
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, September 2, 1995                   TAG: 9509050048
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

LAST-DITCH EFFORT MEANS TO SAVE CHERRY HILL CLUB

Organizers of the Cherry Hill Club are conducting a last-minute effort this weekend to save their proposal to convert a South Roanoke mansion into a tennis-swimming-dining club.

Barton Wilner, spokesman for the group, said Friday that plans for the club have been "abbreviated" in order to slash fees for joining. "The goal is to make it more affordable to people in the neighborhood who have expressed enthusiastic interest," he said.

Their option on the Cherry Hill mansion, which is owned by Carilion Health System, expired Friday, but Wilner said the club organizers have a grace period of several days.

The group decided to eliminate the indoor tennis courts, fitness center and locker rooms from the plans, Wilner said. This leaves a pool, outdoor tennis courts and the mansion converted into a clubhouse for dining and other activities.

Those changes will reduce the cost from $4 million to $5 million down to a range of $2 million to $3 million, Wilner said.

The initiation fee had been tiered from $2,900 to $3,200, depending on the order of joining. The dues would have been $200 a month.

The new initiation fee is a flat $1,000, and the dues have been cut to $100 a month.

Wilner said the club must have about 400 families as members if it is to become a reality, but fewer than 100 families actually wrote checks through early this week.

Complaints centered on the lack of golf facilities and the cost of the memberships, Wilner said, although most people were enthusiastic about the concept and design.

The organizers began a telephone campaign Thursday to inform interested persons about the reduction in the dues and initiation fee. Since then, Wilner said, "dozens and dozens" of people have paid the initiation fee but hundreds are needed. He believes that "hundreds are on the fence."

He said organizers are reluctant to give up without making a last-ditch effort through the long Labor Day weekend. The alternate proposals for use of the property, he said, are a nursing home, condominiums and town houses. Carilion has said that the property definitely will be sold.

by CNB