Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 19, 1990 TAG: 9003192556
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
The work began in January as Wilder was telling the General Assembly the state would have to tighten its budgetary belt because of a projected $267 million revenue shortfall over the next two years.
The 177-year-old mansion, the oldest continuously occupied governor's home in the nation, badly needed repairs that were neglected by Wilder's predecessor, Gerald Baliles, said Laura Dillard, the governor's press secretary.
"There is some work that needed to be done and this governor just decided, `Okay, I'm going to bite this bullet, I'm going to do it,' " Dillard said. "When costs come out, you anticipate some people raising an eyebrow."
She noted that Wilder canceled an annual party for state legislators this month and directed that the $4,000 cost go instead for the renovation.
The mansion has undergone repairs during the last two administrations. About $500,000, much of it private funds, was spent in the early 1980s to renovate the living quarters for then-Gov. Charles Robb's family. The mansion's exterior was painted last year during the Baliles administration.
Dillard said the money for the latest renovation was already in the 1988-90 state budget when Wilder took office in January.
The Citizens' Advisory Committee for Interpreting and Furnishing the Executive Mansion looked into private funding, but found little interest, said Mary Jane Tayloe, the mansion director.
by CNB