THURSDAY, JANUARY 31, 2008
VOL. 12 NO. 41 NEWS HEADLINES
Who wants to buy a slightly used ferry?
Valentine’s Day Gift ideas
By Lynn R. Parks
Pages 26-27 WWII VETS - John Ross was there to witness the attack on Pearl Harbor. Page 8 HOUSING - Sussex needs help to increase the number of moderately priced housing units. Page 9 RITE TECH - Rite Tech Aerospace’s engineering facility comes to Bridgeville. Page 13 CONCERT - The Black Mountain Male Chorus of Wales performs locally next week. Page 15 RAIDERS AND RAVENS - The Woodbridge and Sussex boys’ basketball teams clash. Page 39 THIRD STRAIGHT - The Seaford boys’ winter track team placed first in the Snow Hill meet for the third week in a row. Page 39 STARS OF THE WEEK - A Seaford boys’ track athlete and a Seaford wrestler are this week’s Seaford Stars of the Week. Page 41
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At top is a recent photo of the new ferry under construction in Salisbury, Md. The bottom archive photo shows the old ferry that is now set aside for auction. Photos by Phil Livingston
In the market for a slightly used, cable-guided ferry? Well, your ship may be coming in. The Virginia C., the 47year-old ferry that crossed the Nanticoke River at Woodland for more than four decades, is on the auction block. Bids will be accepted starting tomorrow, Feb. 1. Among the bidders will be Alfred Layton, who owns riverfront property just 1,200 feet from the ferry crossing, on the Laurel side of the river. Layton said that he is interested in buying the ferry and docking it alongside his property. “I would leave it as it is and dock it as a historical museum,” Layton said Monday. “She would stay
in the water and people would still be able to see her from the Woodland Church.” Layton said that he did not know how much he would bid on the ferry. Jack Knowles, who owns the As Time Goes By museum in Woodland, said that he will not bid on the ferry. “I’m not really interested,” he said. “If it was the old wooden ferry, that would be something different. I grew up with that ferry.” The Delaware Department of Transportation announced last week that the three-car ferry, which is being replaced by a larger, six-car vessel, has been listed for sale with Auction Liquidation Services, an online auction service. Continued to page four
Campaign hopes to raise $4.2 million for construction of a Seaford Library Locally-raised funds will help establish $1 million endowment fund for future library operations
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By Lynn R. Parks A campaign to raise money for the construction of a $4.8 million library in Seaford will get underway soon. According to a press release sent out last week by Laura Davis Mears, a development consultant hired by the Seaford District Library, the library “will launch a $4.2 million campaign early this year to raise money locally for the construction of a new library facility.” That money will include $2.4 million for the actual construction of the 18,000-square-foot facility; the state will pay the remaining $2.4 million in construction costs. The locally-raised funds will also include $200,000 for furniture and equipment, $600,000 for operations and $1 million for an endowment fund to pay for future operations in the library.
The campaign will begin in February, Mears said. “The special events committee has several events planned for the duration of the campaign, some as fundraisers, some as awareness builders,” Mears said. “We are anxious to get started with our fundraising effort,” said Barb Allen, co-chair of the fundraising campaign. “We are seeking commitments from community businesses and individuals, and we really need the community to step to the plate. This will improve our chances of securing grants from private foundations and corporations. They want to see that we have significant support in our backyard before considering investing in our project.” Mears said that the library has raised nearly $500,000. Included in that is a $100,000 donation from Warren Allen, for whom the library’s conference room will be named. The con-
ference room will house a collection of Sussex County genealogy and memorabilia. Mears said that the library would like to raise half of the local funds before starting construction. “We hope to break ground mid- to late-summer,” she added. Construction should take about a year. Construction manager for the project is Nason Construction. Architect is Studio JAED, Wilmington. The library board has been working since 2001 on a plan to replace the 9,000-square-foot Porter Street facility, built in 1963. In 2003, the board purchased from the city about four acres of land in the Ross Business Park, next to the Ross Plantation. Cost of the land was $127,000. In September, the Seaford City Council approved preliminary site plans for the building. Continued to page four