Rev. James McKissick
Is NAIOM Guest Speaker
Story On Page 7A
Caroor Of Mother
And Wife Offers
Rewarding Challenge '
Cl ARLIITTE POST ills
otr 2 4 mi CALL 376-0496
-—:—— __“The Voice ()j The lihwk (lonuniuiity
_THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday. September 13, 1984 Price- 40 Cents
. _ --1 - ------
Paulette Ashe
■ ...First Union Bank clerk
I e Ashe’s Good
Looks Attract Attention
By islyne Strong .
Post Staff Writer \
Paulette Ashe’s striking good
lo#s and tall, slender figure
attract ■ lot of attention. At least
such has been the case in Ashe's
experiences with The Chaflette
clerk with First Union Bank,
was first recognized by The
when she was picked as a
cipant in the newspaper’s
‘‘Best Dressed" promotional
issue. When she arrived for the
interview, many Post employees
took hot ice of her attractiveness and
crisp, confident manner.
Later when a model was needed to
compliment an article on Montaldo’s
fashions Ashe quickly came to
mind. * >
She carried out that assignment
with a professional air and much
poise and it wasn't long before Ashe
was requested to model for The Post
artain TWa lima aha maa la annan.
becoming more involved in com
mercials and print modeling. Up to
now she hasn’t signed with an
agency; however, she is considering
doing so now.
She enjoys modeling, Ashe main
tains, yet the profession is not
exactly what she would call an
ambition. “It’s very competitive and
the market in Charlotte is very
limited," she explains. Plus, Asbe is
the mother of an eight year old
daughter. “A modeling career
wouldn’t leave me much time to
devote to her,” she points out.
Instead, Ashe sees her modeling
endeavors as a means to get to her
ultimate goal of free enterprise.
“Through modeling I hope to meet
people who can help me to gain
footage in the business world. I want
to pursue real estate,” she main
See A8HE On Page ISA
For September 21
Downtown Construction Getting
Mixed Reviews From Merchants
By Audrey C. Lodato
Post Staff Writer
--Ongoing downtown construction is
getting mixed reviews from the
merchants whose fates and for
tunes it is affecting. The inconven
ience of torn up streets, the ques
tion in the public's mind 'about
parking availability, the dislocation
of bus stops - these have all con
tributed to concerns about the pre
sent viability of downtown as a
shopping area.
Brownlee Jewelers is presently
waging a battle to remain at its
downtown location on S. Tryon
According to the owner A1 Rousso,
the city is condemning his property
in order to construct other retail
establishments on the site. And that
should not be, contends Rousso.
The businessman feels he is being
discriminated against. “They’re
going to take out retail that caters to
minorities and put ia retail that
probably won’t,” he claimed.
Attorney Miles Levine is repre
senting Rousso and another owner
whose property is also being con
demned. “The city passed a bond
resolution several years ago to build
Independence Plaza Park,” Levine
explained. "The park was to contain
a retail structure because the city
feels for a park to be viable there
needs to be retail activity.”
According to Levine, the two pro
perty owners had been negotiating
with the city and the NCNB
Community Development Corpora
tion to be a part of that retail, but
negotiations fell through when such
participation was made dependent
on the property owners agreeing to a
condemnation value of their pro
perty. That should have been a
separate issue, Levine believes.
m issue is me city s right to
condemn and then use the property
for other retail establishments.
Under law, property can be con
demned for public use. In this case,
the attorney contends that the
property is to be retail develop
ment with a courtyard, rather than a
park with incidental retail.
Rous so has a lot of questions about
"progress” in Charlotte. “Every
store that’s gone out of business was
operated by a minority, whether it
be black, hispanic, Jew, Greek, or
Oriental,” he said. “What is the
master plan?” Rousso asked.
“What’s to bring people into the
city? Everyone complained about
S. Tryon. downtown: construction still underway.
people crowding into doorways. Now
there’s no one to complain about.
They’re going to hide those people
who ride the buses,” he charged.
Brownlee isn’t the only business
affected by "progress.”
Ruth Stamey, owner of the recent
ly closed Stamey’s Restaurant on N.
Tryon, blames present and past
construction on her business’
demise. The problem began, she
said, “when they closed 12th Street
and made the connector." The
restaurant’s parking lot went 85
days without an exit, according to
Stamey. Truckers, which made up a
large part of the restaurant’s trade,
had no place to park. But that wasn’t
all. “Customers would complain
that the lot was full,” she said. “It
turned out city employees were
parking on the lot and taking up
spaces. I finally had to get a
wrecker service to show them I
meant business,” she remarked.
Stamey's was able to survive that
earlier construction project “by
much prayer,” the proprietor
attested. But not for long Accord
ing to Ruth Stamey, just when
business was picking back up, con
struction began on Tryon. "They
closed Tryon one day after they
opened 12th,” the restauranteur
•» Second in series
reported. “You’d never dream
construction would play a part in
closing you down,” she said.
“It seems to me the business
person doesn't have any rights.”
For Dave Richards of Vintage Girl
at 123 E. 5th St., downtown con
struction has been a catastrophe If
it weren’t for his successful fur
sales, the clothing part of the busi
ness would have had to close, he
said. “Customers with furs on lay
away call and say they’re afraid to
come downtown,” Richards stated
Further, he feels the transit and
Overstreet malls serve to segregate
office workers from “street
people” and blacks from whites.
