ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, August 22, 1996 TAG: 9608220007
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF STURGEON STAFF WRITER
The nation's debt continues its climb, but don't expect the downtown Roanoke clock that used to keep track of it to be back on the job anytime soon.
The lighted sign on the roof of the Star City Diner quit functioning a year ago today. It is still off because the man in charge has cash flow problems of his own.
Since the clock's unplugging, the federal debt has grown 4.7 percent - from $4.971 trillion to $5.204 trillion, a difference of $232.66 billion.
With just the year's increase, you could put a facility like Denver's new airport in every state. Or you could wipe out all Roanoke municipal taxes and keep the city running on its current budget for 1,500 years.
With the debt signifying that much financial pain, some people hated seeing it at the intersection of Campbell Avenue and Jefferson Street; others hated to see the debt clock go off.
The civic leaders who put up the clock thought the mounting size of the federal debt should be put on public display.
To further drive the point, the clock offered a second line of information titled "YOUR SHARE."
Here now is the tale of the Debt Clock That Went Dark.
In the fall of 1993, George Cartledge Sr. and the late John W. Hancock, longtime Roanoke business and civic leaders, paid to put the sign atop the then-vacant building. It kept a running tally of what the federal government owes its bondholders.
Tourists gawked. Other towns called and asked how to get one.
The clock's days were numbered after Hancock, the founder of Roanoke Electric Steel Corp., died on March 3, 1994. T.L. Plunkett Jr., a Roanoke lawyer who is co-executor of Hancock's estate, said a year ago that with the pending closing of Hancock estate, there would no longer be a source of money to pay electricity and maintenance costs on the debt clock.
Around that time, the clock tallied its last billion. Neal Kinsey, co-owner of Kinsey Crane & Sign Co. in Roanoke, shut it down at Plunkett's behest.
Restaurateur Roland "Spanky" Macher, who had bought the building on which the sign sits, wasn't happy. He said the clock enhanced downtown. He forbade Kinsey from taking it away. He said he never gave permission for it to be turned off in the first place.
Macher contended the clock belonged to him, because upon installation, it was classified by the city as a building addition. When Macher bought the building, the clock was already there. He considers it his.
According to Macher, Kinsey took out the clock's electronic guts, making it impossible to restart. Macher said Wednesday he has been unable to get them back or afford new parts.
And that's where things stand.
Kinsey on Wednesday denied having any electronic gear from the clock. "Someone else has that," Kinsey said. "We're totally out of the picture."
As far as Macher's concerned, the clock may sit dark another year. He said he can't spare money right now for new parts because he's working on improving his restaurant, Star City Diner, one of eight eateries he owns.
"It might be a $1,000, $2,000. I just don't have the money to do that," Macher said. "I got to pay the bills that are necessary, not something that's a luxury. To me, at this point the debt sign is a luxury."
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB