Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, May 14, 1993 TAG: 9305140392
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The cottage, which faced Colonial Avenue on the Virginia Western Community College campus in Southwest Roanoke, "needed so much repair that it wasn't cost-effective to keep it," said Mark Emick, assistant to the college president. "Because we are a commuter college, parking is very important to us."
The cottage's historical significance is unknown.
W.L. Whitwell, a Hollins College professor and chairman of Roanoke's Architectural Review Board, said he doubts the building had any historical notability.
Whitwell had surveyed Roanoke Valley properties for a book on area architecture. The cottage was not among those he cited for historical preservation, though it could have been one he simply overlooked, he said.
Regardless, "I do hate to see old buildings go down," Whitwell said.
The cottage was built in 1927, 500 feet from the then-newly-constructed poorhouse. It was a replacement for the original, which had been destroyed by fire two years earlier, Emick said.
The poorhouse was converted into a school for mentally disabled children in 1959. In 1965, Roanoke City Council gave the 16-acre poorhouse property - including the house and cottage - to Virginia Western.
The cottage has been used as classroom space and custodial-supply storage; and housed the buildings and grounds department, a carpentry shop and campus police, said Warren Andrews, who retired four years ago as the college's building and grounds superintendent. Until two weeks ago, the cottage housed the college's continuing-education department.
The old brick poorhouse still stands, housing the college's fine arts department.
Emick said the Virginia Western campus has other old frame buildings that have been scheduled for removal. Many, like the cottage, are in poor condition, Emick said.
Because the college's enrollment growth has been so strong, remodeling the old buildings for much-needed classroom space has not been a cost-effective option, Emick said. The college instead has focused on new construction - specifically, a $3.1 million humanities and continuing-education building.
With more students comes the need for more parking, Emick said.
The 30 to 50 parking spaces created by the cottage's demolition "won't solve the parking space shortage but it will certainly help," he said.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.