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

DATE: THURSDAY, April 18, 1991                   TAG: 9104190666
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE                                LENGTH: Medium

COMMUNITY CENTER GRANT SOUGHT

The possibility of a $1 million grant to develop a community center for youth and the elderly in the gym of the old New Castle High School building received a boost this week when the county Board of Supervisors gave its support to the project.

The board authorized the Craig County Coalition for Youth to prepare an application for the grant from the federal Office of Substance Abuse Prevention.

The grant would be spread over five years at about $150,000 a year and would be used to convert the old gym and an adjacent Quonset hut into a community center that would offer activities for preschoolers through senior citizens.

Martha McDowell, director of Rocket Retreat, the county's current youth center in New Castle, said a renovated gym could include an enlarged youth center, a day-care center, counseling offices and a small theater.

It also would include office space for the county's Department of Social Services, which would operate the day-care center.

McDowell said she envisions the Rocket Retreat center moving into part of the renovated space. It needs larger quarters, she said, to expand its services to include children from preschool through high school. It now offers services only to eighth- through 12th-graders.

Inclusion of the Rocket Retreat center might be a critical factor in winning a grant for the project.

McDowell said that because a grant would come from an agency that fights drug abuse, it would be necessary for the overall project to promote a drug- and alcohol-free environment. Making the Rocket Retreat a centerpiece of a gym renovation would help meet that condition, she said.

The main building of the now-closed high school is being renovated into apartments for the low-income elderly.

The major work in the proposed renovation, McDowell said, would be to convert half the gym space into two floors to create offices for the social-services department and rooms for counseling and other activities.

The other half of the gym, which includes a stage, would be kept as an auditorium.

In another matter, the supervisors accepted a $2.6 million school budget for 1991-92 to be included in the general county budget.

The school budget has a deficit of about $13,000 in local funds, but County Administrator Richard Flora said there is a possibility the county will get up to $10,000 more in state money. Also, the school system may have some funds left over from the current budget.

In other matters:

The supervisors adopted a resolution asking that the State Corporation Commission require environmental-impact studies before making a decision on Appalachian Power Co.'s proposed high-voltage power line, which could cross Craig County.

County Attorney James E. Cornwell Jr., informed the board that state anti-pornagraphy laws are sufficient for the county and that no local ordinances are needed.

by CNB