Roanoke - Locale

The Wigmore Building is located on Market Street in the Historic City Market in Roanoke, Virginia. The building is circa 1903 with the current renovations comprising the second and most extensive renovation to the building since early 1980. The building originally housed a grocery store, and different types of businesses have occupied the first floor spaces in succeeding years.

When it was purchased by IRDC in 1979, the market area comprised a two-block area of dilapidated, run-down buildings filled with adult book stores, peep shows and cheap restaurants.

In the early 1980s, Roanoke created an historic district known as the Roanoke City Market Area to foster the development and renovation of the the area. The Wigmore Building is located directly in the middle of this area.