A survivor of several relpca
tions, Lucielle's Vogue has been
downtown since 1925 For the
several years, the store has been
located in the Overstreet Mall,.'We
had to scramble for a new loca
tion,” company president Richard'
Roskind said of the move to the'mall
“My rent is more than three times
what it used to be. Clearly a num
ber of people who were downtown
merchants were unable to find new
acceptable locations, or the price
was out of their range A number o:
merchants who really kept do\w
town alive are no longer here
Roskind believes that when prt
sent construction is completed, the
downtown area will be the most
attractive part of Charlotte In th
meantime. however, business has
suffered. "We were most seriously
affected last month." Roskind
revealed. "We suffered a pre-i
pitous drop in August, hut we've
picked back up the past week
Roskind said customers have been
leery about coming downtown
"They think twice before visiting
us." he said, "but those w ho do. fin-1
adequate parking " According to
Roskind, moving the bus stops has
affected his business "We always
got substantial business from the
people who ride the buses." he
remarked
Ai Manch s Fields Jewelers
another survivor A former oceii
pant of the old Independence
^Building for 30 years 'he store
^moved to its present location at oO
N Tryon in 1981 when the building
was torn down.
Business has been good at the
present location, according to owner
AI Manch "I m getting some >ld
customers (jack who had been
afraid of coming downtown M.e .
said. "I’m tickled to death to see
some people come hack who haven »
been here in years "
Manch is one hundred percent
behind the city s latest efforts In
defending the transit mall concept
he said the goal is to eliminate
congestion and give up the square is
a transfer point "People used to be
harrassed coming across the
square," he said. He continued It >■
going to be a magnificent thing when
it's finished It is going to help
everyone "
.viancn views construction as a
challenge for downtown mer< hanls
"You can t just sit back and wait for
something to happen, he said
“You have to be aggressive and
positive The smaller merchants
have to make up their minds to
promote downtown."
Although transit mall construc
tion was not the reason Sterchi s
moved out of center city, the ab
sense of .other retail in the area
had an adverse effect on the fur
niture store, which had been
situated at 425 S Tryon According >
to Sterchi s Jerry Marlin, the com
pany tried to stay jlowntown as long
as possible. "Wed been 43 years at
that location," Marlin noted "There
was hardly any retail in that area
and we had no walk-in traffic.
Everyone had already moved away
from us before we moved,” he
stated.
Still there is hope
A new addition to the downtown
busineaa community, Just Choco
See DOWNTOWN On Page ISA
in a full-length white fur coat for an
Anastasia Furs advertisement. The
result, the sultry model and the
• luxurious mink look like they were
mhflRrfOr each-other.-.—
Says Ashe about all the atterv
tion, "It's great. I'm grateful to
The Pest for these experiences. I’ve
never received so many opportuni-V
ties.” An extra bonus is that Ashe
has been asked by Anastasia Furs to l
► participate tit their fashion shows
She perfected her modeling
taints when she attended TRIM
I school two years ago.
then Ashe lpn appeared in
a few local fashion shows.”
w admits her exposure in The
has sparked an interest in
i«r|KT ir> < i °' WKA' ^ A i«
r-. Getting your head together in your
Old age could simply mean aeaem
bling teeth, gleaaes and a taupe.
Dr. Greene’s Inauguration Scheduled
ur. william H.L. Greene will be
inaugurated- aa the seventh
president of Livingstone College and
Hood Theological Seminary on
Friday, September 21, at 10 a m. at
Varick Auditorium ~'«v.the
Livingstone campus.
Livingstone College, which was
founded in >879, is the only four
year institution of higher learning
affiliated with and substantially
funded by the A M E Zion Church
The president of Livingstone College
also oversees the seminary, which
grants the Master of Divinity degree
jn Religion and the Master of
Religious Education.
Dr. Greene, 41, actually took office
on July 1, 1983. His year-old admini
itration has already resulted in
some major changes and improve
ments at the college and seminary.
Dr. Greena's aarly accomplish
ments at Livingstone and Hood
include: Securing a 57 percent
combined increase in the annual
allocation to the college and
seminary from the A M E Mon
Church going from a total of about
*700,000 for both in I9M-84 to
approximately fi.l million for the
term; an intensive campus
tion and renovation
hat meant that student
is Up from 888 last year
io over7» for this Fall; an average
150 point increase in the SAT score of
Dr. William L. Greene
.Livingstone’s seventh president
freshmen entering this Fall
compared to entering freshmen in
1983. Dr. Greene’s dedication to the
work ethic has resulted in increased
community service by members of
the student body, faculty and staff as
well as a renewed sense of enthu
siasm and committment to the
college.
Dr. Greene’s quest for excellence,
conquering challenges and his philo
sophy of pride in one's self dates
back to his early childhood in
Richburg, South Carolina and
education in the public schools of
Charlotte, North Carolina where he
also received his Bachelor of Arts
Degree in Political Science in 1966
from Johnson C. Smith University.
Six years later his quest for
excellence and achievement had
allowed him to earn both the Master
of Arts and the PhD. in Curriculum
and Instruction from Michigan State
University in East Lansing,
Michigan During that period he
taught school on the elementary and
secondary levels in Hillsborough
and Laurinburg, North Carolina and
Pontiac, Michigan. He also taught at
the college level and conducted
research while pursuing his
graduate studies at Michigan State
University.
On the college level, Dr. Greene
was an Assistant Professor in the
School of Education at the Univer
sity of Massachusetts In Amherst,
Director of Development and
University Relations at Fayetteville
See INAUGURATION On Page 2*A