ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, October 25, 1996 TAG: 9610250073
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
Boarded and decaying, a once-stately plantation house sits hidden among tall trees and boxwoods behind a new subdivision in Roanoke County.
An early-1800s log cabin, incognito behind white siding but one of the oldest cabins in the Roanoke Valley, has been left isolated by heavy traffic and county courthouse construction in downtown Salem.
For the first time, the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation went public Thursday with these and other valley spots that foundation leaders consider the most imperiled by development, road construction, vandalism and general community neglect.
"This is the tip of an iceberg," said Robert France, chairman of the foundation's threatened and endangered sites committee. He said the foundation has more than 50 sites on a list and "there certainly are more than 50 out there."
The foundation aims to protect buildings, neighborhoods and natural sites that best exemplify the history and character of the Roanoke Valley, he said - "what we are and how we came here."
Some popular historic sites, such as the railroad passenger terminal near the Hotel Roanoke & Conference Center, are not on the list. France said many sites either are in stable condition or are not thought to be under serious threat.
Here are the Top 10 sites as named at the foundation's annual meeting Thursday night:
* Southeast Roanoke neighborhoods: The foundation notes that though it's one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, Southeast has received little recognition for its historic architecture or its residents' contributions to the city. Homes include brick four-squares and Tudors, many turn-of-the-century wooden houses, and Buena Vista, an antebellum plantation house.
"The past decade," the foundation warns, "has seen a severe impact on the neighborhood - a steady decline due to flooding, fires, vandalism and neglect. The lack of any historic recognition or designation has left the area unprotected, and subsequent losses have included the old City Stables, a historic foundry, a brewery and many significant houses."
* The Stokes house, 5621 Plantation Road: The large brick plantation house, built about 1875, is one of the homes that gave Plantation Road its name. The foundation considers the house one of the few 19th-century houses of architectural significance remaining in Roanoke County.
According to the foundation, the house contains "exquisite" period woodwork, the remnants of ceiling frescoes, and fireplaces in each room. A free-standing kitchen, smokehouse and servants' quarters sit behind the house.
About two years ago, the Plantation Oaks subdivision was built in front of the Stokes house. Dave Carty, a real estate broker with HCMF Corp., said Thursday he did not know what the property owners, Oaks Development Corp., planned to do with the boarded-up house.
* The Burke cabin, 431 Clay St., Salem: Once part of a tannery operation, the nearly 200-year-old cottage is located at the busy corner of Clay Street and Thompson Memorial Parkway, right behind the Roanoke County Courthouse. Owner Katherine Burke, 82, who lives nearby, said she wants to save the cabin but isn't sure what will happen. She said the county wants to build a parking lot there.
* Mountain Views: "The mountain views are a lot of what bring people to the valley," said France, and yet the mountainsides and ridges continue to be marred by housing development, transmission towers, power lines, logging and erosion.
In its report, the foundation calls on Roanoke County to guide development along ridgetops, similar to the controls it placed on house construction near the Blue Ridge Parkway. County Administrator Elmer Hodge said he and county supervisors support ridgetop protection and are working on a regional plan with the Fifth Planning District Commission.
* Roanoke River headwaters: The valley has an unusual opportunity to control pollution, said France, because its river originates nearby in Montgomery County. "It's all ours," he said, "and it's our responsibility" to keep it clean. The foundation called on Friends of the Roanoke River and the Roanoke greenways coalition to continue their efforts to clean up the river and its environs.
* Claytor Memorial Clinic, Gainsboro Road at Gilmer Avenue: Built by the Claytor family in the early 1940s, the clinic served the Gainsboro community until 1994. The clinic was damaged by fire last year, and an adjoining pharmacy was torn down. "Restoring this building would not only contribute to reclaiming Roanoke's Afro-American heritage," the foundation says, "but to the future health of the surrounding neighborhood."
* City cemetery, Tazewell Avenue Southeast: Vandals have toppled dozens of tombstones from the 1800s. Old Roanoke families including the Rorers and the Deyerles are buried there, and the cemetery is home to a monument to the city's Confederate dead. The foundation wants to organize a volunteer group to clean the graveyard and help construct a fence around it.
* Shenandoah Hotel, Campbell Avenue and Williamson Road: The abandoned Shenandoah, just south of the site of the now-demolished Hotel Earle, is in good shape and could "easily" be returned to use, according to the foundation. "But the building has been caught in a web of restrictions and disagreements that have kept it vacant for years." The hotel's owners could not be reached for comment.
* Harris farmstead, U.S. 221 in the Back Creek section of Roanoke County: Built in the 1870s, the farmhouse has been recommended for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Highway planners have proposed straightening a sharp curve by the house. The road work would bring 221 closer and increase the speed and volume of traffic. All this would accelerate development in the area, warns the foundation, and contribute to "the destruction of the rural landscape and life that makes the Back Creek region so attractive."
* Norfolk and Western office buildings, North Jefferson Street: An architectural study is under way to determine how the newer of the two abandoned buildings might be used for higher education classes. "While the Norfolk Southern Corporation is currently serving admirably as custodian for the buildings," the foundation says, "they stand at risk so long as they stand empty."
Know of other sites for the foundation's list? Call 989-0146 or write the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation, Threatened and Endangered Sites Committee, P.O. Box 1558, Roanoke 24007.
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