construction in the 1940s, is again feeling the press of US building plans.

Mrs. Olive Foley is battling a plan to build an addition to the nearby Roger B. Chaffee High School that will block out a hillside view from her St.

David's Road home.

She has taken her battle to Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan, the US Naval Air Station commander, even General Colin Powell, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff -- all to no avail.

"I'm not against the Base,'' Mrs. Foley told The Royal Gazette yesterday.

"We depend on it. But the powers that be don't consider individuals.'' Mrs. Foley said the school addition will leave her neighbourhood less green and less like home.

A few days ago, she watched work crews cut down a favourite 20-year-old poinciana tree to make way for the new building.

Mrs. Foley's battle against the school addition began last February when she wrote to Base commander Capt. James L. Arnold expressing concern about the location of the new building.

Capt. Arnold wrote back to saying planners had been limited in their choice of sites. The one across from Mrs. Foley's house was selected because of considerations for road access, the availability of utilities and airfield clearance.

Mrs. Foley sent copies of her correspondence with Capt. Arnold to the Premier Swan and Gen. Powell at the Pentagon. She said one of the Premier's staff spoke to her but Gen. Powell never replied.

Capt. Arnold could not be contacted yesterday afternoon.

Mrs. Foley said she is frustrated. While she supports the US Base, she said she thought its building plans could take Bermuda more into consideration.

"Their children will come and go, but we people are here forever, through the generations,'' she said.

Mrs. Foley said she thought Bermuda's new, conservation-oriented Planning regulations should be applied to the Base, especially to prevent overbuilding close to residential areas.

"The Government should push the building back,'' she said.

US Base building is nothing new to Mrs. Foley. She was moved to her current home in the 1940s when base construction began, and lost a favourite home front view in the process.

"I watched everything,'' she said, "from the first rock that was turned over.'' Mrs. Foley said her thoughts probably reflected those of other St. David's Islanders.

After her lone battle, she indicated she was resigned to watch the building rise and her green grass view disappear -- all on land once owned by her family.

"I'm not a person to cause trouble for my Government, because I love it here,'' she said. "But I can't stop a government. I've done everything I could.'' UNHAPPY WITH THE VIEW -- Mrs. Olive Foley sits on her porch while groundbreaking for another school building on the US Naval Air Station continues. The land once belonged to her family.