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