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Buonocore house retains long legacy of healing
The late Dr. Larry Buonocore's house and office on 11th Street and Oakdale Avenue will now provide care for troubled children as a new home for the Southern Oregon Child Study and Treatment Center. By JONEL ALECCIA A landmark Medford doctor's office will house healing of a different sort thanks to an unusual agreement between the Lawrence Buonocore family and an agency for troubled children. Escrow has just closed on the sale of the 1925 house at 11th Street and Oakdale Avenue, where the late Dr. Lawrence Buonocore lived and practiced medicine for more than 50 years. Soon, the center will house staff and programs of the Southern Oregon Child Study and Treatment Center, an agency that provides mental health services for some of the region's most disturbed kids and their families. And director Tom Gunderson still can't quite believe it. Wandering past Dr. Buonocore's waiting room and exam rooms, through the family quarters where the doctor's five children were raised, Gunderson marvels at the deal that netted his agency the 6,000-square-foot building. "We were looking at property in Medford and we had driven by this place," he said. "But we couldn't have afforded to come up with that much cash." A year or so ago, the house was for sale for about $600,000. It was appraised at about $525,000, and county records show it is assessed at about $455,000, including an adjacent cottage and garage. "We ended up offering $375,000," Gunderson said. The deal was sweetened by a ready-made down payment: a $150,000 in-kind donation from Bettie Buonocore, the doctor's widow. That was good enough for financing from the folks at PremierWest bank. "Essentially, we were able to purchase it without any cash," said Gunderson, who must still raise funds for required renovations and parking space. Bettie Buonocore agreed to the deal after learning about SOCSTC's services, which include a psychiatric day treatment center in Ashland, 18 area treatment foster homes, a girls' group home in Central Point and counseling services in eight area schools. "We decided that if it were the right people approaching us for the property, we would make it available to them that way," Bettie Buonocore said. Helping troubled children continues the work that her husband started in 1936, she said. Larry Buonocore died in March 1998 at age 87. "He was a very dedicated physician. Work came first and the patients became like family. We were very lucky. Most of the patients got to know our children and we got to know them," she said. The arrangement will allow SOCSTC to ease space in cramped offices in Ashland, Central Point and Medford and to expand services to include day treatment for the hard-to-reach middle school population, Gunderson said. Some of the agency's 56 staff members will have offices in the former living, family and music rooms. Conferences will be held in the former game room. Therapy groups will meet in the cozy library and bedrooms upstairs. "We're catching up," Gunderson said. "It will be nice, having enough space." The new house is just the latest in a series of expansions that have seen the agency grow from an annual budget of $600,000 in 1994 to more than $2.2 million this year. "It's all pretty consistent," Gunderson said. "What we've tried to do is work with kids in the least restrictive setting possible." Most of SOCSTC's funding comes through contracts with federal, state and county sources, which pay for services that reach hundreds of local families each year. SOCSTC offers a family sex abuse treatment program and a therapist's services at Medford's Children's Advocacy Center. The agency provides outpatient mental health therapy and "wrap-around" services that help kids and families in residential treatment re-adjust to regular life. "Yet we're sometimes seen as just being off in Ashland, where we're known for our psychiatric day treatment," Gunderson said. Room to grow will allow SOCSTC to reach troubled kids earlier - before age 12, for example - with better results, said Debbie Rios, regional program manager for the Oregon Youth Authority. "I think it's a wonderful opportunity for the community," Rios said. That view is shared by the Buonocore family, although Bettie Buonocore said a series of odd accidents led her to believe her late husband may have had some reservations. Just before the sale closed, the house flooded twice when underground roots blocked sewer lines. Then, gas lines to two new furnaces were inexplicably disconnected. "Dr. B did not want to leave the building," his widow joked. But the house will bear Dr. Buonocore's name, and SOCSTC will carry on his passion for caring for local families. "It will be helping people," Bettie Buonocore said, "just like we always wanted." Reach reporter JoNel Aleccia at 776-4465, or e-mail jaleccia@mailtribune.com |
