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

DATE: TUESDAY, February 5, 1991                   TAG: 9102050420
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HISTORIC STRUCTURES INTENDED TO HOUSE OFFICES MAY BE SOLD

The city had been considering renovating the historic structures at 118-124 Campbell Ave. S.W. and moving offices for the Fire Department, Water Department and the Police Academy into them.

But council voted Monday to take a three-month option on a building at 348 Campbell Ave. S.W.

If council decides to buy the building formerly occupied by IBM, City Manager Robert Herbert said he will recommend the city try to find a buyer for the Victorian-era structures. If the city sells the historic buildings, officials said they won't allow the new owners to demolish them.

The purchase price for the former IBM building would be $815,000. The city could move offices into the building with little, if any, renovation costs, Herbert said.

Engineers have estimated that it would cost $1.2 million to renovate the Victorian-era buildings to make them suitable for city offices.

The city paid $400,000 for the four buildings. It received a $100,000 state grant to help pay for them on the condition that it preserve them. The city can keep the state money if it sells the structures to private developers, officials said, if they are preserved.

Councilman James Harvey, who was not on council when the buildings were acquired, said recently the city can't afford to spend $1.2 million to renovate them.

"It is going to take a lot of money to fix them up and we don't have that kind of money in the current economic conditions," he said. Harvey thinks some developers might be interested in them.

Councilman William White, who also was elected after the city bought the buildings, agreed with Harvey. "Either find a buyer or come up with a use for them," he said.

The city bought the buildings from James L. Trinkle, president of C.W. Francis & Son, a realty firm. Trinkle had planned to raze them for a parking lot, but preservationists protested and urged the city to prevent them from being demolished.

Before the city bought the structures, officials tried to find a buyer. Preservationists urged the city to save them because of their historical significance.

As part of the deal with Trinkle, the city agreed to sell him a building on Kirk Avenue that houses offices for the fire and water departments and police academy. The city had been leasing the building from Trinkle, but has decided to take the option on the building at 348 Campbell rather than continuing to lease space.