On Jan. 10, the City Council will consider approving the construction of 15 zero-lot-line homes in a gated community on Prospect between Greenville and Matilda.

The Dallas Plan Commission recently approved zoning for the homes, a project of Bill Shipley of Stonegate Homes Inc., a company known for building luxury homes in Preston Hollow.

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“We haven’t really had opposition,” Shipley says. “It’s a great boost in the arm for the area. This development will spur other development.”

The .75-acre site will have homes ranging from 1,500 to 1,800 square feet each with a two-car garage and brick stucco front. Prices will range from $140,000 to $150,000, Shipley says.

If the Council approves the development, construction will begin in March, Shipley says, and the homes will be on the market this summer.

“They’ll be oriented to people working downtown who don’t want to fight traffic on the Tollway and Central Expressway,” Shipley says.

“It’s a high end product, so that helps property values.”

Shipley has worked with members of the Lower Greenville Neighborhood Association to gain local support for the project. His company has owned the property for five years and originally planned to build office space.

Shipley has decided to build homes instead because demand is high for them and the neighborhood has asked for them, he says.

Arboretum Gives Away Trees

Free 2-gallon saplings will be available at the Dallas Arboretum and Parks Foundation’s seventh annual “Trees Please” celebration on Jan. 27 and 28. The event will be held 10 a.m.-2 p.m. daily.

The first 500 visitors to the Arboretum each day can choose either a bald cypress, lacebark elm or a sweet gum tree. Only one tree will be given out per household. Experts will demonstrate how to properly plant and care for trees and answer questions about existing trees. Arboretum admission on these two days is free.

Also on Jan. 27, arborist Harold Spiegel will present “Dress for Success: How to Choose the Right Trees for Your Home Landscape”, a workshop scheduled from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Arboretum members can attend the class for a $10 advance registration fee, and non-members can attend for a $15 advance registration fee. The workshop is part of an annual winter education series sponsored by the Exxon Corp. Workshops on a variety of landscaping and gardening topics are scheduled through Feb. 24. Prices range from free to $35 each. For a schedule of workshops, call 327-8263, ext. 129.

Doctors Offers Free Basketball Injury Clinic

In an effort to prevent serious injuries during high school basketball competition, Doctors Hospital and Texas Sports Medicine Group will hold weekly, free injury clinics for players hurt in practices or games.

Dr. T.O. Souryal, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine and is chief team physician for the Dallas Mavericks, will be on hand to evaluate players’ injuries.

There will be no cost for the initial physician evaluation or preliminary X-ray, if needed.

The clinic will be held Wednesdays during basketball season from 9 a.m.-noon in the Texas Sports Medicine office located in Doctors Hospital’s West Tower, 9330 Poppy Drive. Students must bring a parent’s written consent to be seen and should arrive by 11 a.m.

Call 369-7733 to confirm participation in the clinic.

News & Notes:

FOOD DRIVE HELPS APARTMENT RESIDENTS: The Gaston Avenue Apartment Managers Crime Watch collected more than 700 cans of food last month for needy families in our neighborhood, says the group’s coordinator Patty Smith of Renters Index. The food was loaded into the Dallas Police Department’s mobile unit before Christmas and delivered to residents in the Durango, Cedar Wood, Strand, Silver Sands, Mandalay, Parkmont and Pink Adobe apartments. Officer Kevin King of the Dallas Police Department assisted the group. The crime watch members also collected $300, which was used to reduce rent payments for three low-income apartment residents. The top food collectors and chief organizers of the project were Smith; Helen Trejo, the manager at Parkmont; Juan Neravez, the owner of Parkmont and Pink Adobe; and Trejo’s daughter Sonya Hernandez, the manager at Pink Adobe. Smith’s son, Jay, also helped distribute the food.

YOUTH VOLUNTEERS BRING HOLIDAY CHEER TO ELDERLY: Members of the Blue Dragons Explorer Post, a neighborhood youth group that meets weekly at the East Dallas Police Storefront, delivered poinsettias to each of the 68 residents at the Bryan Manor Nursing Home last month. The plants were provided by the Bryan Place Homeowners Association. The youth also served the elderly residents ice cream and gave them Christmas cards. The Blue Dragons plan community service project throughout the year from feeding the homeless downtown to distributing blankets to the needy. For information, call Ron Cowart at 670-6301.

CHAMBER PRESIDENT RETIRES: Mary Cain recently retired as President of the East Dallas Chamber of Commerce to become a full-time mother. Her resignation was effective at the end of the year. Cain served as the chamber’s vice president of membership services in 1993 and was promoted to president in January 1994. Among Cain’s accomplishments is the Taste of East Dallas. Cain organized the chamber’s First Taste event, which drew more than 700 people. Sherryl Wesson, the 1996 chairman of the board, is chairing the search committee to find Cain’s replacement. Candidate interviews have begun, but at press time, applications were still being accepted for the position. Call 321-6446 for information.

ARBORETUM PRESIDENT STEPS DOWN: After more than 6 years of service to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Society, Jack Gorman stepped down from the president’s chair last month. Under Gorman’s direction, visitor attendance to the Arboretum increased from 75,000 to 300,000 annually. Arboretum membership also increased from 2,500 to 10,000. Gorman will make himself available on a consulting basis for six months while the Arboretum searches for a replacement. During the interim, Jack Davis, a current member of the Board and Executive Committee will be acting president. Davis is the recently retired president of the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas and former president of Y-Mutual Insurance Ltd.

