PULASKI DOWNTOWN PROGRAM COULD GET PART-TIME DIRECTOR

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, February 20, 1992                   TAG: 9202200158
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-4   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Medium
PULASKI DOWNTOWN PROGRAM COULD GET PART-TIME DIRECTOR
The Pulaski Main Street program may get at least a part-time manager in the near future.
The three-year-old downtown improvement program had to cut its full-time coordinator position last summer when Town Council reduced funding.
But Billy Smith, Pulaski Main Street's president, said the organization's volunteers have raised enough money to hire a manager 20 hours a week for about $5 an hour.
He told council Tuesday night that Main Street raised $4,000 through a golf tournament last October, and $2,500 through a membership campaign. It is seeking another $1,500 through members and $2,000 in another fund-raising activity sometime in the spring.
Its board believes the program's current balance of $10,286 is sufficient for a part-time manager. It also believes board members need some of the direction that a manager can provide.
Applications are being taken for the job. They should be sent by March 2 to Smith at Pulaski Main Street, P.O. Box 660, Pulaski, Va. 24301.
The town approved $8,000 for Main Street in its current budget. It also will match up to $15,000 more raised by the program itself.
Council also discussed the loss of the Pulaski Theatre, the only downtown movie house in the county; it closed earlier this year. The property may be donated to Pulaski County and used for spillover space when renovation on courthouse space is under way in the coming year.
June Draper had expressed his concern to Mayor Gary Hancock about the loss of the theater. Councilwoman Mary Lou Copenhaver noted that places like Marion have community groups working toward restoring closed theaters as arts and performance centers and said that might be done here.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB