after 34 years as a national and municipal leader. Yesterday he told Neil Ward about his nine years as mayor and his work to revitalise Bermuda's first capital.

Nine years is enough for St. George's Mayor Henry Hayward.

"I don't think people should stay in one place too long. I only intended to serve two terms and here it is going on three. I feel the town is heading in the right direction; the interest is there and the spirit is there,'' the outgoing Mayor said yesterday.

Indeed, it's a far cry from the early days of the Hayward administration: "When I became Mayor (in 1989), the tax structure at the time was not able to support the operations (of St. George).'' And to make matters worse, he said, the town was literally falling apart.

"Almost immediately we were confronted with disasters. The bridge to Ordnance Island was condemned, then Hunter's Wharf collapsed, costing us $600,000 to rebuild.'' And Barry Road, which skirts the eastern shoreline under Club Med, had caved in.

"It put us back a few years. Here we were with a $7,000 surplus at the end of 1989, but facing over $1 million in repairs.'' Working with Government, Mr. Hayward renegotiated the town's tax base -- a strategy that has been pivotal to the rebirth of the old capital.

Also with the backing of Government, the Corporation resurfaced its main roads and modernising its docks -- including passenger terminals at Penno's Wharf and Ordnance Island.

"And once we got those major projects behind us, we could begin to concentrate on St. George's tourism potential; we'd been talking about it for years and nothing had been done. The time had come,'' he said.

Step one had been to nurse the town back to financial health; step two was to nourish the patient with a steady diet of visitors; that's where the St.

George's Heritage Plan came in. The capital asset was old, unspoiled charm -- but it was diamond in the rough.

Enthused by the successes of US heritage sites such as the towns of St.

Augustine in Florida and Jamestown, Virginia, St. George's set about burying unsightly phone lines, re-laying cobblestone lanes and squares, and building on its status as the oldest inhabited English settlement in the western hemisphere.

"There are two things you need in any organisation if it's going to be successful; money and manpower,'' Mr. Hayward said.

"We got the money with the re-negotiation of our tax structure, and we've now got a lot of people involved with the Heritage Plan through the St. George's Foundation, (the plan's fundraising arm).'' Ensuring the plan's continuity, he said, is not a concern.

What is a concern, however, is the increase in violence and crime across the Island which has also reared its head sporadically in St. George's.

"The behaviour of young people in certain areas of St. George's is a problem, and if we cannot solve it now, it will potentially undermine a lot of the work that's been done already,'' he said.

"We've had meeting with citizens, the Corporation, and the Police to try and get a handle on it, and I think what's needed is a combination of increased policing and contact with these individuals to try and get the message across.'' Mr. Hayward said the Corporation has considered a volunteer community security corps to work with Police, but the idea remains in its formative stage.

"On the whole we've had very good cooperation with the Police service, but the problem is there are still not enough Police on the beat. They're doing the best with what they've got,'' he said.

Mr. Hayward, a former St. George's North MP for the United Bermuda Party, will retire following municipal elections on November 4 -- after 34 years in municipal and Island politics. He said he will be too busy at the helm of Meyer Agencies however, to take a break.

"I want to continue to help in St. George's, but I have no interest in politics anymore.'' Mayor Henry HaywardCRUISE PORT -- New cruise ship terminals have attracted visitors to St. George's.