Viewing page 19 of 51

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

[[2 pages]]
[[page 1]]
[[double-line]]
IN LEAGUE FOR THE PORTMAN HOTEL
[[2 columns]]
[[column 1]]
[[image: black and white photograph of a multi-story building with modern-style architecture]]
The pieces are now almost all in place for the proposed Portman Hotel. The financing, a mix of private and public, the city permissions, the preliminary planning including site acquisition, are virtually completed, and work may soon begin on the 52-story, 2,000-room hotel to be erected on Broadway between 45th and 46th streets, in walking distance of nearly all of Broadway's legitimate theatres.  for theatregoers, for visitors to New York, for businesses in the Time Square area, and for those who live or work there, nothing now being planned for the renovation of the neighborhood is likely to have so great a positive impact.  After three decades of deterioration in Times Square, this is the project that is expected to provide the big turnaround.

"We regard it as priority," said Richard A. Basini, executive director of the Broadway Association, which works for the betterment of the district on behalf of local businesses. "We are convinced that the renaissance of Times Square will not occur principally because of legislation or raids on massage parlors but only by renewal. The Portman Hotel will act as a catalyst to revitalize the area." [[/column 1]]
[[column 2]]
First proposed in 1973 by the Atlanta architect and developer John Portman, the $240-million hotel--most expensive ever--is expected to have wide economic impact. "For example," says Kenneth S. Halpern, director of the Office of Midtown Planning and Development, "the site on which the hotel will be built now produces about $700,000 in taxes annually. Once the hotel is in operation a few years, it will produce approximately $8-10 million in annual payments in lieu of taxes. In addition, the total direct and indirect effect of the hotel operation on the City's economy will be $15-20 million. During its 33 months of construction, the hotel will generate 1,200 on-site jobs and an estimated 1,900 off-site jobs. Most important, the hotel will provide 2,200 permanent jobs, 85 per cent of which will be for a low-skilled and non-skilled work force, a large sector of the city's population where jobs are desperately needed."
By creating 2,000 first-class hotel rooms within a block of two of most Broadway theatres, the Portman Hotel will put visitors and conventioneers in close proximity to the city's number one tourist attraction. Site clearance for the huge building means tearing down the Helen Hayes, Morosco, and Bijou theatres, but the hotel will house a replacement 1,500-seat theatre suitable for both dramas and musicals and will provide funds to renovate the neighboring 46th Street Theatre.  Mr. Halpern pointed out, "New hotels are an essential component of our tourist economy which in large measure sustains the Broadway theatre." Particularly now in a city that finds itself short of hotel accommodations but attracting more visitors interested in attending the theatre than ever before.

The Broadway Association of which The League is a member has done everything it can to encourage this project, and now after many on-again, off-again months, it is about to happen.
[[line]]
[[italics]] Playbill is pleased to make this space available to The League of New York Theatres and Producers. The opinions reflected herein are those of The League and not necessarily those of Playbill. [[/column 2]]
[[end page]]
[[start page]]
[[full page advertisement]]
[[image: black and white image of 7 people in 50's outfits in a convertible car with their arms extended, one holding a sign with "PAA" on it.]]
Pan Am congratulates Grease on its record-breaking 3,243rd performance.
That's a lot of 
Rama Lama Ding Dong.

Pan Am, the newest link between Hollywood and Broadway, is proud to be the official carrier for the "Grease" homecoming weekend and celebration December 8th.
Vintage uniforms courtesy of World Wings International, the organization of former Pan Am Flight Attendants. [[/page 2]]