The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-01-12

refer E0SOn And one thing
is sure, they'll be morally backed up
by many of the owners and mort
gage holders, for with travel curtail-
ed and vacations away from home
not quite de rigerr nowadays, a lot
Of resort people were interpreting
the handwriting on the walls of the
empty lobby as an ultimatum to
fold up.
Only nine Of the 484 hotels were
purchased outright, and included
among them are some of the most
deluxe white elephants outside an
Indian maharajah's zoo. To argu-
! ments against these purchases,
Army men answer that the pur-
chasing prices of these nine were so
low that it was cheaper to buy than
to lease. The list :
THE BIG STEVENS
In Chicago, the 3,OOO-room Stew
ems, which is being used as Signal
Corps Training school, and the 600
room Chicago Beach, now an Air
Force hospital.
At White Sulphur Springs, the
swank 700-room Greenbrier, which
housed the German and Jap diplo-
mats for time but is now an Army
general hospital.
At Palm Springs, the 150-room
Ell Mirador itself, formerly play
ground for the movie stars but now
general hospital.
At Miami, the 400-room exclusive
Miami Biltmore and the 280-rooin
Nautilus, both Air Force hospitals.
At Hot Springs, Ark. the 500
room Eastman, likewise general
hospital.
At Augusta, Ca, the 300-room
Forest Hills, and at st. Petersburg,
Fla, the 263-roonn Don Cesar, both
general hospitals.
Biggest deal in this bunch is the
purchase of the Stevens for some
thing under Sc million. The Army
thinks 1t got bargain. A few years
ago the Stevens had a SIS million
mortgage on it, and today 1t would
have cost $40 million to duplicate,
provided the critical building ma
terials could be secured. It was APP
praised at 81 million, with stor-
age building thrown in. But the
Stevens has long been a financial
Jonah to its hackers. 1t went
through bankruptcy in 1886 and did
squeeze out some dividends on It's
reduced valuation.
The eight hotels purchased for
hospitals were acquired for total
Of just under SAP million, which
was $2.8 million under appraisals.
What the Army figures as its big
gest economy was the saving in cri-
teal materials. Plumbing for hospi-
tails with combined capacity of
10000 beds simply wasn't to be had.
Pipes and structural steel were
needed for ship building and even
if such materials could have been
allocated, Army engineers doubt If
they could have duplicated the
facilities for equal OF less money.
SAVED LOT OF TIME
The time element was also i'm
portant. Instead of waiting six
months or a year for the construc-
ton of barracks, the Army was able
to move right in. A lot of the fix
lures were sold at public auction,
and that money was applied to-
wards refitting the hotels for Army
use.
Purposes to which the Army is
putting all these hotels falls MAIN
~ in four classifications. Nearly
10000 of the $4,000 rooms secured
have been assigned to the expand
ing Army Air Forces for schools
and dormitorieS. Five thousand
rooms are used by Signal Corps
schools, 1000 as hospital wards.
and most of the other 5000 are be-
ing fitted as training schools for
the WAACS.
OF the 473 hotels which the gov
eminent leased, nearly all were in
east coast resorts. Miami alone sur
rendered 1923 hotels with 10000
rooms to the Army Air Force. In st.
Pete there were SO. in Atlantic City
AZ. Asbury park three. The WAACS
took over % hotels In Des Moines
and % in Daytona Beach.
The Army started moving In even
before the leases were signed. In
leasing two hotels In Grand Rapids,
Mich, for instance. the Army, be-
gan taking over. a room and a floor
at time. several days before formal
transfer. The final guests were
routed out OF bed at 1880 one morn
ing and half an hour later soldiers
started attending classes In inprO-