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

DATE: THURSDAY, September 15, 1994                   TAG: 9410270009
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W11   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE                                 LENGTH: Short

DAY-CARE CENTER WILL SERVE DOUBLE DUTY

Craig County's proposed public day-care center will be more than a place to care for children.

It also is expected to become an emergency evacuation center for people who might be driven from their homes by power failures, flooding or other disasters.

The Craig County Board of Supervisors has approved contracts, totaling $33,970, that also will make the proposed center self-contained. It will have propane gas and a generator, meaning the building would have electricity, heat and air cooling even if the normal power were interrupted.

Richard Flora, county administrator, said the county has no place where people can get proper shelter in the event of disasters.

The center is to be in a part of the building that formerly housed the now-defunct New Castle High School, also the site of New Castle Commons, a low-rent apartment complex for the elderly.

It is to be developed with $70,000 provided by the Virginia General Assembly and $10,000 from federal funds through the Virginia Council on Child Day Care.

by CNB