Roanoke steered the biggest chunks of its pandemic relief money to food, fun and affordable housing. 

A Northwest Roanoke grocery store, refurbished Eureka Park Recreation Center and in-river kayak park are among the high-dollar projects made possible by a $64.5-million windfall under the American Rescue Plan Act. 

Roanoke has until the end of 2026 to spend all its ARPA money. But the city had to tell the feds before January 2025 where that money would go.

Facing those deadlines, the city decided to use $11.4 million in ARPA funding to cover the regular salaries and benefits for police officers, firefighters and first responders during the second half of 2024, according to Finance Director Margaret Lindsey. 

That accounting move allows the city to use that same $11.4 million — but in city funds — for projects that otherwise could have benefited from pandemic relief money. City staff are now allocating those dollars for projects in low-income areas, including for Gainsboro neighborhood infrastructure and upgrades to the Belmont Branch Library, she said.

Billions of dollars began flowing to cities and counties in 2021 as a way to help families facing eviction, businesses dealing with closures and local governments grappling with declining revenues caused by a pandemic-induced economic downturn. 

Local governments had leeway in how they could spend the money. They could use ARPA funding “to fight the pandemic, sustain and strengthen the economic recovery, maintain vital public services, and make investments that support long-term growth, opportunity, and equity,” the U.S. Treasury Department determined.

This data visualization story is based on reports that Roanoke sent to the Treasury Department that show where the money has gone, or is going. Among the highlights:

• $10 million to Goodwill Industries of the Valleys to open Market on Melrose, a full-service grocery store that anchors Melrose Plaza. The community hub also includes a bank, wellness center and adult high school. Market on Melrose opened in November 2024, and the plaza is planning a grand opening July 31.
• $8 million in ARPA funds, with another $5 million in city funds, to renovate the Eureka Park Recreation Center. Construction began last fall, and the center is expected to open in the spring of 2026.
• About $8 million for various initiatives to construct new affordable housing, get homeless people into permanent housing and provide other social services.
• $3.1 million in ARPA funds, with another $3 million in city funds, to construct an in-river kayak park at Wasena Park. Construction begins this summer, with a projected 2026 completion.
• $2.3 million in ARPA funds, with another $2.7 million in city funds, to Gainsboro neighborhood upgrades, for roadway changes, home-improvement grants and a playground.

Roanoke won a 2024 All-America City award from the National Civic League in part because it formed a citizen committee to recommend how the city should spend pandemic relief money. 

“To ensure both immediate relief and long-term transformation, Roanoke established the Star City Strong: Recovery and Resiliency Advisory Panel, which conducted interviews and held focus groups with 100 individuals representing a diverse range of perspectives,” National Civic League said in its profile of Roanoke. “Based on these interviews, data, and public hearings, the advisory panel made recommendations to the city council that would support the community’s recovery and build resilience by investing in projects and initiatives benefiting people, places, and governance.” 

Those recommendations included the grocery store, workforce development programs, affordable housing and expanded Valley Metro bus hours, among others. 

In late February, the city released to The Rambler a quarterly report to the Treasury Department that covered the end of 2024, when the city had to “obligate,” or earmark, where ARPA money would go.

Municipal Auditor Drew Harmon said recently that there should be a probe on how Roanoke spent ARPA money after the December 31, 2026 spending deadline has passed.

About 41 percent of larger cities and counties (with populations of at least 250,000) spent some ARPA money on “government operations,” which encompasses lost revenue and employee wages, according to an online tracker from Brookings Metro, the National Association of Counties and the National League of Cities. The tracker lists nearly 109,000 projects from smaller localities but does not break those percentages out by category.

About 13 percent of large metros spent money on infrastructure — mostly for sewer and water upgrades and public spaces — and 13 percent spent money on “community aid,” such as food assistance and support for youth and families.