ROANOKE TIMES 

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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 24, 1995                   TAG: 9505250009
SECTION: EDITORIALS                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

STONEWALL JACKSON

DISTINCTIVE neighborhoods and residents' pride in them are assets that cities should foster and encourage. In this regard, Roanoke has done better than many.

But what's a city to do when a neighborhood is sharply divided on an issue? That certainly appears the case in Southeast Roanoke concerning the proposed demolition of 70-year-old Stonewall Jackson Middle School. City officials are now in the unenviable position of being damned if they do, damned if they don't.

Some residents of the mostly blue-collar neighborhood, many of whom attended Jackson, don't want the 72-year-old school torn down. They see it as a treasured landmark that helps give their community its identity.

Other residents are delighted with the school system's plans to raze the building and replace it with a new school with modern classrooms, laboratories and computerized learning centers.

Into this fray enters the "us vs. them" sectionalism that has been the basis for many a conflict in Roanoke. Demolition opponents complain the city is again showing its insensitivity to Southeast by proposing to tear down its school. In other neighborhoods, they note, the city has managed to renovate rather than raze older school buildings.

This is true, but there's another difference as well. The other buildings were elementary schools, not middle schools, and posed less demanding technical requirements - such as the science labs - for conversion into state-of-the-art facilities.

The city could have done a better job of communicating its intentions, and the reasons for them. Given that the previous school-upgrade projects had stressed renovation, it was not unreasonable - albeit mistaken - for Southeast residents to assume at first that this project, too, did not involve major demolition.

Even so, hurt feelings and past grievances should not be allowed to overwhelm good judgment. In the end, the most important consideration should be ensuring the quality of the educational opportunities for the schoolchildren of Southeast. 


 by CNB