THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Section: UCITY
Edition: THREE
Page: 9J
STEVE LYTTLE, Staff Writer

A FINAL GLIMPSE OF CHILDHOOD HOME

Joyce Miller Price didn't see peeling paint, missing ceiling tiles and the empty interior. She didn't detect the slight hint of mildew.

She saw home.

The home where she spent the first three years of her life and then returned to visit relatives for eight years, until the Miller family sold the place in 1942.

That building, at 1611 Central Ave., later was used for retail business and was the site of Abra Costumes for nearly three decades until that business closed in January.

Sometime in the next few weeks, the building will be demolished and replaced with a three-story condominium, to be called Central27.

Price, 74, who now lives in south Charlotte, read about the plans of developer Ray "Rip" Farris III and contacted him several months ago. Price asked if she could visit the building one last time.

About three weeks ago, she joined Farris, fellow developer Grey Poole and sales agent Stefanie Stradinger for a journey through the house.

Price was born in 1931 and spent her early life at the Central Avenue house with her parents, Robert and Jane.

She and her parents shared a downstairs bedroom. Her grandparents and an aunt lived upstairs.

She would join her grandfather on the back porch while he sharpened his axe with a grinding wheel. The old house was heated with fireplaces.

By the early 1940s, Price said, things were changing on Central Avenue.

"First, it was the demise of the streetcar," she said. "My uncle was a motor man, but it went out of business."

Then came World War II.

"After Pearl Harbor, I recall convoys going down Central Avenue," she said. "They were traveling between Camp Sutton (in Monroe) and Camp Greene (in Charlotte). The convoys would last for hours.

"People would line the sidewalks to wave flags and cheer for the soldiers. By then, the area was growing."

After about 45 minutes, Price returned to the front door.

"I appreciate this, more than you'll ever know," she told Farris, who promised to save a piece of wood from the house for her.