DECEMBER1980
RAG sh BONE
Serving the University of North Carolina at Asheville
Pangle To Resign
by Robert Koenig
Student Government President Brett
Pangle announced that he will submit his
resignation as SG president on December
18th, the final day of the fall semester.
The announcement came on December
9th at a special meeting of the student
senate called by Senator Jay Fine. The
resignation will elevate the present vice-
president, Jim Rash, to the presidency for
the spring semester.
Prior to his announcement, Pangle
heard complaints from several members
of the senate regarding his lack of par
ticipation in SG affairs, the failure of the
administration to work effectively vvith
the cabinet and the misappropriation of
funds. The meeting was called by Fine' to
bring out a discussion of these complaints.
Pangle listened to the various complaints
and told the full senate, “I admit I haven’t
Rash to Become President
given 100 percent, but how many of you
can sit there and say that you have?”
Rumors of the impending resignation have
been circulating for several weeks. Until
the special meeting on Tuesday, Pangle
had consistently denied the rumors.
The SG president’s resignation is the
latest in a series of resignations that have
marked the present administration since it
took office. Earlier in the term, resigna
tions were submitted by cabinet members
Karen Sheldon, Steve Tuttle, Maria Dom
ingo and Rickie Bell. Many of these earlier
resignations cited failure to work with the
president. Finance Commissioner Rickie
Bell’s resignation was - rejected by the
senate. Before making his announcement,
Pangle told the senate that he had planned
to fire both Bell and Attorney General
David Bradley. . ^
continued on page Z
SG Vice President Jim Rash
TO MALL OR NOT TO MALL
by Susan Marschalk
James Daniels of the ll-member Asheville Revitalization Commission en
dorses no project yet that will determine^the fate of the 11-block area known
as Lexington Park and recently declared "blighted” by Asheville City Plann
ing Department.
Former Asheville Mayor Gene Ochsenreiter jr. is chairman of the Commit
tee of 44, also known as the Citizens Committee, made up of civic leaders and
businessmen from all over Buncombe County who support the urban center
proposed by Strouse-Greenberg Co. of Philadelphia as the answer to
Asheville's downtown revitalization problem.
The two have one thing in common. They see Asheville as the hub of
Western North Carolina and the downtown area as the hub of Asheville. And
something needs to be done.
"Downtown Ashevilje is not dead, but it's pretty sick," said Daniels.
Downtown business and tax revenues took a nosedive with the opening of
the Asheville Mall on Highway 70 in 1972, he said. A larger mall planned by a
national developer will soon locate at the western end of the city.
"The effect (on downtown) will be monumental," he said.
According to Daniels, the urban center project outlined by Strouse-
Greenberg would cost an estimated $135 million. The developer has asked
the city to acquire the land, demolish the buildings and construct parking
facilities-all at a projected cost of $35 million-and then lease the whole
package to Strouse-Greenberg, which would invest an estimated $100
million.
Wher-e would the $35 million city investment come from?
A city bond issue or federal grant or a combination of both would pay the
city's obligations, Daniels said. The advantages of issuing revenue bonds,
which are bonds issued by local government and not private investors, are
that they attract investors by being tax-free and offering high interest rates and
that only the buyers of the bonds would lose if the project failed, he said.
"No area for chance" would exist, however, Daniels said. "The city would
require guarantees" from Strouse-Greenberg that the investment would be a
sound one. '
continued on p. 2
by, John Edwards
Building a mall downtown is “radical surgery,” and though it may add some conve
nience to the life of Ashevillians, there are those who feel the John Lantzius plan for
the revitalization of I I blocks is ”a face-lifting as opposed to complete redevelop
ment.”
Lantzius, who resides in Vancouver, B.C., was born and raised in North Carolina.
His plan includes renovation of most buildings that will be levelled if the Strouse-
Greenberg mall proposal is approved, lohn Keid, landscape architect for Lantzius,
calls the oestruction of buildings to mafce room for a mall "radical surgery.”
‘The plan will include selective removal,” he said, “but will be adaptive and based
)n the reuse of existing structures.” Lantzius’s plan is to create a setting much like
.exington Park througriout the I I block area. “It would be of higher ana better use
to the community and would offer more variety with a richer, more exciting at
mosphere.”
“A mall is a carefully controlled machine to induce buying. The Lantzius plan offers
a far richer environment,” said Reid.
“So downtown is dying. What are we going to do, destroy it?” asked Wayne
Caldwell, chairman of Save Downtown, Inc. Caldwell is also a downtown merchant,
and thinks the Lantzius plan is “the best thing we’ve got going at this point” in
regards to Asheville’s revitalization. He said the plan “cfovetalls the original plan of
the Ashevill Revitalization Commission.”
Save Downtown worked closely with the commission on a downtown improve
ment plan until October 1979. “On March 12, 1980 the public found out about the
mall proposal,” said CaldwelL
“The original plan was a face-lifting as opposed to complete redevelopment. Of
course Asheville Is Inconvenient-it was built around people, horses and streetcars.
The original plan was to preserve Asheville’s uniqueness and revitalize the downtown
businesses,” Caldwell said.
Some downtown businessmen will profit from the mall complex. For instance, a
businessman who can afford to buy property behind a shopping center to relocate
will also be eligible for relocation compensation. Others will have to relocate in less
profitable areas. This will also add to the strain on profits from the mall competition.
“Some stores downtown aren’t established enough to survive In a mall. What you
have in the malls are national chains competing with local business,” Caldwell said.
The ci^ of Asheville will foot .the bill for a $35 million parking facility on which the
Strouse-Greenberg complex will be built.If approved. “How can a parking facility
built from taxpayers’ money be built to serve a mall complex?” Caldwell asks. “You
hear that the taxpayer will not be affected. Where is the $35 million coming from
then?”
The construction of a downtown mall would, as exemplified by the construction
of the Akzona building, to a lesser d^ree, turn downtown Asheville into an annoying
place to shop for about four years. The Lantzius plan would take about ten years to
complete.