THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 12, 1997 TAG: 9702120465
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: 39 lines
Housing officials still aren't sure if renovating the Professional Building - one of two city high-rises - is the right project for them.
The Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority voted unanimously Tuesday night to allow the agency's executive director time to study the building and make a recommendation about whether they should renovate it.
About 10 residents from the Suffolk Civic Forum protested the board's decision to fix the building, saying the authority should not have voted on the project without first discussing it with Executive Director Clarissa E. McAdoo.
``To us, this showed complete disregard for the position of executive director,'' said Albert Jones, a member of the Suffolk Civic Forum. ``If the executive director is to do a good job, she must have respect from the entire board. Without it, she is programmed to fail.''
Chairman John H. Kindred told the civic forum that he shared their concerns.
The agency voted unanimously last month to spend $1.2 million to renovate the Professional Building after Commissioner Jack G. Vaughan proposed they rehabilitate it. The seven-story historic site that city officials have wanted to restore has sat vacant for years.
The tall, brown structure on the corner of Washington and Main streets opened in 1917 with marble stairs, crystal chandeliers in the marble lobby and one of the city's first elevators.
When downtown Suffolk was thriving, the building - now owned by the city - housed offices for lawyers, doctors, accountants and insurance agents. They left as downtown Suffolk began to decline.
Over the years, several folks have been interested in buying and renovating the building, but the price has always been too high. The last study on turning it into medical offices for Western Tidewater Community Services set the price at $1.6 million.
KEYWORDS: SUFFOLK REDEVELOPMENT AND HOUSING AUTHORITY