Evening star., 1949-09-13
Senator'S Sign Pledge
To Aid Theater Group
In Reopening Be|asco

A letter from a group of Sena-
tors, which its sponsors hope will
clear the way for reopening of the
Belasco Theater, will be mailed to-
night to the American National
Theater and Academy in New
York.
Senators signing the letter
pledge themselves to support legis-
lation to reimburse the theater
group for portion of its ex-
penses if the Government cancels
its lease after thousands of dollars
have been spent to put the theater
in condition for stage productions
The Executive Committee of
ANITA is scheduled to decide at
a meeting in New York tomorrow
whether the letter from the Sena-
tors provides the safeguard they
have been seeking against losses
they may incur in leasing and
then losing the building.
so Signatures Sought.
The Office of Senator Flanders,
Republican, of Vermont, from
which the letter has been circu-
lating for signatures, said the
Senator hopes to get so signatures
before the letter goes out tonight.
So far, 80 signatures have been
obtained and 13 other Senators
repeatedly have indicated their
willingness to sign.
Agitation to reopen the Belasco
has been under way since the Ma
tional Theater became a movie
house last year as a result of the
refusal of Actors Equity to permit
it's members to appear at the Ma
tional. The refusal grew out of
an empasse over admission policies
with the Actors Equity insisting
its members could not appear un-
less persons of all races were ad-
mitted to the performances.
ANITA bid for a lease on the Be-
lasco last year, but was turned
down because it insisted on being
reimbursed for unamortized reno
vation expenses if the proposed
10-year lease were Cancelled ahead
of time.
Pledge Would Meet Needs.
Larry Henderson, administra-
tive assistant to Senator Flanders,
said ANITA has indicated that the
pledge letter from the Senators
would meet it's needs.
Mr.. Henderson said Govern
ment agencies affected, including
the Treasury Department and
Public Buildings Administration,
both have co-operated in working
out a satisfactory arrangement.
He said other space has been
found to which the Treasury en-
ployes now occupying the Belasco
could be moved. He added that
ANITA has agreed to pay the
rental for this space as well as to
foot the bills for moving costs.
If ANITA decides tomorrow to
trying again for the Belasco, he
said, the Treasury could move
out in a month and the renova-
tions could be completed by
Christmas.
Recapture Clause Asked.
The Senators letter points out
that the controller general has
ruled that a 10-year lease for the
tneater must contain a clause per-
nitting the Government to regain
use of the site on a years notice.
The site was acquired in 1888 for
a Treasury annex, but no funds
have been appropriated to build
the annex.
In view of the heavy capital
improvements that ANITA will
make to the building" the letter
adds, "some assurance is neces-
sary to ANITA that should the
building be recaptured within 10
years, consideration would be
given to compensating ANITA for
a proportionate amount of the
capital expenditures.
1--WE, the undersigned members
of the United States Senate. want
to indicate to ANITA at this time
that should the Government re-
capture the theater before the ex-
piration of the 10-year lease, we
will support legislation which
would compensate ANITA for a
portion of the capital expend-
itures, adjusted to the terminated
part of the lease"