Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 26, 1995 TAG: 9504260104
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
After a brisk climb up a 121-foot fire ladder and a look inside Gainsboro's fire-damaged First Baptist Church, a Richmond engineer who rescues historic buildings said Tuesday he thinks most of the old church walls can be saved.
Bill Davis - savior of historic buildings wrecked by Lynchburg's windstorm and Petersburg's tornado in 1993 - said the top few feet of the bell tower and two small chimneys need to be knocked down. But otherwise he gave the church's pastor, the Rev. Kenneth Wright, an optimistic report on possible preservation.
``I think that it can be done,'' said Davis. The structural engineer was brought to Roanoke by the state Department of Historic Resources to inspect the damage. Besides walking up the steep ladder to near the top of the tower, Davis walked inside the church and all around it. The steeple, slate roof and most of the interior of the 1898 church were destroyed in Saturday's fire.
A city fire investigator entered the church Tuesday afternoon for the first time since the fire. City engineers and acting Fire Chief Billy Southall had not permitted investigators to go inside earlier because they feared the tower, the main walls or the sanctuary floor could collapse.
The city has asked First Baptist to build an 8-foot fence across Jefferson Street and around the building to keep people and traffic away. Until a fence is erected, Damon Littlefield, a consulting engineer hired by the city, said people should stay behind the yellow police tape. ``The top of that tower is unstable,'' he said. ``There's a chance that, even as we're standing here, it could come down.''
Although Davis thinks the ruins can be pinned, shored and stabilized eventually, Littlefield said, ``They aren't now.''
Eddie Fielder, a fire marshal, was accompanied on Tuesday's brief walk inside the church by structural engineers hired by the city and the church. Fielder, whose job it is to determine the cause of the fire, videotaped the church and took still photographs of the damage.
City Public Safety Director George ``Chip'' Snead said Fielder gathered a small amount of physical evidence, but it was too early to discuss the cause of the fire. However, a city news release indicates that arson is considered a possibility. It said police and the Fire Department are conducting an ``aggressive'' investigation. Police don't investigate fires unless there's a suspicion of arson or other crimes.
After coming down the ladder, Davis said bricks atop the bell tower are loose. ``You can flick them off, one, two, three,'' he said. The church bell now lies on the floor of the church.
Once all reports are in, it will be up to First Baptist's board of trustees to decide whether to preserve what's left. The congregation moved out and built a new church 13 years ago but still owns the old building, which was insured. Engineers said even partial preservation could cost more than $1 million.
John Kern, regional director of the Department of Historic Resources, said the church represents Gainsboro's most vital period - from 1900 to the 1950s. Leslie Giles, an architectural historian in his office here, said the elegant church was built in a Northern Italian/Gothic Revival style, ``a very individualistic building.''
Standing outside it Tuesday, Wright said people have called from out of state to offer their help in saving what remains of the church. Just as he said that, local architect Ed Barnett walked up and offered his services.
by CNB