Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, February 25, 1992 TAG: 9202250181
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARK MORRISON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
NS NOT LIKELY TO TAKE SPELLING FOR GRANITE
Talk about a typo.Monday, a misspelling of granite-sized proportions had the suits around the glitzy new Norfolk Southern building in downtown Roanoke scrambling for cover, plotting damage control and worrying whether their showy piece of architecture will have to be leveled and rebuilt again from scratch.
They also tried to have some fun with the goof.
"To the extent we have fun," said NS spokesman Don Piedmont, a man more accustomed to serious railroad issues like revenue reports, coal-car loadings and job buyouts.
"Quite frankly, this is a little embarrassing."
How many ways can you spell Norfolk?
Norlfok. Nerfolk. Norolkf. Nrflkoo.
What about Norfork, as in "I have a knife but no fork?"
Take a close look at the granite cornerstone of the new building. Etched into its speckled rock is the signature of the proud railroad's name. But don't be fooled. Inspect the corner block again. It should read Norfolk Southern Corporation.
Instead, it reads Norfork Southern Corporation.
Some mason got his alphabet mixed up. "We're aware of it and steps will be taken to change it as soon as we possibly can," said spokesman Piedmont, ready with a careful reply to media inquiries.
Earlier Monday, when a television reporter first broached Piedmont about the mistake, his response had been less rehearsed: "It's not a word that you can publish in a family newspaper," he said. "Actually, my first response was, `Are you sure?' Then I said the unprintable."
So, where exactly does that leave the spiffy new ediface?
Will Roanokers have to kiss half of their modern gothic skyline goodbye? Will NS workers be sentenced to another year in their old digs, now decaying a few blocks away, while reconstruction begins anew?
Piedmont would have preferred not discussing the stone typo at all, but he had to put these rumors to rest. He said absolutely the new office building will not need to be razed just to replace one wrong cornerstone.
Rather, the old stone will be chisled out and replaced by a corrected piece of rock, with no crumbling affect to the 10 floors tetering above.
Nor does it mean the railroad plans to change its name, Piedmont said.
"You think of reprinting all the stationery. This will be easier."
How soon the railroad will make the switch wasn't known. Meanwhile, don't miss your chance to see this construction oddity in person. Make a special trip. Bring the kids, maybe pack a picnic. Before you know it, it could be gone.
Or auctioned off to charity perhaps.
Piedmont wasn't sure whether the Norfork block could be saved or end up in pieces. "Whether they chip it away or haul it out, I don't know," he said. "This was sprung on us late in the day."
If it can be salvaged, then who knows?
"Maybe we can give it to a literacy foundation."
Looked to for clarification, Ron Cronise, a vice president at Lionberger Construction Co. in Roanoke, said removing the granite intact should not pose a problem.
"It's nothing that they need to dynamite out, sweep up and throw away," Cronise said. "It may only need something as simple as a chisel and hammer or concrete circular saw."
He chuckled at the railroad's dilemma.
"Nobody checked the shop drawings, I guess," he said.
He also looked at the bright side: "It should give two masons two days' work in these hard times."
Still the question remains, how could such a goof go unnoticed?
Ever the trouble-shooting spokesman, Piedmont explained: After the stone was layed - early in the office building's birth - it was covered to protect it from falling debris and other construction site hazards.
Nobody ever noticed it because nobody saw it - until it was too late.
Piedmont vowed the same mistake will not happen again and plans to stand over the workers when the switch is finally made. "I've got an old proofreader's eye."
The question is: Has anybody checked the Dominion Tower's cornerstone?
Note: Phote in black and white in 3 star.