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KVOS Webster Reports: Century 21 (Seattle World's Fair)

  • [NO SOUND]
  • It's a Canadian, Patty Conklin, who's
  • been running the C&E Gayway since 1937,
  • who's running the Gayway down here at the World's Fair.
  • Patty, maybe a kind of a blunt question,
  • but what will the prices be like?
  • Are they going to be high, or are they
  • going to be low or decent for the average family
  • when they come to the World Fair Gayway?
  • The prices are going to be extremely low.
  • It may interest our viewers to know that there will be nothing
  • more than $0.50, and only one attraction at $0.50,
  • seven at $0.35, and 11 at $0.25.
  • We're trying to make it within the reach of everyone,
  • rich or poor, to have a little fun here at the Gayway
  • at the World's Fair.
  • There will be no especially high prices any days,
  • or any special time at all?
  • No, the price will be the same on the closing
  • day as we're going to have on the opening day.
  • Saturdays and Sundays, of course, we
  • expect to have fabulous crowds of people,
  • but the prices will be exactly the same.
  • What can you have new for the Gayway, though?
  • Gayways are Gayways the world over, aren't they, Patty?
  • Is there anything really new in the Gayway behind us here?
  • Frankly, we have 11 things that are
  • going to be entirely new that have never
  • been seen in the dominion of Canada or in the United States.
  • All of these new riding devices and fun shows and fun houses
  • are coming from Europe.
  • And there's three of them being made right here, right
  • in close proximity of Seattle, that have never been
  • shown in the United States.
  • And I'm happy to tell our viewers
  • that 17 of the things that will be in the Gayway at the World's
  • Fair that have never been seen anywhere
  • in the state of Washington.
  • Does this Gayway here make the one at C&E
  • look small and just a trifling thing?
  • Well, the C&E's been in business for 83 years,
  • and I've been there since 1937.
  • I'm occupying four acres of the 74 acres
  • at the World's Fair grounds, and at the C&E
  • I only occupy seven acres.
  • So I would say it's very comparable in size.
  • You're looking forward to making a lot of money?
  • Well, no, I'm looking forward to having a lot of fun,
  • the same as the people that are going
  • to come out here and patronize and visit
  • this great World's Fair.
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  • Well, here we are standing at the exit
  • to the monorail in the shadow of the Space Needle.
  • And with me is Hoge Sullivan, the Space Needle manager.
  • Now Hoge, how close are you to being ready for opening day
  • on April 21?
  • Jack, we're running awfully close.
  • Actually we get our final elevator April 20,
  • which is the day before opening.
  • We're working overtime, we're working seven days a week.
  • As you've seen from the activity around here now,
  • it's a pretty busy place.
  • If you want to figure something unusual, if you look right up
  • there there's 146 men working there right now.
  • Actually, Jack, when you think of that number of people
  • up there, you're looking at the base area.
  • And on predictions that we have now,
  • if you figure we're going to put an average of 10,000 people
  • a day through the Needle--
  • I say through the Needle, we have three elevators,
  • as you know, that take the people to the restaurant
  • or observation platform.
  • But when you think of the small base area we have,
  • we have waiting mazes and so forth.
  • But getting the people to buy their tickets, to get in line,
  • to get up and to average 10,000 a day--
  • we'll be hitting 20,000 some days in August
  • when the big crowds arrive.
  • So there's a lot of work being done
  • on paper that doesn't particularly
  • involve the construction.
  • Of course, the construction is a very important phase, too.
  • How long will it take to go up in the bottom on the elevator
  • right up to the circulating restaurant?
  • Jack, the actual time on the two high speed elevators
  • is 43 seconds from the base to the observation tower.
  • We have a third elevator, which is a service elevator, which
  • will be a little slower.
  • This will be used for passengers probably 95% of the time,
  • but this is also to supply the restaurant
  • and get the restaurant--
  • From the base to the tower is 500 feet?
  • That's right.
  • From the tower to the observation platform is what?
  • Oh, from the restaurant to the observation tower
  • is another 25, 30 feet.
  • Is there any feeling of motion as just
  • sitting there dining in the sky and the floor is going round?
  • Oh, no.
  • No, the floor there's no motion whatsoever.
  • We've tested it with a half dollar
  • on the edge and a cigarette on the edge, and they both stayed.
  • And this is a privately owned project?
  • That's right.
  • Cost how much?
  • It'll be about $4 million before we get through.
  • Be a long while before you make your money back, even
  • at the World's Fair.
  • Yes, it's going to take a little while.
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  • The performing arts events at the Seattle World's Fair
  • will be the biggest in the history of the world ever put
  • on by one group.
