO IQ at its meeting on June 17. Since a portion of WVTF’s budget is publicly funded, this part of the meeting is open to the public and will begin at 11:00 a.m. Attendees are welcome to participate in person at the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, or remotely via Zoom. To participate remotely, attendees must register at https://vtf.org/register/wvtf.

Services of Virginia Tech, WVTF Public Radio, and RADIO IQ are listener-supported National Public Radio member stations. They broadcast locally and nationally produced classical and jazz music programs, NPR and BBC news shows, and locally produced news and other cultural and entertainment programs. The stations cover central, southwest, and southern Virginia, as well as parts of North Carolina and West Virginia. For a complete listing of signals, visit WVTF online at https://www.wvtf.org/.

The Virginia Tech Foundation saw a Blacksburg development project reach an important milestone last month with the topping out of the six-story Gilbert Street building located along Prices Fork Road, Turner Street, and Gilbert Street in downtown Blacksburg. The Gilbert Street building is a mixed-use building of approximately 250,000 square feet being constructed by W.M. Jordan Company, a company whose president and CEO is Virginia Tech alumnus John Lawson ’75.

Scott Baxter, senior project manager for W.M. Jordan, said completing the topping out of the building is “such a critical milestone that allows us to begin our focus on the next stage, which is getting the building enclosed. This event also provided an opportunity for us to give thanks to the hardworking men and women who worked so hard to meet this critical milestone. It is always an honor to be part of such a great project that will benefit the Virginia Tech Foundation and the surrounding community.”

“All of us at the foundation are excited about what this project offers the town, the university, and specifically, students and faculty,” said Elizabeth McClanahan, who stepped in as the CEO of the foundation in June. “The way I like to think about this is that the Virginia Tech Foundation is the wind beneath the wings of the Hokie Bird. Our job is to support the university and its initiatives.”

The Town of Blacksburg also gains from the Gilbert Street building. The retail space offers more shopping and dining opportunities for town residents and business owners, and the space only adds to an already thriving downtown scene. “The town is excited about the 45,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space included in the Gilbert Street building located in the north end of downtown,” Town Manager Marc Verniel said. “The rooftop restaurant will provide spectacular views of the Virginia Tech campus, Blacksburg, and Brush Mountain; and the new retail space will be a welcome addition to downtown Blacksburg.”

Officials from the Virginia Tech Foundation expect the nearly $100 million project to be ready for partial occupancy by some Virginia Tech tenants in late fall 2022. They expect full occupancy of the building to be available in summer 2023.

Read the full article on the VT News here.