Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 28, 1995 TAG: 9504280017
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ABINGDON LENGTH: Medium
James P. Jones, an Abingdon lawyer and former state senator, will chair a comprehensive effort to raise more than $5 million by October, 1996.
The campaign will be known as "The Next Stage: Building on Barter History."
"Barter's buildings are among the oldest spaces in the United States where live theater is performed, and we are excited about the prospect of preserving and enhancing the historic charm of the facilities at the same time we make much-needed renovations and repairs," said Richard Rose, Barter's artistic director.
"At a time when Barter is enjoying unprecedented growth, we're looking forward to the challenge of accommodating more people on a year-round basis - providing better service and more comfort to our loyal and long-term theater-goers and our growing number of new audience members," he said.
The undertaking will pay for the theater's top facility and artistic priorities, he said.
Those include exterior and interior renovation at the main Barter Theatre and at Barter Stage II, and construction of a third Barter performance space for its First Light Theatre, which performs shows for young audiences.
Other funding priorities include increasing the theater's operating funds and strengthening its Porterfield Endowment. The endowment is named for the late Robert Porterfield, an actor who returned to his native Virginia and founded Barter during the Depression.
Jones, currently chairman of the state Board of Education, is a partner in the Abingdon and Bristol law firm of Penn Stuart. A graduate of Duke University and the University of Virginia Law School, he has served on the Barter Foundation since 1971.
Barter has also named Fillmore McPherson Jr. as honorary chair of "The Next Stage" campaign. McPherson, a retired Appalachian Power Co. division manager, has been president of the Barter Foundation for more than 20 years.
Jones and McPherson will oversee divisional campaigns to be conducted by Barter board members, staff and alumni; supporters in the region; corporations, and private foundations. Further information is available from Darin Johnson, Barter's director of development, at 628-2281, extension 303.
by CNB