  • Again?
  • That's right, it's going to cost $20 million
  • in a six month period.
  • To put on your cultural entertainment?
  • That's right.
  • From the plans I see it's going to be
  • a kind of four ring circus in different cultural grades,
  • right?
  • That's right.
  • We'll have an arena, and in there we'll
  • have big name bands--
  • Count Basie, Benny Goodman, things like this.
  • We'll have a 12,000 seat stadium where we'll have
  • free attractions all day long.
  • There will be circus acts, horse shows, everything like that.
  • Then we'll have the opera house, which will
  • be kind of our long hair thing.
  • And in the opera house we'll have--
  • for instance, we're going to open it
  • with Van Cliburn and Igor Stravinsky.
  • And then we have a nice little intimate playhouse
  • with 800 seat houses--
  • or 800 seats rather.
  • And in there we'll have for instance
  • Hal Holbrook will do his famous one man show, Mark Twain
  • Tonight.
  • What is the hottest attraction on your menu at the moment,
  • culturally speaking?
  • Culturally speaking it's probably the Van Cliburn
  • opening concert.
  • And right after that comes the Old Vic Company from London.
  • Now when you say $20 million project,
  • this frightens me about prices.
  • What about prices-- are they going
  • to be sky high and frighten us away?
  • They'll be the cheapest you can find in the country.
  • They'll be much lower than you would pay at a normal theater.
  • For instance, the Old Vic Company,
  • you'll be able to get to see it for around $2.75.
  • Your top price will be what?
  • Oh, the Old Vic will be $5.00.
  • Now, why are the tickets for these events not
  • on sale yet up in Vancouver and out of the way points?
  • The only place you'll be able to get the tickets for people
  • in Vancouver will be here at the Fair.
  • And you can get those by writing into BOX 9000 QA.
  • What's your deficit going to be on your entertainment budget
  • when you wrap up at the end of the six months?
  • That's a hard question to answer.
  • We're hoping to break even.
  • We know we won't make money.
  • But you're going to have fun.
  • We're going to have fun, right.
  • I can--
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  • Interesting to note that for every request
  • we get from 48 states, we must get at least 25
  • from California.
  • Well, they're the traveling--
  • the people with most eye on the World's Fair at the moment.
  • I think--
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  • Mr. Lee, there's one facet which I know is worrying you--
  • a national news magazine said bluntly in black and white
  • that Seattle's nearly totally sold out for lodgings.
  • What is the truth of the lodging accommodation
  • for visitors from BC or anywhere else for the six month
  • period of the World's Fair?
  • Oh, Mr. Webster, we have accommodations
  • for all periods of the Fair.
  • We have yet to refuse accommodations
  • to any single inquiry.
  • Now, we're aware of the magazine article,
  • and we did take some action to get a correction on that,
  • but unfortunately they were unable to publish it
  • in the letters to the editors.
  • It'll be reverse good publicity--
  • you're now able to stress that there is ample accommodation.
  • There are ample accommodations, and we're
  • very confident that we will have accommodations
  • all through the Fair at anytime that people wish to come.
  • At what prices, though?
  • This kind of worries the people from BC, perhaps, you know?
  • Well, for two people we go from $7.00 low to $17.00 high,
  • which we think is a price area that would be--
  • would compare to any area at any time.
  • No real increase from last year.
  • Up a little bit, maybe.
  • Well, there's no increase.
  • We have the same rates right now that
  • were established for the 1961 tourist season carried through.
  • What kind of bookings do you have now?
  • Your expo lodging actually conducts bookings
  • for individuals, does it?
  • That's absolutely correct, for individuals and groups,
  • and convention groups also.
  • Then, of course, we are finding that this Fair, apparently,
  • is going to be the greatest attraction for youth
  • groups of any Fair that we've ever had in the past.
  • We have many, many of those.
  • Let me give you just a small example of what we go through.
  • In a five day period of last week,
  • we had 5,100 requests by mail for accommodations.
  • And these involve 30,600 nights that people
  • would be staying in Seattle, which
  • gives us an average stay of six days per request.
  • Is there any comfort for British Columbia accommodation owners?
  • Are any Americans going to stay up there and come down
  • to the Fair?
  • Oh, we have these requests all the time.
  • Anytime that people indicate to us that they're
  • going to spend five to six days in this area,
  • it certainly indicates the balance of their vacation
  • is going to be in the Pacific Northwest.
  • How many inquiries from British Columbia?
  • British Columbia is the second largest area
  • that we have inquiries from.
  • The first, of course, is California.