NEW DIRECTOR AT WILKINSON CENTER: Neighborhood resident Nona Bickerstaff replaced Shannon Cooper this fall as director of The Wilkinson Center, 5200 Bryan, a non-profit organization that provides assistance to low-income families in our neighborhood. Bickerstaff has worked 20 years in ministry, serving as director of church and community for the Metropolitan New York Baptist Association in New York before moving to Dallas in 1991 to become a minister at Wilshire Baptist Church, 4316 Abrams. She also served as a missionary in the Bahamas, where she worked as the principal of Bahamas Baptist High School. Cooper resigned this summer to take a position with the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

HOMEOWNERS PRESIDENT SAILS AWAY: Former neighborhood resident Suzanne McCann has resigned as president of the Lakewood Homeowners Association to go sailing with her husband, Charlie. The McCanns have moved and are now living on a sailboat on Clear Lake outside of Houston. Scott Jackson is the new homeowners president.

OUR NEIGHBORHOOD WATCHDOG: Neighborhood resident Bill “Bulldog” Cunningham, owner of Bill “Bulldog” Cunningham Insurance Agency Inc. in Lakewood, has been appointed to vice chairmanship on the Dallas Citizens/Police Review Board. His wife, Mina, has been appointed to serve on the Dallas County Grand Jury, beginning this month. Bill served as foreman of the Dallas County Grand Jury from January through March in 1995.

CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING SITE: Keep Dallas Beautiful Inc. is accepting Christmas trees for recycling 24-hours a day through Jan. 9 at Flagpole Hill, located at Buckner and Northwest Highway. The trees will be ground into mulch and used by the Dallas Park Department. All tinsel, ornaments, tree stands and nails need to be removed before dropping off your tree. Flocked trees are accepted. For information, call 670-4475. Neighborhood resident Sheila Overton is executive director of Keep Dallas Beautiful.

LAKEWOOD PARK RE-OPENS: The Lakewood Service League will host a grand re0oepning of the Lakewood Park on Jan. 11 at 3:30 p.m. Council member Mary Poss will attend the ribbon-cutting event that will celebrate the park’s renovation and additions of new playground equipment. Families and their children are encouraged to attend. Refreshments will be served and entertainment will be provided by several local girl scout troops.

NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS BUILD ULTIMATE GIFT: The work of neighborhood residents Stefan and Brenda Crane was featured in the “Ultimate Gifts” special edition of the Robb Report last month. The cranes are furniture designers and builders. Their anvil desk, designed by Stefan, was the featured gift in the report. It was introduced at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair last May in New York City.

NEIGHBORHOOD RESIDENTS CELEBRATE COLLEGE ROOTS: Neighborhood residents Mary Lou Lewis, President of the Dallas Chapter of the Stephens College Alumnae, and Monte Draeger, Treasurer, celebrated the history of their college last month at the Wonderland Express Train Exhibit at the Galleria. The exhibit included “The Stephens Special”, a train that once carried young women from across the nation to Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. A fundraising luncheon was held in conjunction with the event at the Westin Hotel with guest speaker Dr. Marcia Sellan, President of Stephens College. Stephens College, established in 1833, is the second oldest residential women’s college in the nation.

SHEPARD CENTER BEGINS WINTER PROGRAM: The winter session of the Greater Lakewood Shepherd Center’s Adventures in Learning program is Jan. 5-Feb. 23 at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 3204 Skillman. The program includes a variety of classes from exercise to foreign language. For information, call 823-2583.

LAKEWOOD RESIDENT PROMOTED: Lakewood resident Brigitte Preston has been named associate of the Lauck Group, a Dallas-based interior architecture firm. A registered interior designer, Preston has been with the Lauck Group since 1993 as a senior designer. She holds a bachelor degree in interior architecture from Coloma Institute in Malines, Belgium, and has done graduate studies in interior architecture at Kansas State University.

FUNERAL HOME NAMES NEW DIRECTOR: Sparkman/Crane Funeral Home, 10501 Garland, recently appointed Ben Coleman as funeral director. Coleman has served on the board of directors and as president of the Dallas County Funeral Directors Association and has lectured at the Dallas Theological Seminary and the Dallas Institute of Funeral Service.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS SEEKS DONATIONS: St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church, 6306 Kenwood, will sponsor a Moonlight and Magnolias auction, dance and dinner Feb. 17, at the Downtown Harvey Hotel from 6 p.m.-midnight. The church is soliciting donations for the auction. For information, call Maureen Patton at 696-3689, Ann Brady at 823-2455 or Jane Ryan at 828-2497. Proceeds benefit St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School.

LAKEWOOD RESIDENT ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY: Lakewood resident Steven May has announced his candidacy for State Representative, District 107, the seat currently held by Democrat Harryette Ehrhardt. May, who is a local small business owner, will run as a Libertarian.

CHAMBER LUNCHEON: Dallas attorney and businessman Darrell Jordan speaks at noon on Jan. 9 to the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce at the Lakewood Country Club, Abrams and Gaston. The event is open to the public. Call 827-8921 for reservations.