ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 14, 1995 TAG: 9512140024
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
Whoever is sitting on Bedford City Council in the year 2035 may decide it's time for the old Wharton House to come down. But not until then.
Council voted this week to lease the century-old brick house to the Bedford Historical Society. A provision in the lease, to be signed within the next few days, forbids the city from demolishing the house for at least 40 years - the length of the lease.
The agreement likely will free up $178,000 in grant money the state has withheld while the city figured out what it was going to do with the house, which is in the city's federal- and state-designated historic district.
David Cole, president of the historical society, said he felt "good, very good" about the agreement reached Monday night. Although the group initially wanted permanent protection for the house, 40 years is good enough, he said.
The city agreed to remove lead-based paint and asbestos from the house, which Mayor Michael Shelton said would cost a few thousand dollars.
Instead of paying rent, the society will spend roughly $60,000 to restore the house. Built in 1883, it served as the city's library for two decades until this summer, when a new $2 million library was built next door.
Once the house is restored, the historical society will be responsible for all maintenance. It can sublease rooms for law offices, museums, galleries, bookstores and other uses specified in the lease. Rent will go to the historical society, which plans to use part of the house for its offices.
By all accounts, Monday night's meeting between the city and historical society was a cordial, diplomatic event. That wasn't always the case.
For almost a year, the society waged a public relations campaign to save the house, which they believed was destined for the wrecking ball.
"If we hadn't made all the commotion ... why, I think it would be demolished by now," Cole said. Society members wrote letters, made phone calls, circulated petitions and appealed to the press.
The state librarian, acting on a tip from the historical society, has withheld the city's $178,000 grant since July. The attorney general's office said the city possibly was violating federal preservation laws.
City Councilwoman Joanne Grahame, head of the library committee, cast the sole vote against the lease agreement because, she said, the society unfairly used the grant as leverage.
"It had become a political and sort of a power thing, and my politics don't work that way," Grahame said. "I think they unfairly used the press.''
Shelton said the society "unnecessarily stirred emotions" and blew the issue out of proportion. It was City Council's job to consider all the alternatives, including demolition, he said.
On Tuesday, he praised the historical society for "doing a service to the community" by leasing and restoring the Wharton House.
"This pretty much takes care of things. We're moving on to other things," Shelton said.
State librarian Nolan Yelich said he hopes to release the grant money as soon as he and the attorney general's office have looked over the lease.
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