Evening star., 1955-09-18

i Ithe0tef manager hopes 10 pOOk
Ibis house for a whole season
/ With the exception Of the Ma.
Itional in Washington. where you
might find o couple Of weeks In
1.-THE winter. there is no Other
Iplace to play. New York Is 'prac-
;ltically closed.
"You just have to have ar
adequate house. not only for the
Itheater, but for ballet. opera,
concerts-all the performing arts
i need 1t.
1 As far as Mr.. Dowling Is con.
cerned the site Is an open Ques.
Ition. Asked about q site on thu
LEnfant Plaza in the projected
IA IZeckendorf development d
Southwest Washington. MIR. Dow
ling said o consideration woult
be what other buildings -"asset,
,Iof national importance"-woult
form the surroundings.
/ Parking, he said, should be az
important consideration in thi
,site selection. I'VE want this Il
be q theater Of the people," HI
I|said. stressing that parking "a
Icilities must, be available.
I Suggestions were made initial,
that the building should include
'Ia big convention hall. Mr.
lDowling thought this would be {
mistake. 1t would put Washing.
ton in competition with othel
.Icities which seek big conventions
HE would rather, he explained
keep the building to the field o.
culture and artistic achieve
Iment."
/ He saw no hurdle IN the way
of working out an acceptable
manner Of control. The building
might be under the Nationa
Park Service, he suggested. o.
lit might be administered by 8
board of trustees similar to tn,
board which administers the Ma.
ltional Gallery Of Art. Some day
he speculated. there might be ar
American counterpart to thu
ministers of culture of othel
countries and the center woule
Ibe in his department.
/ Illustrating Mr.. Dowling'!
longtime interest in such q prof.
ect here is an incident which
occurred more than five year,
lago. He and Belvins Davis. pro.
Iducer of "Porgy and Bess," came
Ito Washington and proposed 9
civic auditorium to President
Truman.
/ Mr.. Dowling recalled that Mr.
Truman was tremendously in
terested. He even suggested q
site-where the old Navy Dis
pensary is across Constitution
avenue from the Lincoln Memo
rial. But the Korean War inter-
vened and the project was al
least temporarily, shelved, Mr.
Dowling, however, went ahead
and had architectural studies
made for the project.
| In addition to Mr.. Dowling'.
business interests already listed
he is president Of the r. e. Dow
ling Realty Corp, director oi
two banks and two insuranc,
companies. Of r. H. Macy & Co.
Hilton Hotels International, Ho
tel Waldorf-Astoria Corp. tn
Starrett Corp, New York Docl
Co.. Knickerbocker Investing Co
J and French g. Co.
| His list Of civic interests Il
!. even longer. In addition to beinl
| chairman Of ANITA he is a direc'
.Iof the Council Of the LvinI
; lTheater. the City Centre o
Music and Drama, the Children
Village. He Is president ant
ltrustee Of Citizens Budget Com
/. mission. president Of the Ma
: tional Urban League. a directo
| of the Boy Scouts Of America
the Boys Clubs of America. tn
r egional Plan Association
!. That's not a complete list.
He is a native New Yorker
and has just turned 60. Whel
lhe arrived at his Office he wa
! carrying a paper parcel whicl
/ the reporter assumed containet
flowers. He unwrapped 1t ant
J displayed what apparently h
priced as q souvenir Of the the
Iater-the feather duster Mar,
Martin used in Skin Of GU
| fIteeth."
He is well over 8 feet, Of al
athletic build and q determines
jaw. He was asked about tn
,|long distance swimming recor'
rlhe holds. He explained he swan
/ around Manhattan Island. 8
|, miles In IL hours. He believes tn
1.-THE record still stands. And h
Etill enjoys swimming. 4