ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Sunday, January 21, 1996               TAG: 9601220097
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: B-5  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: ISLE OF WIGHT
SOURCE: Daily Press 

FUNDS SOUGHT TO RESTORE HISTORIC TAVERN

What do you do with a 298-year-old historic landmark that's dilapidated and crumbling almost beyond repair?

That's the $400,000 question facing Isle of Wight County leaders as the fate of historic Boykin's Tavern remains in question.

Isle of Wight officials, who say the county can't afford to have the rambling white tavern restored, have applied for a federal grant to pay for the work.

But the same application was turned down last year. And if the money isn't made available this time around, it might be too late to save the landmark, which was built in 1698 to offer food and lodging for residents traveling to the remote county courthouse on business.

``Only its historic value makes it worth saving,'' said Lynn Harris, the county's director of economic development and a leader in the restoration effort.

Engineers and architects estimate it will cost about $440,000 to make the 5,000-square-foot building inhabitable again. In the grant application, Harris proposes using it as a tourist attraction, with upstairs rooms converted to county offices.

Harris envisions a museum exhibit in the front portion of the building, with a re-creation of the old tavern in the rear - the original section of the building. Seven 15-by-20-foot rooms on the second floor would become office suites, and two large rooms on the third floor could be used for storage.

But the building has a lot of problems and has been condemned by county building inspectors, Harris said. Floors on the second story are rotten, and there are termites. Two tall chimneys are pulling away from the exterior of the building, causing the whole structure to shift to one side.

That doesn't dampen Harris' enthusiasm for the project. She is quick to point to the original red bricks, which engineers say may be reused, and the fancy woodwork along the roof line of the building.

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