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50 years ago

From the Thursday, Jan. 16, 1958, edition of The Steamboat Pilot:

Eugene Sternberg, Denver architect and Steamboat planning consultant, told the planning commission Friday: "We exist to guide and help, not to hinder."

The five-man commission held its first meeting with Sternberg in an attempt to outline a master plan for town growth and improvement.

First, the commission is to organize a volunteer survey of the town, with various clubs and organizations participating. From this and from legal records and aerial photographs, they will compile information on each resident, and on every lot, including its size, nature of buildings and condition of buildings.

Then a map will be drawn up showing this data, the location of all utility lines and the width and condition of streets and sidewalks. Any prospective builder will be able to look at this map and tell immediately who his neighbors will be, whether or not he may have to pay for street paving one day and how much work has to be done before he gets water, gas and electricity.

Sternberg and the commission also will use the map to plot new streets and lay out areas for light industry and new shopping centers if they are needed. They will be able to see where parks and recreational facilities will be located and what districts lag behind the rest of the town in development.

The planner and commission will hold a public workshop starting at 11 a.m. on the second Friday of each month. At this time they will discuss town problems and those presented by individuals, hoping to avoid the present plight of many large ugly cities that are cluttered with slums and lack adequate park areas.

Sternberg openly admires Steamboat's beautiful surroundings and the town itself, but he thinks it could be made more attractive. He feels this would make life more pleasant for residents and draw more newcomers and tourists.

Very much against rigid restrictions and standards, the architect wants the commission to use a human flexible approach to the problem of planning. He asked them to set up minimum standards and then use persuasion, rather than a "cram it down their throats" technique to bring about improvements.

"It's not a good thing to have all the houses line up like chicken coops," he said, insisting that each house can and must have a character of its own.

Sternberg, who designed the local REA and is currently working on a design for a new Methodist church here, believes that Steamboat has a unique surrounding and that the buildings should reflect this. He thinks the most appropriate building materials for the town are wood and rock, such as the split riverbed rock used in the REA.

The intense planning consultant mentioned that he hoped Steamboat could attract some light industry and advised the commission to be ready to offer land and utility service at a reasonable price. He also thinks Steamboat could do as much for the nearby junior college as the college could do for the town.

Buddy Werner shows heels to Europe's best

Buddy Werner, young Steamboat Springs skiing sensation, showed his heels to the best Europe has to offer in the famous Lauberhorn Classics at Wengen, Switzerland, last weekend.

Young Werner took the combined title in the important meet by finishing second in the downhill and third in the slalom to out-point such famous competitors as Toni Sailer and Anderl Molterer.

The Wengen meet is regarded as on of the big events in Europe and is a tuneup for the FIS world championships at Bad Gastein, Austria, from Feb. 2 to 9.

Ski critics hailed the performance of Werner as an indication that European dominance in Alpine events is ending and that Americans are coming to the fore. Young Werner, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ed Werner of Steamboat, learned his skiing on the local slopes under such famous coaches as Al Wegeman and Gordan Wren. He was a member of the last Olympic team and won important Alpine events in the Scandinavian countries.

He won many trophies as a junior skier in Steamboat Springs. At present he is still in the Army and stationed at Fort Carson.