The Christiansburg Institute agreed to step in to help the effort to save the historic caretaker’s cottage in Roanoke's Washington Park.

That is a development that could result in funding to stave off demolition of the city-owned cottage, according to supporters.

However, the Christiansburg nonprofit was gutted by Trump administration cuts last week and that prompted a layoff of its staff.

It was unclear this week what impact that could have on the institute’s application for a state grant that could provide the funding to stave off the cottage’s demolition.

The institute’s director, Chris Sanchez, as well as other stakeholders, did not respond to messages.

The nonprofit, which manages a historic Christiansburg property including a school where Booker T. Washington was an adviser, was asked to file the grant application because Friends of Washington Park — which formed to try to save the cottage — does not have nonprofit status. 

Vice Mayor Terry McGuire said Sanchez informed him Tuesday that the grant application made it through the first stage of the process.

“It's good news,” said McGuire, who favors saving the cottage.

Meanwhile, the city of Roanoke, in its most significant public show of support for the cottage to date, is endorsing the grant application.

It sent a letter to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, citing the Caretaker’s Rehabilitation Project.

“In partnership with the Friends of Washington Park and the Descendants and Family Stewardship Initiative, this is a Christiansburg Institute project to assist the City of Roanoke in protecting and supporting historically underserved and underrepresented communities and their associated cultural and historical sites,” read the March 24 letter signed by City Manager Valmarie Turner.

The institute has filed for a Virginia Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Historic Preservation Fund grant, a state historic resources program. Applicants must seek at least $50,000 and can be awarded up to $1 million.

Alison Blanton of the Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation has been part of the effort to save the cottage. She said it’s possible enough money could be acquired from the state grant program to preserve the structure.

It’s “the most promising” grant for the project at this point, she said.

However, Blanton said there are remaining issues. She said she believes the grant application could be stronger if there was a specific use outlined for the structure. There have been ideas for that discussed, such as a community center, but no definitive decision has been made.

Also, Blanton said if the city would apply for the grant, it could potentially get matching federal funds should a state award be achieved.

So far, the City Council has not taken a formal vote on the project.

The city is building a new $3 million pool in Washington Park that is scheduled to open this summer. There was discussion that the cottage would be demolished to make room for the pool — but it was later determined that didn’t need to happen.

Washington Park served Black residents during segregation and the cottage, also known as Evans House, has a role in history, which included serving as a residence for a caretaker, Sam Callaway and his wife, Ophelia, beginning in the 1920s. The structure dates to the 1840s.

Cathy Carter, president of Friends of Washington Park, said last week they brought the Christiansburg Institute on board “to help move us forward.” While the city has given permission for the grant application, she noted it has been almost three years since residents came together to try to save the cottage.

“We had hoped by now the city would collaborate with us to get it rehabilitated,” said Carter, who did not respond to messages after the Christiansburg Institute layoffs.

The Friends group recently hired a team to assess what it will take to preserve the cottage and that includes Ron Shiflett of Roanoke’s Covenant Engineering. Shiflett and others looked over the structure last week.

Shiflett said the cottage’s brick and mortar is in good shape. He said there’s an exterior crack on one side that he believes can be repaired. 

Shiflett said late last week he is not in a position to offer a cost estimate. He said such estimates on a historical structure in a state of disrepair can vary widely based on a firm’s level of uneasiness with doing such work.

However, when asked his opinion on the cottage’s fate, he said: “I think it is restorable.”