Christina O'Connor | Special to The Roanoke Times

Crawford Smith has dealt with a leaky roof for five years at her old Center of Dance in Blacksburg.

Shaozhuo Cui | The Roanoke Times

Carol Crawford Smith (center) was forced to leave her old dance studio when leaks caused the building to be shut down.

Christina O'Connor | Special to The Roanoke Times

Carol Crawford Smith teaches her adult ballet class at her new Center of Dance studio in Collegiate Square.

Shaozhuo Cui | The Roanoke Times

Carol Crawford Smith gives excited students and parents a tour of the new studio.

Shaozhuo Cui | The Roanoke Times

Carol Crawford Smith teaches her teenage ballet class Tuesday evening.

BLACKSBURG -- Only one television camera recorded the unveiling of Carol Crawford Smith's latest "Extreme Makeover," but it was still a joyful affair.

"This is our new, clean women's room," said Crawford Smith, drawing applause and cheers from the mothers and daughters of the Level 2 ballet class who were following her Tuesday on a tour of the new 2,900-square-foot Center of Dance, which moved from Draper Road to Collegiate Square last weekend.

"I knew someone or something would come through for us, and that really was Bob Pack," Crawford Smith said.

The retired Dance Theatre of Harlem soloist and 2005 recipient of a new home from ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" was forced from her troubled Draper Road dance studio last week by flooding that rendered it unsafe. Crawford Smith and other instructors have taught classes in a rented studio there since 1994, despite continuing roof leaks and water damage.

It's estimated that 4,000 volunteers, including 300 local businesses, contributed labor and materials totaling about $2 million to the makeover project. The remodel of the Draper Road studio, which got new flooring, new sound and video systems, a wheelchair lift for Crawford Smith and other upgrades, was worth about $300,000, according to Bob Fetzer of Building Specialists, the general contractor who renovated her house.

ABC producers and Crawford Smith expected the roof over the studio to be repaired to protect the renovations. For a time, those responsible for the building -- David Branch of Blue Ridge Realty in Blacksburg, William and Robert Cranwell of Florida and David Frizzell of Blacksburg, according to town records -- also waived Crawford Smith's rent, she said. But the roof began leaking again shortly after ABC left town.

Blacksburg Building Official Cathy Cook has been called out several times since then and even cited the owners with building code violations. After finding major leaks and water damage this spring, Cook ordered that the roof be replaced by June 30. That deadline was missed, Cook said.

Last week during a heavy rain, Cook was again called out and found water flooding the main staircase, pooling on floors and seeping through electrical fixtures. She ruled it unsafe and ordered it closed to the public. The building cannot be reopened until the roof is replaced and the electrical system is inspected for damage, she said.

Cook said she's working with the owners to get a new roof. Branch has secured a construction contract and will be given a new deadline, she said. The town may also pursue a court order, Town Attorney Larry Spencer said.

"We want to get the building fixed, inspected and back open. ... That's our goal," Cook said.

Cook worked as building official on the 2005 makeover and knew the studio was Crawford Smith's main income. So when the dance teacher called asking if Cook knew of another space, she said she was glad to make some calls.

"Anytime we can help somebody, we want to do that," Cook said.

Crawford Smith needed a space with wheelchair access and ample parking that would require no changes under the building code. Cook called Pack, a Blacksburg developer and commercial landlord known for working with local businesses and nonprofits. Yes, he said, he happened to have a space at Collegiate Square recently vacated by a martial arts group. Cook inspected and found that it met all the building code requirements and most of Crawford Smith's needs.

"We're certainly glad to have her," Pack said. "It's a good spot for her, and she'll be good for us, too."

On Saturday, about a dozen "friends of the Center of Dance," as Crawford Smith calls them, stripped the Draper Road studio of equipment and decorations from the 2005 makeover and set up a new, more spacious studio on Turner Street. In all, her business was closed for only two days, she said.

On Tuesday, parents were reveling in the new waiting room and amenities. Heather Riley Chadwick has two daughters in classes at the center and said she spends hours there every week. She called the new mold-free, leak-free studio "much more pleasant."

"It's a safe, clean space. Wow," said Taylor Albright, mother of ballet student Victoria Bongard.

According to Albright, there were always problems with the old space, from shoddy maintenance to vandalism to a lack of parking. But students attended anyway because of Crawford Smith and the other instructors.

"As a community, we're lucky to have Carol," she said.

Phyllis Garnett-Deakin, who was watching her 10-year-old daughter, Aran, in class, said "I'm glad the landlords downtown are being held accountable."

There has been a lot of talk about newer commercial developments luring businesses away from the town's core, she said. But "downtown landlords have to take responsibility."

The Center of Dance is one in a string of locally owned businesses that over the past few years have left downtown because of problems with buildings or high rents.

In her signature style, Crawford Smith doesn't want to talk much about the past or the problems with the old studio. Her focus is on accepting what is and moving on. She said she plans to stay at Collegiate Square for at least a year. There's one issue with the new space, though, she said. The studio needs special flooring to protect the dancers from injuries. The current floor is concrete, which "is not good for knees and backs and ankles," Crawford Smith said.

She can't use the flooring from the old studio because it's less than half the size of the new classroom. Crawford Smith said she's "looking into the economic feasibility" of installing a dancer-friendly floor in the new studio.

In the meantime, classes will be tailored to be safe for students, she said.