Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 1, 1994 TAG: 9410030048
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
They praised him for being the guiding force behind the creation of the Jefferson Center for the performing arts and community service agencies.
And they thanked the retired judge for being a leader in the community and the judicial profession.
Roanoke Mayor David Bowers said Fitzpatrick worked for nearly 10 years to help make the Jefferson Center a reality. Fitzpatrick raised almost $2 million in private donations to help finance the project.
On Friday, boosters of the center, city officials, business people and friends of Fitzpatrick's gathered for the dedication of the "Wall of Honor" in the center's lobby.
When the curtain over the wall was pulled away, Fitzpatrick expected it to contain the names of those who have made large financial contributions to the project. Fitzpatrick is president of the Jefferson Center's board of directors, and he solicited most of the contributions.
The donors' names indeed were there, but there was more - a portrait of Fitzpatrick by his son, artist Eric Fitzpatrick.
The front of the old Jefferson High School is in the portrait's background.
Warner Dalhouse, vice president of the Jefferson Center's board, said he hoped Fitzpatrick wasn't upset because of the secrecy about the portrait.
"We had this done by Eric, so you can't complain too much," Dalhouse told Fitzpatrick. But the retired judge had no complaints. He seemed almost overwhelmed by the ceremony.
Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr., a former vice mayor, said Jefferson High always has meant a lot to his father.
When Judge Fitzpatrick retired, he talked about traveling with his wife but he has worked almost full time on the Jefferson project, his son said.
Dalhouse said he expects Fitzpatrick to be involved in the next phase of the project - renovation of the school's auditorium for the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra and other performing arts groups.
The 70-year-old building was vacant and deteriorating in the early 1980s. But Fitzpatrick, who graduated from Jefferson in 1939, never gave up in the idea of bringing the school back to life.
The renovation has been a joint project of the city and the nonprofit Jefferson Center Foundation.
The $5.5 million project includes $3.5 million in city bond money and $2 million from the foundation.
Several tenants - including several city offices and community agencies - have moved into the renovated building.
City officials believe the Jefferson Center will help revitalize the western end of downtown, similar to the impact the City Market and Center in the Square redevelopment had on the eastern end.
by CNB