
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, September 24, 1993                   TAG: 9309240072
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MAG POFF STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

WANT TO KNOW HOW MUCH YOU (AND THE COUNTRY) OWE?

After a year in the planning, a sign is going up in downtown Roanoke that will track the national debt and each American's share.

John W. Hancock Jr. and George Cartledge Sr., retired Roanoke business executives, are paying for the sign under construction on top of a building at Jefferson Street and Campbell Avenue. The building, once occupied by a banking office and later by a fast-food restaurant, has been vacant for several years.

Cartledge said he and Hancock got the idea from a similar sign they saw in New York City.

Its flashing lights will keep ticking off the nation's debt, showing its inexorable rise. Cartledge said he and Hancock thought Roanoke citizens should be aware of how deeply in debt the country is and the size of each person's share.

Neal Kinsey of Kinsey Crane & Sign Co. Inc. said planning has been under way for almost a year. "It's a little bit unusual," he said.

The sign was designed by Hayes, Seay, Mattern and Mattern of Roanoke, and the complicated electrical work is being done by Rick Corell Electrical Contractors of Roanoke.

The space was leased from the building's owner, Boddie-Noell Enterprises of Rocky Mount, N.C., which operates Hardee's franchises.

Kinsey said the sign is a public information display, and as such is exempt from the city's sign ordinance.

A test of the display is slated for Tuesday, he said. If all goes well, it will begin operating on Wednesday.

And, presuming the country continues on its present course, the sign will tell everyone that the national debt exceeds $4 trillion, with every citizen owing more than $16,000.

by CNB