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

DATE: THURSDAY, October 26, 1995                   TAG: 9510270025
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SALEM TO ADD OFFICE SPACE TO THE FRONT OF CIVIC CENTER

Instead, the city's building maintenance department will build the addition to the front of the civic center, possibly saving the city as much as $40,000.

The project will cost an estimated $65,000, said City Manager Randy Smith.

The city received several bids from private contractors, Smith said, but the lowest was $40,000 more than the city's budget for the project.

"Office space is very cramped" at the civic center, he said. Except for a storage building behind the civic center, Smith said no other additions have been made to the facility since it was built in 1965.

In other action, City Council went along with a recommendation from the Planning Commission and denied the rezoning of a residential lot so it could be used for a child-care center.

Carolyn Helm, a certified public school teacher from Roanoke, wanted to renovate an existing single-story house at 303 White Oak Street to facilitate between 25 and 30 children.

But residents of the area complained that they didn't want a lot rezoned for business in their neighborhood. They also said the center would complicate parking. Helm argued that center would enhance the neighborhood's residential setting.

When a request to rezone a residential lot to a business designation, the council very carefully weighs all issues, including concerns from residents in that area, Councilman Alex Brown told Helm.