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

DATE: TUESDAY, March 19, 1991                   TAG: 9103190108
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GEORGE KEGLEY BUSINESS EDITOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

YWCA DROPS PLAN TO BUY VACANT STORE

Marilyn Donato, president of the YWCA, said only that her organization no longer has an option to buy the former Goodyear tire building and adjacent lot at Second Street and Franklin Road, Southwest. She declined to give a reason.

But John Apostolou, a Roanoke County General District Court judge whose family owns the property, confirmed Donato's comment, saying he has heard that the YWCA was not able to raise the money for the transaction.

The YWCA, after taking an option to buy the property in late November, put up a sign and used the lot for parking. Its initial option ran through January and was extended for two weeks.

Donato said one proposed use for the building had been as a day-care center for sick children. She said her board is still studying that possibility at another location.

When the option was announced in November, Wendy O'Neil, the organization's executive director, said the YWCA was studying expansion of its programs dealing with youth, community and leadership development, advocacy and public policy.

The YWCA had proposed using money from its 1989 sale of a Craig County camp to buy the property and convert it to YWCA programs.

Neither party would discuss terms of the option or prices being negotiated.

The former tire store and service center has been vacant since Brad Ragan Tire and Appliance Co. moved out in January 1990. The building has about 19,000 square feet - 11,000 square feet on the first floor and another 8,000 square feet on an upper level. The building is more than 16 years old.