South Side Railroad Station trial begins

[Emmanuel Dabney]

01/25/2007
Battle for South Side Station Opening volleys begin civil trial over ownership of historic building in Petersburg
BY F.M. WIGGINS
STAFF WRITER


PETERSBURG — A jury of nine people heard opening statements and testimony yesterday in a civil trial over the ownership of one of the city’s most historic buildings.


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Steven Biss, a lawyer for the previous owner of the South Side Station, said the case in Circuit Court was one of waste, broken promises and deceit. William Patton of River Street Associates LLC has sued the current owners of the train station, The War Between The States Inc., claiming the group did not uphold its pledges to restore one of the oldest train stations in Virginia.

“The defendants did nothing with this station other than to destroy the historic integrity of the building,” Biss said in his opening statements.

Patton gave the station to TWBTS in 2002 through a deed of gift. After seeing no progress, Biss said that Patton called TWBTS out and filed the lawsuit against the group in October 2005.

Biss said that TWBTS had no knowledge of the work entailed in restoring the station and even disobeyed the Petersburg Architectural Review Board and dismantled part of the station using a front end loader instead of doing the work by hand. He added that it may never be known how much of the integrity of the structure was lost in that effort.

Attorney Todd Ritter, representing TWBTS, said the group made its intentions fully known to Patton. He added that TWBTS has also made vast improvements to the historic train station and grounds in the short time the group has owned the property.

“It was grown up with weeds and debris, there were old appliances and engine parts, toilets and a truck that didn’t run,” Ritter said, adding that TWBTS removed all of the debris from the property.

“There were also dogs roaming around and in the property,” Ritter said. “TWBTS cleaned up after the dogs.”

Ritter also said that an antique caboose that was rusted and in disrepair has been painted a bright red by members of the group.

Biss added that the jury would get the opportunity to see what work really had been performed since Patton deeded the station to TWBTS on March 23, 2002.

Ritter said TWBTS actually did not gain control of the property until June 2003 after a lawsuit to remove a tenant of the building.

“We got sued in 2005, and a lot has been done since June 2003,” Ritter said.

Ritter added that TWBTS has hosted events including a living history exhibit, an event on Sept. 11, 2004, to honor firefighters and an event to honor fallen African-American Confederate soldier Richard “Dick” Poplar a week later.

“This is still a work in progress,” Ritter said of the restoration efforts on the station.

Biss, however, said that the jury would hear throughout the trial and see evidence that the TWBTS organization has altered records of meetings and never applied for any grants in three and a half years.

“It wasn’t until July 28, 2005, that Chris White, the secretary of TWBTS, reported in the minutes that grant writing was proceeding slowly at best,” Biss said.

Biss claimed that TWBTS is merely an organization that is attempting to preserve the vestiges and emblems of the Confederacy. He added that TWBTS has flown a Confederate flag over the station since January 2004 and has refused to take it down.

Ritter said that a Confederate flag does fly over the building, but that the organization also has a U.S. flag and a Union battle flag hanging inside the station.

Biss asked that the jury return a verdict in favor of his client and return the station to Patton. “Send a message to people who lie to stop them from doing it again,” he said.

Ritter said that TWBTS was never given any deadlines to complete restoration of the station. He added that the group has accomplished a lot on a little and should be given the time to complete the restoration of the station and its surrounding property.

The civil trial is expected to last at least three days.

• F.M. Wiggins may be reached at 732-3456, ext. 254 or fwiggins@progress-index.com

Online at: http://www.progress-index.com/site/n...d=462946&rfi=6

[Guy Gane III]

Re: South Side Railroad Station trial begins

:angry_smi

[Emmanuel Dabney]

Re: South Side Railroad Station trial begins

Here is the final verdict on the ownership of the South Side Railroad Station.

01/30/2007
Fight over South Side Station ends with a settlement
BY F.M. WIGGINS
STAFF WRITER


PETERSBURG — After three days of testimony and a day of deliberations by a jury, the former and present owners of South Side Station came to a settlement late Sunday.

The trial over ownership of the historic building began Wednesday with opening arguments from Steve Biss, representing William Patton of River Street Associates, and Todd Ritter, who represented The War Between The States Inc., which most recently owned the building.

In March 2002 Patton gave the station to TWBTS through a deed of gift with the understanding that the group would renovate the structure and restore it to its former glory.

By October 2005 Patton had first filed suit against TWBTS to regain control of the station.

Under the terms of the settlement, South Side Station will be returned to Patton.

Biss said that he expects the station to be signed back over to the Patton family by the end of the week.

Ritter said that through the course of the trial he defended his clients and their efforts to restore the station.

“The trial lasted a little over three days and the jury continued deliberating for about half a day Saturday,” Ritter said.

Ritter added that the jury seemed to have paid close attention throughout the trial but just couldn’t come to a verdict.

“At the end of the day on Saturday, Judge [Robert] Curran encouraged both sides to talk and to try and reach an agreement,” Ritter said.

Late Sunday, the two sides did come to an agreement and a settlement was reached.

A prepared statement sent out by Ritter and approved by Biss said that through the trial it had become evident that TWBTS acted in good faith and that the organization pursued restoration of the station to the best of its ability.

The statement went on to say the property should be restored and that responsibility for such restoration be vested with a party that has the current capacity to see that this is accomplished.

“The settlement allows our group to go on and do what it does best,” Ritter said. “It also allows the project to go forward in the hands of an entity that has the financial resources to make the project happen.”

A committee of consulting representatives from TWBTS has been invited by Patton to participate on the project. The statement said that the settlement will allow TWBTS to concentrate on other projects it has going on throughout the city.

Biss had no further information on exactly what his client’s plans for the station’s restoration are or to what use the station would be put after restoration efforts are completed. Biss also would not speculate on how the change of ownership would affect a pending eminent domain case involving the former train station.

Circuit Court Clerk Ben Scott said that the members of the jury only found out about the settlement when they reported for duty yesterday and were told that the case had been settled.

F.M. Wiggins may be reached at 732-3456, ext. 254 or fwiggins@progress-index.com.

Online at: http://www.progress-index.com/site/n...d=462946&rfi=6

[Tritter]

Re: South Side Railroad Station trial begins

The attached is the full-text of the statement approved by both parties to the South Side Station Settlement. -Todd M. Ritter, Esquire