ROANOKE, Va. – Good news for people all around the Roanoke Valley — the iconic Mill Mountain Star is here to stay.
“The Star, the Mill Mountain Star is sound,” Roanoke City Manager Bob Cowell said. “We are not taking steps to replace the star.”
Two years ago, an engineering company inspected the star’s structure and made some recommendations on what parts may need fixing or improvement in the next few years.
City Manager Bob Cowell says the star was only meant to stand up for a year — it’s now been on top of the mountain for close to 75 years.
Some of the improvements at the top of the to-do list include deciding on whether to keep the neon lights or to change them to more modern LED lights and considering removing the paint that coats the star, which Cowell says is likely lead-based paint.
Improvements are expected to cost around $2 million. The city’s Parks and Recreation advisory board will take up the discussion next week.