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Radio City Music Hall
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=== Bankruptcy and threat of closure === [[File:Radio City Music Hall 3713739901 4b1a1131a1.jpg|thumb|alt=Radio City Music Hall's grand foyer|Radio City's grand foyer]] In 1977, annual attendance reached an all-time low of 1.5 million,{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=430}} a 70 percent decrease from the 5 million visitors reported in 1968.<ref name="Shepard 1979">{{cite web |last=Shepard |first=Richard F. |date=April 19, 1979 |title=Music Hall to Be Restored |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/19/archives/music-hall-to-be-restored-new-show-format-set-restoration-to-start.html |access-date=December 12, 2017 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=December 13, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213201003/http://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/19/archives/music-hall-to-be-restored-new-show-format-set-restoration-to-start.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="New York Daily News 1978">{{cite news |date=March 15, 1978 |title=Threatens Demolition of the Music Hall; Rockettes Kick Up a Storm in City Hall Routine |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26245091/threatens_demolition_of_the_music_hall/ 5], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26245119/pete_hamill_rockettes_kick_up_a_storm/ 26] |work=New York Daily News |via=newspapers.com}}</ref> The theater needed about 4 million annual visitors to break even.{{sfn|Marshall|2005|p=131}} By January 1978, Radio City was in debt,<ref name="Oelsner 1978">{{cite news|last=Oelsner |first=Lesley|title=Efforts to Save-Music Hall Started |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=January 7, 1978 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/07/archives/efforts-to-save-music-hall-started-public-and-private-efforts-to.html |access-date=November 23, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201132624/http://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/07/archives/efforts-to-save-music-hall-started-public-and-private-efforts-to.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Ferretti 1978">{{cite news|last=Ferretti |first=Fred |title=Agreement Reached On Radio City Tower |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=April 7, 1978 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/07/archives/agreement-reached-on-radio-city-tower-rentals-from-the-20story.html |access-date=November 23, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201133529/http://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/07/archives/agreement-reached-on-radio-city-tower-rentals-from-the-20story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and officials stated that it could not remain open after April.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=581}}<ref name="Oelsner 1978" /><ref name="Grover 1978">{{cite news |last=Grover |first=Stephen |date=January 6, 1978 |title=Radio City Music Hall to End Career Of 45 Years April 12: Wurlitzer, Lavish Productions To Become Memories Due To Movie Theater's Losses |page=24 |work=Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|134278234}}}}</ref> Rockefeller Center president Alton Marshall announced that, due to a projected loss of $3.5 million for the upcoming year, Radio City Music Hall would close on April 12.<ref name="Press and Sun-Bulletin 1978" /><ref name="Grover 1978" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/05/archives/radio-city-music-hall-to-close-after-easter-show-koch-is-told-music.html |title=Radio City Music Hall to Close After. Easter Show, Koch Is Told|author1=M. A Farber|date=January 5, 1978|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|page=A1|access-date=November 23, 2017|archive-date=September 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903121759/http://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/05/archives/radio-city-music-hall-to-close-after-easter-show-koch-is-told-music.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This came after the theater had lost $2.3 million in 1977.<ref name="Grover 1978" /> Many of Radio City's regular patrons moved to the suburbs, and there was a lingering fear of crime in New York City.<ref name="Jaynes 1978" /><ref name="Grover 1978" /> A lack of family-friendly movies was also a factor in the planned closure.<ref name="Jaynes 1978" />{{sfn|Marshall|2005|p=131}}<ref name="Grover 1978" /> One proposal included converting the theater into tennis courts, a shopping mall, an aquarium, a hotel, a theme park, or the [[American Stock Exchange]].{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=581}}{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=430}}<ref>{{cite news|author1=Schumach, Murry|title=Nostalgia Draws Music Hall Crowds Despite Cold |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/08/archives/nostalgia-draws-music-hall-crowds-despite-cold-save-the-hall.html |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=January 8, 1978|page=29|access-date=February 12, 2017|archive-date=September 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170903081001/http://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/08/archives/nostalgia-draws-music-hall-crowds-despite-cold-save-the-hall.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Despite the potential tax benefits of preserving the theater, Rockefeller Center's managers were uninterested in saving Radio City, as they were focused on the site's real-estate development potential.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=581}} Huxtable claimed that the managers' approach was "singularly lacking in any creative or cultural sensitivities".{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=581}}<ref name="Huxtable 1978" /> Radio City Music Hall Ballet Company dance captain Rosemary Novellino formed the [[Showpeople's Committee to Save Radio City Music Hall]].<ref name="Cook, Joy 1978">{{cite news|author=Grantz, Roberta B. |author2=Cook, Joy|title=Music Hall: Krupsak Blames Regime for Woes |work=New York Post|date=March 14, 1978|page=8|quote=Lt. Gov. Mary Ann Krupsak, leading the fight to save Radio City Music Hall, said today she was "convinced there has been a policy by Rockefeller Center to let Radio City Music Hall go downhill." She said a study showed that the management over the past 10 years had stacked the deck against the theater, placing a "disproportionate tax burden, management costs and other expenses" on the 6500-seat theater to show it no longer was economically viable as a movie house.}}</ref> Lieutenant governor [[Mary Anne Krupsak]], who had once been a Rockette, was also involved in the preservation efforts.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=582}}<ref name="Cook, Joy 1978" /> The alliance made hundreds of calls to Rockefeller Center's manager; ''The New York Times'' described that the callers "jammed the switchboards" there.