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

DATE: THURSDAY, November 16, 1995                   TAG: 9511160058
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: KIMBERLY N. MARTIN
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

TO REKINDLE GLOW, CAMP NEEDS LOTS OF GREEN PAPER

Roanoke County wants to relight the campfires at Camp Roanoke, but it will take hundreds of thousands of dollars to do it. A capital campaign that kicks off Saturday will try to get citizens to pick up the tab.

A 12-member citizen committee will announce Saturday at 11 a.m. the "Rekindle the Glow" fund-raising drive to revitalize the 70-year-old camp in west Roanoke County.

The camp is "there to service the community, and it can again. It just needs to be brought to life," said Rick Showalter, campaign director.

The YMCA operated the camp for boys until it closed in 1985. The following year, the county bought the camp's 110 acres as part of the land for the Spring Hollow Reservoir watershed. It later decided to go back to its use as a camp.

A volunteer and county effort made the camp presentable for two weeks of Drug Abuse Resistance Education camp last summer by reshingling a few roofs, rewiring half the camp and installing a bathroom. However, the camp still was not fully operational.

Showalter said it will take $300,000 to get the camp running again. That includes renovating the camp's eight cabins for campers and one staff cabin, resurfacing the basketball and tennis courts and gussying up the dining center.

The camp also needs a new swimming pool, a handicapped-accessible bathroom and bridge to cabins, and a sandlot volleyball court, he said.

The county already has chipped in about $75,000 to spruce up the camp - $25,000 came from savings in last year's Parks and Recreation Department budget, and a $50,000 matching gift was allocated by the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors earlier this year.

The remaining $224,000 will have to come from area residents before the drive ends in June. So far, the county has collected about $1,000 in community donations.

Showalter said the renovations are scheduled to begin this summer and be completed in time for camp in 1997. When finished, the camp will be available to all age groups.

by CNB