Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 3, 1994 TAG: 9404040157
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By Kim E. Hummel correspondent
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
The top floors are vacant, dirty and forgotten.Their tidy outside appearance belies the neglect behind barred doors and boarded-up windows.
"I think a lot of people have really not realized the condition those buildings are in," said Ann Carter, a member of Christiansburg Town Council.
Council decided Feb. 1 to raze the buildings and put in what they say is a much-needed parking lot.
"I find it embarrassing when people come to pay utility bills and taxes and there is no place to park," Carter said. "I've lived here most of my life, and I hate to see downtown torn down, but there comes a time when something like this has to be done."
The buildings could be down by the end of May. Four contractors have submitted proposals to build the parking lot to Town Manager John Lemley. The parking lot would stretch about 135 feet along Main Street, would be about 300 feet deep and would incorporate a small park, possibly with a gazebo.
Not everyone in Christiansburg is happy with the decision, even though council members said this is what they planned to do when the town purchased the three buildings for $320,000 four years ago.
"The buildings contribute a good deal to what is left of the downtown," said Gibson Worsham, chairman of the New River Valley Preservation League and an architectural historian.
"That's the most significant element of this whole thing. These are the most striking buildings in that part of down town," he said, adding that the Hall Brothers Building at 18 East Main St., constructed in 1910 and adorned now by faded bunting left over from the town's bicentennial celebration, is on the National Register of Historic Places.
"City fathers have to look farther than the ends of their noses," said Jack Via, a council member who, with Carter, is part of the downtown committee. "We have to look 20 years down the road. We simply have to make decisions that don't meet everyone's satisfaction."
Barbara Capozzi, who operates the Evergreen bed and breakfast inn with her husband on East Main Street, says the parking situation isn't so dire.
"There's parking here, but there's nothing to park for," she said, lamenting what she sees as downtown's evisceration.
The owners of the three businesses that occupy space in the buildings are more sanguine for the most part. They've known for four years that they'd have to move.
"We're looking forward to going somewhere where it's dry, there's no doubt about that," said Ron Graham, whose family has owned the G&H Appliance store at 34 East Main St. for almost 25 years.
With boarded windows and no electricity, the upper floors of this building, locally known as the Mensh Building for the insurance company that used to have offices there, are cave-like in their darkness.
Evidence of a 1962 fire in the building is plain. Charred timbers, some burned almost half-way through, still support the roof.
"It's not sound. It's not sound at all," said James Bowman, superintendent of buildings and grounds for the town.
The building is so leaky now that when it rains outside, it rains inside on Graham, who is located downstairs, and his business.
Graham put up plastic throughout the upper floors in an effort to keep water out of his showroom. It hasn't worked, but so far he has been lucky. None of the dozens of leaks into his store has damaged his inventory.
"It's definitely a game of placement. You've got to know where they're going to drip," he said.
The other buildings are in somewhat better shape, but seem to be equally abandoned. Some floors are empty, while others are more like a antique shop-cum-junkyard.
Sagging beams, and rodent and pigeon droppings are everywhere. Huge bolts through the walls have been installed to stabilize the buildings. But water stains on hanging insulation indicate the problems may run deep.
The owners of the businesses are preparing to move on.
Graham hasn't settled on a new location, but he stresses to his customers, some of whom have done business with his family for generations, that he will stay open in Christiansburg.
"We will definitely be somewhere," he says, aware of rumors that his business might shut. "It is not even a suggestion that we will close."
The other business owners say they will stay open as well.
"If things work out like they're supposed to, it won't inconvenience me too much. I don't mind moving," said Owen Linkous, owner of Bill's Barber Shop at 24 East Main St.
He has found a new location nearby on Roanoke Street, and his customers, he expects, will follow him there.
B.G. Duncan, though, has not been so lucky. She owns the Corner Beauty Shop at 28 East Main St. "I'm toying with the idea of trying to find something," she said. With her skills and experience, she could merge with or work for another business.
But, she says, "I hate to liquidate a business I've had for 30 years. I have a reliable clientele that has been with me all these years. It'll be emotional to leave them behind if I have to."
Memo: ***CORRECTION***