Foundation as of yesterday.

Mr. Rowntree was previously Deputy Chairman and succeeds Louis Mowbray who has been chair since the foundation's establishment just over three years ago.

Mr. Rowntree said: "I am tremendously proud of the work of the St. George's Foundation and am honoured to have been chosen as chair. At the same time, I am a little apprehensive to be filling the shoes of Louis Mowbray who has done an outstanding job in creating and nurturing the foundation and in overseeing the successful World Heritage application.'' He added: "We all owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Louis for his tireless dedication to the revitalisation of our historic old town. With Louis' continued involvement in our new World Heritage Site Development and Promotion committee, I am confident we will maximise the benefits of World Heritage to St. George's and Bermuda.'' Mr. Rowntree is president of TreeCon limited and owner of retail outlets, the Cracker Box in St. George's and the Hodge Podge in the city of Hamilton.

He is also President of Hamilton Rotary Club and a past President of the Chamber of Commerce.

In his capacity as a St. George's business owner and member of the town's Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Rowntree became one of the key individuals responsible for the development in 1995 of the St. George's Town Heritage Plan, Bringing History to Life .

The plan proposed the formation of The St. George's Foundation to raise funds necessary to implement the plan's key objectives which included: the creation of a major Heritage /Visitor Centre, improvements to the town's historic streets and alleyways, development and enhancement of the waterfront and mooring facilities, and the restoration of derelict historic properties in the Town.

The foundation was also charged with the task of achieving World Heritage status for the Town's historic area and the surrounding fortifications, a goal successfully completed just a few weeks ago.

In the meantime, Louis Mowbray will remain very much involved with the foundation's work.

He will chair a newly established St. George's Foundation's World Heritage Site Development committee to develop a series of partnership initiatives to promote the World Heritage area.

The original team that coordinated the World Heritage application will continue to oversee the implementation of the World Heritage Management Plan.

David Rowntree CLUB CLB