Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I am, among many others, quite concerned over the fate of the L.M. Callis House presently located behind the Bay School Community Arts Center on Main Street in Mathews. It is looking forlorn and abandoned.

The Callis House is one of the few survivors of the older homes in Mathews Court House and it should be saved. It is my understanding that the house will have to be moved to a new location, preferably close by to save costs as moving any house can be quite expensive, especially if electric and telephone wires and cables are involved. It has also come to my knowledge that the Friends of the Mathews Library Inc. own seven acres of land right by the Callis House. Seven acres! I know there is, from time to time, talk about future expansion of the bookstore. I have an idea: Why not move the Callis House onto the property belonging to the Friends of the Library and use it as the new bookstore, as it is a most attractive house. The house has at least eight rooms, so there would be space left over for other uses. Bay School will give away the house; if the Friends of the Library will give the land, the move would be a short one with no electric or telephone lines involved, which would make it less expensive.

It would seem to me this is a win for all: The Bay School can expand as it wants; the Callis House is saved, and the Friends of the Library gets a beautiful house to use as a bookstore. The L.M. Callis House is a fine example of a turn-of-the-20th-century house built by prosperous people as Mr. Callis was. The house was built with materials and craftsmanship rarely seen today and it should be preserved for the future.

Robert L. Petersen

Mathews, Va.