CRAIG COUNTY MAY GET 80-BED RETIREMENT HOME

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

DATE: THURSDAY, February 20, 1992                   TAG: 9202200517
SECTION: NEIGHBORS                    PAGE: W-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CHARLES STEBBINS WEST CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: NEW CASTLE                                LENGTH: Medium
CRAIG COUNTY MAY GET 80-BED RETIREMENT HOME
A retirement home that would increase tax revenues by an estimated $6,500 and create 35 full-time jobs is in the planning stage in Craig County, and backers have great hope all the hurdles can be cleared.
The 80-bed home will cost more than $1 million to build and will be operated under the auspices of the Christian Church, which now operates two retirement homes in Virginia.
Ernie Johnson, pastor of New Castle Christian Church, said the home still has many points to clear up, but he is optimistic.
"I think it will happen," he said. "I think it will happen by summer."
But, he said, nothing is definite yet except a need for such a home and the desire by many to bring it about.
However, before the home can become a reality, he said, land must be purchased. The home's backers must get the necessary government approval, a water supply must be created and a sewage disposal system must be approved.
The home is expected to be near New Castle, but a site has not yet been selected.
Don Myers, president of the board of Vintage Health Services, the parent organization of the home, said his group is negotiating on a tract about 1 1/2 miles outside New Castle.
Dallas Helems, vice president of Vintage Health Services, said there is a definite need for a home of this type.
Also, he said, some former Craig County residents living in retirement homes in other areas say they would return to Craig County if there was a suitable home for them.
Johnson said although the Craig County home would be the third in the Christian Church network in Virginia, it would be the first west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The other homes are in Richmond and Norfolk.
Christian Church members from throughout Virginia, but primarily west of the Blue Ridge, would get preference for living in the home, he said.
Gertrude Lowery, mayor of New Castle, praised the proposal.
"This is a wonderful idea," she said. "It would be very beneficial to people in New Castle."
Lowery said she expected that New Castle's economy would reap some of the benefits of a retirement home even though the home would be outside the town limits.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB