ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, December 4, 1996 TAG: 9612040023
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO
THE PRECIOUS little that remains of the Gainsboro Historic District near downtown Roanoke grew smaller still last week with the demolition of two more homes. The destruction, a result of bureaucratic miscommunication and the property owner's defiance of historic-district restrictions, is an outrage for several reasons.
First, it occurred despite zoning protections put in place to preserve what survives of the city's oldest neighborhood.
It's another reminder of the fragility, even after years of hard effort, of attempts to preserve the history that helps give the city a character of its own.
Second, it occurred in the city's only predominantly black historic district, where black residents lived as Roanoke developed as a segregated community.
Such an act of bad faith could hardly have been more unfortunate, at least symbolically, given the history of neighborhood losses and conflict with the city, and the uphill battle that residents face in trying to bring Gainsboro back to life.
Third, it's a setback to the painfully slow progress being made toward forming a working coalition to revive nearby Henry Street, a vital black commercial district in the days of segregation.
The Henry Street development initiative has been hampered enough by mistrust harbored by some black residents toward city government and the mostly white Roanoke establishment. This most recent idiocy may well feed those suspicions, a counterproductive consequence both for the neighborhood and the city.
Fourth, it is, at least potentially, a setback to long-term progress in the downtown.
The city wants more housing downtown. The Hotel Roanoke benefits from having something more than vacant lots surrounding it. Yet the attrition to its north continues.
The destruction of just two houses, boarded up and in need of repair, may not seem like a major blow. But Gainsboro has steadily been whittled away over the past 30 years, until only about 30 homes remain. The two houses torn down were irreplaceable, awaiting only investment and care to restore them.
A few years ago, the city at long last acknowledged the importance of preserving what remains of Gainsboro when, meeting stiff resistance to road upgrades through the neighborhood, it drew new plans to minimize their impact. The city avoided tearing down a dozen homes originally marked for demolition, and spent more than half a million dollars to move two.
Now, two others are gone, wrecked by a paperwork snafu and a property owner's greedy disdain for community standards.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB