Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, October 21, 1994 TAG: 9410210034
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PULASKI LENGTH: Medium
John Sadler, president of the Friends organization, is scheduled to address the county Board of Supervisors during its meeting which starts at 7 p.m. in the county Administration Building.
The Pulaski Theatre closed as a movie house about two years ago, and the building was donated to the county. A group of volunteers organized as the Friends of the Pulaski Theatre began planning ways to restore the building for community use.
Last November, the supervisors designated the group as its agent in regard to the theater. But at its Sept. 26 meeting, Supervisor Dr. Bruce Fariss moved that the structure on Main Street be demolished to provide more parking space in downtown Pulaski.
Supervisor Pete Crawford and Chairman Jerry White said they would like to consider the matter further before voting on it, and Fariss said he had no problem with postponing consideration until the October meeting.
The Friends organization, in an open letter to the community, says it sees the motion as being in retaliation to the town of Pulaski requiring some changes in the county's long-planned Veterans' Memorial in front of the Old Courthouse on Main not far from the theater.
The town's Architectural Review Board wanted some crosswalks and use of the Old Courthouse bell eliminated from the memorial plan, and wanted the memorial's two flagpoles standardized. That decision was upheld by Pulaski Town Council, and the county has filed an appeal for a circuit court hearing on it.
Fariss could not be reached for comment Thursday.
The letter from the Friends organization also outlines what the group has accomplished so far in connection with the theater and gives some of its future plans.
by CNB