New Britain herald., 1930-07-07


 York Upper right Merlin H Ay Broadcasting Company. who will ha
 New York. July - They're building the Thoater of America here in New York - making fan rasrIc modern dream into a five hundred million dollar reality.
 Though is tangible form is being set into the heart Of Manhattan. you will attend this theater. no mat Ier where you are. You will sec and near the worlds finest artists of the concert and theatrical stage, movies. vaudeville drama and symphony. This will be made possible Of course. by radio teleyisjon which is. it seems. much nearer perfection than the average Iayman has been allow ed 10 guess.
 In addition 10 rho mastering of vast sums Of money and the paper work of technical planners. the pro- ject has actually been begun. Tn the chosen area Of three square blocks. fronting on Fifth avenue. workmen are clearing the way - demolishing fine old h~ovnstone homes Of a long ago era that never even could have imagined rha magnitude and won der ot this center Of culture and en- tartainmenr.
 Financed By Rockefeller
 The property which will contain the buildings with their four large rheaters. - hroadcasunE studios, and hundreds Of offices, IS valued at 525o.o0o,0oo and the construction ls expected 70 cost more than an equiv alant amount All Of this being f- nanced hy the Rockefeller inter- esrs' allied with such potent names as the Radio Corporation Of AmerI- ca irs subsidiary. tna National Broadcasting Company the Radio Keith -Orpheum Corporation. in which the General Electric and Westinghouse Electric Corporation have large holdings, as they also have in RCA.
 r was Samuel L. RothataI motion picture magnate and radio enthusi- asr who IS known 10 millions Of list eners as "Roxy" who first voiced the dream of q +ciry' which would bring together all the various forms of electrical entertainment. Tn a dis cusslon Of the future Of radio, ho told his dream 10 Owen D, Young who in turn interpreted the vision 10 John D, Rockefeller Jr.
 Rockefeller, it was known. had been intent on the construction of a vast civic center around the cul- turaI and social traditions Of the Metropolitan Opera. But here was a new proposal which. although along similar lines, Uas quite diGarent- democratic instead Of arlstocratic. reaching all Of America most Of the world - instead of the relatively few insignificant group Of opera lovers in a single city r was a project so new that it had no tra- dluons. But t had enough Of fu- ture to win RoCkefelIer's support.
 All the ahove-named corporations agreed 10 take office space in the development. The National Broad casting Company alone, according 10 Merlin H, Aylesworth. its presl- dent. will have 2 studios, many of them two ar three stories in height for the hroadcasting Of sound and televislon. Four theaters have been decided upon and 2 fifth. 3 great symphony hall. Is under considera- ton, The variety tneater is to seat 7,ooo the talkle theater 5,Qho A third theater will he designed espe- cially for musical comedy produc- tions, and the fourth for drama.
 Tn effect" said Aylesworth. "all the theaters will be broadCasting studios. 100 All will be equipped for the broadcasting of<sound and sight directly from the stage Ten of the studios will be designed for pho- tography and recording, and the building will be so arranged that visiting radio fans may see the art. ists at work
 Thus we are building for the fu- ture, instead of according to stand ards of today. We are taking into ac- count the fact that broadcasting is not only a medium of mass enter tainment, but that it has added to the cultural and educational values of modern life. With the great the atrical and musical enterprises, to be created in this development, the broadcasting center of the country will be joined in a vast artery Of communication with the dramatic stage, with opera. talking pictures, variety and the symphony hall
 New Opportunities Offered
 Radio has by no means exhaust ed the services 1t can render through the medium of sound, and it will have vastly greater opportunities when teievision emerges from the laboratory to give radio the new di- mension of sight"
 The NEG executive indicated his confidence that television will have reached commercial perfection by the time the vast electrical city is built. which will he in the autumn of 1888. And it will not be released. he said, until it is put within the means of the nations buyers and