ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 15, 1996 TAG: 9608160002
SECTION: NEIGHBORS PAGE: N-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER STAFF WRITER
At first glance, it's just another overgrown city lot with the common signs of neglect - vines cascading from tree trunks and branches, underbrush covering what once was grass.
Modest homes line one side of this foot of Woods Avenue; a small apartment house sits across the street. This is where the sidewalk ends - with a piece of earth waiting for someone to rescue it. It's a green buffer between the residents and the railroad tracks, where Woods and its next-door neighbor, Allison Avenue, dead end.
Betty Trinkle Freeman has been paying taxes on the land ``for years,'' ever since she inherited it from her father, real estate magnate C.W. Francis. Two years ago, Freeman asked the city Planning Commission to officially close and deed to her a section of the land at the end of Woods, which passes through the lots she already owned.
The additional square footage would increase the value of the site - the size of seven city lots - and make it more appealing to a developer. Sixteen rental units could be built, rather than 13. Freeman was ready to sell.
The Old Southwest neighborhood organization protested - loudly. Over the years, the area has lost buildings, significant amounts of land and streetscapes. They were not about to be bulldozed again.
Losing another green space in favor of housing ``just wasn't going to fit,'' said Paula Prince, president of Old Southwest Inc. ``We considered this [site] boundary maintenance.''
Old Southwest protects its perimeter just as a soldier in battle would.
``The edges of a historic district are sometimes far more important than the middle,'' Prince commented. ``Nobody's going to come into the middle, but you can get your edges eaten away, eaten away.''
``We withdrew our request [to the Planning Commission] when we realized there was so much animosity,'' said Will Trinkle, Freeman's son and owner of Francis Realtors.
Enter Petie Cavendish, head of Old Southwest Inc. at the time. ``Petie was very diplomatic. She apologized for the group's reaction. She wanted to know how to make Old Southwest and my mother both winners. If it weren't for her, nothing would have happened,'' Trinkle explained.
What did happen were neighbor-to-neighbor conversations, figurative talking over the fence. Cavendish met with Trinkle, Trinkle talked with Freeman, Cavendish talked with Old Southwest members
Betty Freeman was disappointed at the neighborhood group's reaction. Not a woman who quotes acreage or road frontage (``They never let me know what's going on down at the office''), she operated from her heart, offering the property to Old Southwest in a gift/buy package last year.
She forgave a substantial part of the asking price of $21,500 and financed the rest. ``Basically, I'm giving them this green space,'' Freeman said. ``I think the neighborhood and the city will both benefit.''
``The terms they [Freeman and Trinkle] offered us were absolutely phenomenal,'' said Prince. ``They have been most generous and cooperative to work with.''
Old Southwest bought a vacant lot years ago with grant money; it then sold the lot, banked the money and is using it now to purchase the Freeman property. Add in a development grant the group has received from the Roanoke Neighborhood Partnership.
``This is a win-win for the neighborhood and for the property owner,'' said Chris Chittum, neighborhood planner for the Roanoke Neighborhood Partnership. ``Everybody got something out of it. That's what we look for.''
A lifelong resident of Roanoke, Freeman has never lived in Old Southwest. Her sentimental attachment to the historic neighborhood goes only as far as the fact that her father grew up nearby. But she does value the natural beauty of Roanoke more and more. ``We have beautiful green spaces and beautiful mountains, but we keep paving over everything.''
Not this spot. Call it Petie Cavendish's legacy or an act of goodwill by Betty Trinkle Freeman. Color it green, not macadam black.
Old Southwest has no definite plans for the property as yet, ``but I like the idea of a community garden,'' Prince said.
One thing is certain. The overgrown lot at the end of Woods Avenue will remain a symbol of people caring for each other and the places they live in.
``This was a nice way for this to end up,'' Freeman commented. ``I did the right thing.''
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: WAYNE DEEL/Staff. Betty Trinkle Freeman stands at theby CNBend of Allison Avenue, where she has donated property that one day
may become another park for the Old Southwest neighborhood. color.