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

DATE: SATURDAY, August 14, 1993                   TAG: 9308140167
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

NEIGHBORS ARGUE TO KEEP SCHOOL SIGN

Some residents in Roanoke's Old Southwest neighborhood like the Highland Park School sign just the way it is.

And they say Joel Richert, an Old Southwest resident, doesn't speak for them or represent the neighborhood.

Gen Nackley, who lives across the street from the school, said Friday she likes the sign and sees no need to move it.

Some residents are considering circulating a petition in support of the sign, Nackley said.

The sign, which identifies Highland Park as a "Blue Ribbon School of Excellence," was erected without permission of the city's Architectural Review Board.

Principal John Lensch said he wasn't aware of the regulations for the historic district.

Richert told the board Thursday that she doesn't think the sign should remain up longer than one year.

But Nackley and several other Old Southwest residents said Friday they don't agree with Richert.

"She doesn't speak for me and many other people" in the neighborhood, said Nackley. Several callers to the Roanoke Times & World-News expressed similar sentiments.

by CNB