Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, March 15, 1990                   TAG: 9003152362
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MONICA DAVEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BEDFORD                                 LENGTH: Medium

COURTHOUSE TREES FOUND GUILTY

The unlikely culprits, says an expert on historic structures, are two giant magnolia trees that grace each side of the courthouse steps.

The trees, it seems, are hogging all the sunlight.

Under the constant shade of the trees, water can seep into the stonework and rust the metal supports that hold the building's outer walls to its frame, said consultant James Askins. What the nearly 60-year-old courthouse needs is a clean shot of sunshine to evaporate the water more quickly and end corrosion.

The trees, Askins says, have to be "reduced in size," or they've got to go altogether.

But a group of courthouse employees - who say the magnolias are almost as old, historic and good-looking as the building itself - are demanding that the trees not get the ax.

Led by county Commissioner of Revenue Lucille Boggess, the group has printed up 30 green-and-white "Save The Courthouse Magnolia Trees" T-shirts. At the county Board of Supervisors' meeting this week, Boggess handed out seven to the supervisors.

County Registrar Marie Batten said the trees, planted by the Garden Club of Bedford several decades ago as memorials to some county residents, are "perfectly proportioned" for the building they stand in front of. To Batten, the trees are as symbolic as several granite war memorials the trees stand behind on the courthouse lawn.

Some of the county employees half-jokingly say they feel so strongly about their cause, they would rather let the courthouse - and their own offices - fall down to let the trees stay put. "We'll camp out," Batten said.

County Administrator William Rolfe would rather not choose between the building and the trees.

He's hoping he can simply prune the trees - and preserve all the history he can. "I hope we can save the trees," Rolfe said. "I like the trees and I'd like to save them, but I think the building is more important than the trees.

"If it comes down to the building or the trees, the trees go."