ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times

DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997            TAG: 9702270078
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
DATELINE: BEDFORD
SOURCE: JOANNE POINDEXTER

DOCTOR'S OFFICE TO BE RESTORED BEDFORD BUILDING SOLD TO FOUNDATION

The office of the late Dr. Dennis Robinson in the city's historic district will be restored by the Wharton Memorial Foundation.

Bedford City Council, which has had an option to buy the house - known as the Wharton, Gregory, Robinson House - for nearly two years, decided Tuesday to sell it to the foundation for $70,500. The house, at 309 N. Bridge St., is on property with the historic Wharton House, the city's central library and a church built in 1843.

Council obtained the option to see if it was feasible to use the house for city offices and protect land around the library, City Manager Jack Gross said.

Restoring the house's exterior will cost between $20,000 and $25,000, said Fred Duis, foundation president.

Although the foundation has not decided the building's use, Duis said members hope to have the work completed before the opening of the National D-Day Memorial in Bedford in 1999.

The house, built in 1848 by John Wharton, is in an area zoned business and commercial, and the building's use must be compatible with the library and the Bedford Disciples of Christ Church, formerly St. John's Episcopal.

The tax-exempt foundation was established to create gardens around the library and carry out restorations of the house and church property, Duis said. The foundation is talking with the church's governing board about its restoration.

"This means a vital, historic resource can be restored and become an active and living building, and the gardens [around the library] can be expanded," Duis said.

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