"The right use would bring strong community support," wrote Ian Pond, president of the Northgate Park Neighborhood Association, in response to an email enquiry from The Durham News.

Considerable community support appeared on the Northgate Park email list in late January, after Beth Timson, assistant director of city Parks and Recreation, told a neighborhood association meeting that the city is clearing out the 80-year-old structure at 404 Lavender Ave.

That means the city-owned building will soon stand empty, subject to the weather, wear and vandalism that turn vacant houses into derelict eyesores - and raising the question: r. From the street, the stone porch wall and chimney catch the eye, but already the general aspect is one of disuse and abandonment.

Once upon a time, however, the 1,050-square foot house was the Trailside Museum at Northgate Park, aka "The Little House In the Woods." It was 1940, the then-new park was a bird sanctuary at the northern edge of town, and city Recreation Director C.R. Wood stocked the house with various stuffed and live animals he thought would appeal to children.

The museum remained there until its popularity outgrew its space. In 1947, the nonprofit support group Children's Museum Association moved the exhibits to larger quarters on Georgia Avenue near Hillandale Golf Course. For many years, according to Timson, the city rented out the Northgate house as a residence; more recently, it has been used to store sports equipment.

Now, the parks department is moving its equipment to a larger storage facility and has no future use in mind. So Timson said she went to a neighborhood meeting "to start a conversation" on the building's future.

Ideas for the house and yard were quick in coming: coffee house, community garden, neighborhood library and gathering place. But it's not so simple a proposition as the city moving out and someone else moving in.

The property is zoned residential. The city is using it with a special-use permit that expires in October; any use other than residential would require Board of Adjustment approval;

The city could lease it to a registered nonprofit, but the nonprofit would have to pay for utilities and maintenance; also, law requires that any nonprofit that charges for services, such as a coffee house, would have to pay rent;

If it is leased, the building has to be made compliant with Americans With Disabilities standards;

The building is in a floodplain, with its uses and modifications highly restricted by federal law; for example, the value of any renovations may not exceed 50 percent of its assessed tax value. While the 8.4-acre property is valued at $212,845, "improvements" - including the house - are valued at only $24,205.

Preservation Durham Director Bob Ashley said the house "is on our radar." However, it is not a designated historic property, and according to Timson, the state preservation office does not consider it "of sufficient merit" to be designated.

The Durham Children's Museum, now Museum of Life and Science, moved from Georgia Avenue to its present location on Murray Avenue in 1962 - putting it back in the Northgate Park neighborhood where it began. So far, the museum has taken no part in the conversation about its old homeplace.

In the meantime, Pond said the neighborhood association is actively spreading the word to potentially interested parties, such as the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association and Club Boulevard Elementary School.

"We will not be pursuing taking control of the building ourselves," Pond said. While some neighbors like the idea of a coffee house, "That is not a cause NPNA would feel comfortable owning."