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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 11, 1990                   TAG: 9007110252
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

ANTIQUES MALL CLOSING KNOWN FOR 8 MONTHS

Roland Macher knew eight months ago that he would have to close his antiques mall in the old A&P Grocery building on the Roanoke City Market on July 20, City Manager Robert Herbert says.

Herbert said he regrets that some antiques dealers might not have been told that the building would be razed this month, but city officials assumed Macher would inform them.

Macher has charged that Herbert and the city gave "absolutely no consideration" to his request that the mall be allowed to remain open until Labor Day.

Some antiques dealers also have complained that they might be forced out of business because they are left with goods and no place to sell them.

Herbert said Monday night he was surprised when Macher asked in May for a 45-day extension of the July 20 deadline. Macher said he thought the dealers could be allowed to stay longer because construction on the Dominion Tower project was moving slowly.

Herbert told City Council that the city gave Macher plenty of time to notify the dealers. "We structured it so [Macher] knew 251 days ahead of time the building would have to be vacated," he said.

Herbert said he is sympathetic to the dealers, but the city considered them when it agreed to allow Macher to keep using the building for more than eight months after the sales contract was signed.

When the city signed the contract Oct. 31 to buy the building for $425,000, the city manager said officials told Macher then he could use the building until July 20.

Macher knew the building had to be vacated by that date, Herbert said, because the city is contractually obligated to turn the property over to developer Henry Faison by Aug. 15 for the construction of a parking facility that will be next to the Dominion Tower.

The city must remove asbestos from the building and raze it before the property is given to Faison.

Council awarded a $28,276 contract Monday night to HICO Inc. of Christiansburg to remove the asbestos.

Macher plans to move the antiques mall to the nearby Wright Furniture building, which extends from Salem to Campbell avenues. But the renovation of the Wright building won't be finished by July 20.

Under the plan, the Campbell Avenue side of the building would be renovated and house the antiques mall.

Macher has asked the city Architectural Review Board board for permission to raze the Salem Avenue facade and use part of the site to develop a parking lot for nearby development.

But the board delayed action on that request. Several board members said they did not like the proposal for developing a parking lot on the site. The board has asked Macher to provide more information.

by CNB