The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 50
The men of the moment
at the time of Design '79
were chief designer Chad
Floyd (top) and Roanoke
City Manager Bern Ewert.
THE CONTEXT:
A NEW CITY
MANAGER ARRIVES
I was appointed city manager of Roanoke Thanksgiving
eve, 1977 and began work in January of 1978. City
Council had interviewed other candidates before me
and had offered two of them the position; but neither
accepted. They interviewed me a month after the
others when I made a trip through Roanoke after a
convention in Atlanta. Mayor Taylor spoke with me
by phone and asked that I call Council Member Bill
Hubard and ask if he would see me. He agreed and
we had lunch at the Shenandoah Life cafeteria. The
lunch group consisted of my wife, Janet, Bill, Council
Member Lucien Grove and me. Bill was legal counsel
for Shenandoah Life and Lucien owned his own utility
construction company. I had just turned 35 and was a
bit nervous. Later, I was called back, interviewed by
the entire Roanoke City Council and then offered the
job. Roanoke was my city management dream job.
The mayor and city council were always clear
about their priorities:
1. Reduce tax rates and eliminate some taxes
altogether
2. Integrate the segregated City Work force
3. Revitalize the downtown
4. Make the city operations more efficient
5. Make the city safer
6. Beautify the city
New council members would come and old members
would leave; but these priorities never changed. -BE
ideas. This office received 3,000 suggestions. Finally I
established two leaders committees, one with 50 citizens
and one with 14 business leaders. This model was, "unprecedented in the history of urban design," according
to Floyd.
I invited all business leaders to participate. Jack Fishwick, CEO and President of the Norfolk and Western,
had a policy of not participating in civic ventures as he
didn't want to appear to be forcing the city to do what
the railroad wanted. It took hard work to convince him
that we needed him.
Before the business committee began its work, Ed
50 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2014
Mattern, a founder of Hayes, Seay, Mattern and Mattern
asked to meet with me. Ed was a friend of mine and a
man I greatly respected. He was also twice my age. He
told me that the business committee didn't want to proceed unless its authority was clearly described in a written document signed by him and me. I refused to enter
into such an agreement, telling him that they would be
pleased with the process and if not they certainly didn't
need to continue participation. He reluctantly agreed
and we continued our work.
Our overall plan recommended 59 different projects,
highlighted by Center in the Square, and any one of
THE
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http://www.THEROANOKER.COM
The Roanoker - September/October 2014
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Roanoker - September/October 2014
Digital Help Guide
From the Publisher
The Look
The 360
The Gossip
The Flavor
The Gist
The Calendar
Roanoke in the Year 2054
Appreciations and Deprecations: Perspectives on Roanoke Over the Years
What Really Happened with Design ‘79?
The Poff Building Debacle
Roanoke Then & Now
40 Stars of 40 Years
Covers Great, Covers Not-So-Great
Green Building
Restaurants of Old … and Still Here!
Dining: Fiji Island and the New Yorker Deli
The Dish
The Perfect Weekend
Retire-VA
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Intro
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Cover1
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Cover2
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 3
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 4
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 5
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 6
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 7
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Digital Help Guide
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 9
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - From the Publisher
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 11
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - The Look
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 13
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - The 360
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 15
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - The Gossip
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 17
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - The Flavor
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 19
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - The Gist
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 21
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 22
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - The Calendar
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 24
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 25
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 26
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 27
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 28
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 29
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Roanoke in the Year 2054
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 31
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 32
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 33
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 34
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 35
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 36
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 37
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 38
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 39
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Appreciations and Deprecations: Perspectives on Roanoke Over the Years
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 41
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 42
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 43
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 44
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 45
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 46
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 47
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - What Really Happened with Design ‘79?
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 49
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 50
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 51
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - The Poff Building Debacle
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 53
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 54
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 55
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Roanoke Then & Now
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 57
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 40 Stars of 40 Years
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 59
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 60
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 61
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 62
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 63
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 64
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 65
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 66
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 67
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 68
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 69
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 70
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 71
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 72
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 73
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 74
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 75
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 76
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 77
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 78
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 79
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 80
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 81
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 82
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Covers Great, Covers Not-So-Great
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 84
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 85
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 86
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 87
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 88
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Green Building
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 90
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 91
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 92
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 93
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 94
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 95
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 96
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 97
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 98
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Retire-VA
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R2
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R3
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R4
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R5
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R6
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R7
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R8
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R9
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R10
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R11
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R12
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R13
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R14
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R15
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R16
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R17
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R18
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R19
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R20
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R21
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R22
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R23
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R24
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R25
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R26
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R27
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R28
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R29
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R30
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R31
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - R32
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Restaurants of Old … and Still Here!
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 100
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 101
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 102
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 103
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Dining: Fiji Island and the New Yorker Deli
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 105
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 106
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 107
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 108
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 109
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - The Dish
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 111
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 112
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - 113
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - The Perfect Weekend
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Cover3
The Roanoker - September/October 2014 - Cover4
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