Your voice is being heard! Roanoke City Manager Bob Cowell just made a surprise move—one that takes us a big step closer to saving Fire Station No. 7. In an email to the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, he said he's instructed the project architects to assess whether they can “reuse…the historic portion of the Fire Station and what the probable cost estimates are.” This is the first time Roanoke City has even acknowledged that preserving the station is possible, and, now, it is a formal consideration. “I want to thank the city manager for taking this action. It could be a real turning point,” said Alison Blanton, president of the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, “but our work is not yet done.” It’s impossible to know how the architecture firm will respond, so we must continue telling Roanoke City that we want both safety and history at Fire Station No. 7. The city manager anticipates having information from the firm in July. In the meantime, please continue displaying yard signs, personally emailing council members, and sharing #SaveFireStation7. Also, you might say “thank you” to the city manager with a tweet like this one: Thank you @RoanokeManager for hearing our calls to #SaveFireStation7! Historic buildings like it make Roanoke a terrific place to live, work, and play. Check out www.therevivalist.info/firestation7 for additional resources, and thank you for being such powerful preservation advocates!