George's. He has succeeded in leading the Old Town towards the 21st Century while working to preserve its historic character. He has been an energetic Mayor with great vision.

Before Henry Hayward became Mayor, Bermuda heard of any number of schemes which were proposed to "revive'' Bermuda's first capital. Very little actually happened.

When Henry Hayward became Mayor, after service as a Member of Parliament for St. George's, he inherited a town virtually bankrupt, its progress strangled by a serious lack of funds. He faced a crying need to get things going. But first he had to undertake a number of very expensive capital projects ranging from a collapsing cruise ship dock, undermined by ships' side thrusters, to the necessary new terminal at Ordnance Island. It is a testament to his hard work that the problems were solved and to his care that the new cruise terminal won awards and has been praised by architectural critics for fitting entirely into the character of St. George's. The Public Works Department architects got the terminal exactly right.

The Bermuda National Trust joined in and set a high standard with a capital campaign to revitalise its buildings in the town and to crate the new Rogues and Runners Museum at the historic Globe Hotel. The National Trust is also soon to publish its book on the architectural heritage of St. George's.

After visits to historic cities in the United States, Mayor Hayward came up with a Heritage Plan for St. George's, led by concerned Bermudian architect Stanley Kennedy, and the St. George's Foundation, headed by former Bank of Bermuda executive Louis Mowbray, to bring the plan to fruition. It is a careful and exciting scheme which could result in St. George's, the oldest inhabited English settlement in the New World, being declared a World Historic Site.

Aside from his Corporation duties, Henry Hayward has used his position as Chairman of the St. George's Preservation Authority, a body which Corporation members share with the Bermuda National Trust, to do exactly what the authority is supposed to do, preserve St. George's. For years, St. George's seemed to have forgotten that much of its attractiveness for visitors stemmed from its unique Bermudian architecture. But Henry Hayward knew that the character of St. George's must be preserved while moving the living town toward the future.

Yet there are challenges for his successor -- whomever that might be.

The first will be to continue the enthusiasm for restructuring the town. St.

Georgians must be encouraged to keep the momentum going. The most difficult challenge is a social problem. All the hard work and planning in the world will come to nothing if the streets of St. George's continue to have problems with violernce and crime. If people, especially visitors, do not feel free to walk the streets and enjoy St. George's then all the plans in the world will be for nothing. There must be safety and security.