Salem Civic Center — Local services in Salem

The Salem Fair has cut back the hours when it opens. Old hours 10 or 12 in the morning till 11 or 12 at night.. Now every day it opens at 4 p.m. in the afternoon. And closes at 10 p.m. Also I was at the Salem Fair when it was raining and I never realized the prize vendors they leave these stuffed animals in the rain that's not good. All these stuffed animals for little kids are getting sopping wet and some of them are too big to put in the washer to bleach. When you let a stuffed animal get wet there's mold and mildew that will grow inside the stuffed animal. That's not good at all and people pay hard-earned money for these stuffed animals. When I went one night that whole parking field was empty and the crowd count has dwindled down over the years drastically. People just don't have the money anymore to go to a lot of things because we're losing jobs still in the Roanoke Valley. At this rate before too long the Salem Fair probably won't stop in Salem because things are not looking good. I hope this doesn't happen but it's not looking good at all. In the Roanoke Valley about 8 or 10 steel mills closed. About 12 glass companies have went out of business. About 15 radiator companies have went out of business. Shepherd's machine shop had been in business 50 years went out of business. Roanoke Spring Works had been in business over 60 years it's out of business. Williamson Road Roanoke Virginia cruising and hanging out had been going on for over 50 years of entertainment and fun it's gone. Wards Road Lynchburg Virginia cruising, hanging out and fun it's gone. Myrtle Beach South Carolina no cruising no partying no hanging out spring break it's gone. And all the bars mostly are closed in Myrtle Beach South Carolina. Radford University is gone people in Radford University cannot hang out downtown in groups of three or more it's illegal. No partying, no cruising, no hanging out, or you may not graduate. Radford University is like an old western film when the liquor run out so did the people. Radford University is turning into Pulaski a ghost town. At Radford University the cruising , hanging out fun and entertainment downtown is no longer. it all stopped back in 2005. it was going on over 20 years but they destroyed that too. And now the town of Radford is hurting for money I wonder why? I think the government does not want any partying, cruising, people congregating in large groups anywhere anymore the way things are looking. And there's more places I think I see a pattern here....

This is mainly towards the Salem fair itself and the staff there. The rides and food were great however the staff is another story. The staff all look unhappy, except the ones that run the games. The ones who are at the food vendors and rides all look angry. I went to get my ticket and a woman named Valarie I believe took my payment and put the wrist band on me. She was pretty rude, she didn't smile nor laugh. I understand that it's a stressful job and she might not like it but that doesn't mean they shouldn't smile and not think about the customers. I went in and ever ride I rode, no staff member smiled or asked if I enjoyed the ride or anything like other staff members would do at an amusement park. I went to one of the Pizza vendors, the one closest to the magic maze I believe and asked for a Calzone, even though they were both $9 they gave me a Stromboli. The older woman with somewhat messed up teeth that smiled a lot gave it to us and we asked if it was Stromboli and she said yes. We said we ordered a Calzone and she looked at us weird and said "They're basically the same thing". Me and my sister looked at each other and just went with it because we didn't want to cause trouble and she was acting weird. Even though they might be basically the same thing, I WANTED WHAT I ORDERED! The calzone was bigger and me and my sister were splitting it. The woman behind us with kids asked for a calzone as well and the woman gave them a peice of Pizza! The woman looked at us and said "I think she might be on something" and we agreed. Although the rides were great, customer service and the way staff behaves is very important. I would of had a better time if they did a simple thing....smile and give me what I...

Staff were nice. No issues there.

This is a small venue but could use some updating. Here is where the issues lie. If you’re older (40 and up) and have some mobility issues or you are short and can’t do really steep stairs, don’t book seats in the higher sections because there were no handrailings towards the top and the seats are extremely cramped. Your knees will be on the person‘s head in front of you and after you sit at a concert for that long, your legs are going to hurt because you won’t be in a space where you can even move them. If you are afraid of heights, forget it this place! It is set up so steep that if you lose your balance at all, you were going to go toppling down the stairs. Let me just say again that there is nothing to hold onto from the top coming down. This is just dangerous. Lots of people were stumbling and several people even fell. The only seats that I would even consider booking again would be the seats that are down on the floor, but those are so expensive that it almost doesn’t even make this worth it. And if you were handicap, you have to call to even book your seats. It would be nice to have some type of handicap accessible seating that you could purchase online, Although I am sure there is some type of verification that they want to do over the phone. I get it but at the same time when you already struggle so much with handicap accessibility, you have to call in and explain your story to somebody one more time. Overall, this was not a good experience, and I am only giving it two stars because the the bands played well and overall the staff was friendly and just...