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Bell Atlantic to Donate Town Hall to Iaeger,
W.Va.
Company to Turn Over Keys to Storeroom This Summer
April 22, 1999
| Media contact: | Paul Miller, |
IAEGER, W.Va. -- It's tough to fight city hall when there's no city hall to
fight. Bell Atlantic plans to fix that problem for this tiny southern West
Virginia community.
"We plan to give Iaeger a town hall -- lock, stock and council
chamber," said Dennis Bone, president and CEO of Bell Atlantic -
West Virginia. "I can't recall our company ever doing something
like this before!"
Bell Atlantic will donate its 1,600-square-foot storeroom at 216 Center
Street. The actual transfer will take place in the summer.
Two years ago Iaeger's town council was forced to condemn its old town
hall, when inspectors declared the building no longer safe. Iaeger is a
McDowell County community of roughly 500.
"It was crumbling before our eyes," said Mayor Ray Kennedy.
"Nothing could be done to save it. We had no choice but to tear it
all down." He said his town simply could not afford to replace the
building.
"We had no permanent place to meet. For two years now, we've
been a town without a town hall," Kennedy said.
Several Bell Atlantic employees who work in Iaeger heard about the
town's plight, and knew that there was ample unused space available in the
company's storeroom in Iaeger. The storeroom has served as a warehouse
to store cables, phone jacks and other equipment used in telephone
installation.
"Our associates pushed this idea up the line and we listened,"
Bone said. "I applaud their community-minded spirit, which is
typical of so many of our employees."
Bell Atlantic plans to move its materials from the storeroom to a modular
building near the company's call switching center, located across the
street. The town will take possession of the storeroom during the summer.
Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With more than 42 million telephone access lines
and 8.6 million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies
are premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market
leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory
information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest
investors in high-growth global communications markets, with operations
and investments in 23 countries.
