Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 16, 1995 TAG: 9502160074
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RICK LINDQUIST STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
The house - dating from the late 19th century, when the railroad guided Radford's development - was ordered torn down by the city staff, who say it is unsafe. Preservationists argue the house represents an important part of the city's heritage; they want someone to save it from the wrecking ball.
So far, there have been no takers to redeem the house, owned by the heirs of Pearl Vandergrift and located in a neighborhood of similar houses, some rented to Radford University students.
City Building Official Bob Long said the building was condemned "because we didn't feel it was repairable." But historical concern expressed to city officials by the Radford Heritage Foundation's Bud Jeffries "has shed some new light on it," Long said Wednesday.
Jeffries, whose group learned of the pending demolition by accident, conceded that on the surface, it's just an old, rundown house. "The biggest problem I have is trying to get everyone educated," he said.
In fact, the house - and others in the same "Back Tracks" neighborhood between the railroad tracks and the New River - already had caught the eye of historical architect Leslie Giles, who surveyed the city last year and described the house as a Queen Anne or Folk Victorian style structure.
Giles, who works in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources' Roanoke Preservation Office, said the loss of the Vandergrift house would "seriously compromise the integrity of" a historical district she has recommended for the city's east end.
"It also preserves that streetscape," she said, adding that just because no one is clamoring to buy the house and fix it up doesn't make it worthless.
"The primary thing that's lost is one element of an aspect of Radford's history that has been underappreciated to date," she said.
Giles speculated that the house originally provided a home for railroad employees, and said it represents some of the city's earliest residential development.
"It doesn't make sense to tear it down," she said. Giles said the house only needs to be brought up to city code at this point, to preserve it.
But putting the building into shape so the city will lift its demolition order could involve a lot of work and expense. Long said the first step would be to have a professional engineer conduct a structural analysis to determine what's salvageable. "But it's obvious to the physical eye that some portions are not," he said.
Although the house's owners, members of the Vandergrift family, have hired a contractor to raze, rather than repair, the house, Long said the city is willing to compromise and keep the wrecking ball at bay "if the owner is willing to pursue it."
The city's main concern is public safety, he said. For example, if the house ever caught fire, "it could pose a problem for the entire block."
Barry Anderson, the owners' attorney, said he'd talked with Jeffries about the house. "I think it would take a lot of money to put it into shape to be usable," he said Wednesday. Anderson said it would not be economical for the owners to fix the house up, but suggested they might be willing to cooperate with "a sugar daddy" who wanted to preserve it.
by CNB