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/07/archives/new-jersey-pages-public-and-private-efforts-to-save-radio-city.html |title=Public and Private Efforts to Save Radio City Music Hall Are Started|last=Oelsner|first=Leslie|date=January 7, 1978|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=December 15, 2018|archive-date=December 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216042515/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/01/07/archives/new-jersey-pages-public-and-private-efforts-to-save-radio-city.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Rockettes also protested outside [[New York City Hall]].<ref name="New York Daily News 1978" /> The [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (LPC) held public hearings on whether to designate the theater's interior as a city landmark in March 1978. Of more than 100 speakers, most argued in favor of landmark status, but Rockefeller Center president Alton G. Marshall said that "landmark designation may well be the last nail in the Music Hall's coffin."{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=581}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 15, 1978 |title=Radio City Debated by Landmarks Unit |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/15/archives/radio-city-debated-by-landmarks-unit-rockefeller-center-head.html |access-date=July 8, 2022 |archive-date=July 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708170801/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/15/archives/radio-city-debated-by-landmarks-unit-rockefeller-center-head.html |url-status=live}}</ref> In total, more than 100,000 people supported designating Radio City as a landmark.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=582}}<ref name="McDowell 1978">{{Cite news |last=McDowell |first=Edwin |date=March 29, 1978 |title=Interior of Music Hall Designated As Landmark Despite Objections |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/29/archives/interior-of-music-hall-designated-as-landmark-despite-objections.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717181549/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/03/29/archives/interior-of-music-hall-designated-as-landmark-despite-objections.html |archive-date=July 17, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The LPC designated the interior as a city landmark on March 28.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=582}}<ref name="McDowell 1978" /><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26245013/its_a_landmark_decision_for_radio_city/|title=It's a Landmark Decision for Radio City Music Hall|date=March 29, 1978|work=New York Daily News|access-date=December 15, 2018|page=668|via=newspapers.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216031304/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26245013/its_a_landmark_decision_for_radio_city/ |archive-date=December 16, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> Rockefeller Center Inc. filed a lawsuit to try to reverse the landmark designation, claiming that landmark status would be unattractive to potential investors, but the lawsuit was unsuccessful.{{sfn|Okrent|2003|p=430}}<ref>{{cite news|last=Huxtable |first=Ada Louise |title=Architecture View|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=April 22, 1979 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/22/archives/architecture-view-update-on-the-music-hall.html|access-date=December 12, 2017 |archive-date=December 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213210529/http://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/22/archives/architecture-view-update-on-the-music-hall.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Rockefeller Center Inc. indicated that it would demolish the theater had it succeeded in overturning the landmark designation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hollie |first=Pamela G. |date=May 5, 1978 |title=Center Seeks Permit to Demolish Radio City If Rescue Plans Fail |page=B4 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|123727492}}}}</ref> In April, just a few days before the planned closing date, the [[Empire State Development Corporation|Urban Development Corporation]] (UDC) voted to create a nonprofit subsidiary to lease Radio City.<ref>{{cite news |title=Agreement With U.D.C. Keeps Music Hall Open Indefinitely|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|date=April 13, 1978 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/13/archives/agreement-with-udc-keeps-music-hall-open-indefinitely.html|access-date=November 23, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201133037/http://www.nytimes.com/1978/04/13/archives/agreement-with-udc-keeps-music-hall-open-indefinitely.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=April 11, 1978 |title=Radio City Music Hall Reprieved by Accord, Has New Management |page=45 |work=Wall Street Journal |issn=0099-9660 |id={{ProQuest|134245334}}}}</ref> Plans for a 20-story mixed-use tower above Radio City were announced the same month, with rents from the proposed tower providing the necessary funds to keep the theater open.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=582}}<ref name="Ferretti 1978" /><ref>{{cite news |last=Morehouse |first=Ward III |date=April 12, 1978 |title=An Upbeat at Radio City Music Hall: Plan for Saving Landmark Includes Temporary Financing, Office Tower |page=5 |work=The Christian Science Monitor |id={{ProQuest|512040308}}}}</ref> An alternative involving transferring the theater's [[air rights]] to another building in the complex was also privately discussed.<ref>{{cite news|last=Fried|first=Joseph P.|title=3 Plans Weighed By State to Keep Music Hall Open|work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331|date=December 26, 1978 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/26/archives/3-plans-weighed-by-state-to-keep-music-hall-open-real-estate-option.html|access-date=November 23, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201132109/http://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/26/archives/3-plans-weighed-by-state-to-keep-music-hall-open-real-estate-option.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The UDC and Rockefeller Center Inc. agreed on April 12 to keep Radio City open, just hours before it had been set to close.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=582}} On May 12, 1978, Radio City Music Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 13, 1978 |title=Radio City in National Register |page=26 |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/13/archives/radio-city-in-national-register.html |access-date=January 23, 2021 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=November 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201117011007/https://www.nytimes.com/1978/05/13/archives/radio-city-in-national-register.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Radio City lost $2.3 million in the first ten months of 1978, despite the fact that a [[Frank Sinatra]] concert there had grossed more than $1.7 million. From April 13 to September 13, 1978, when the UDC operated the theater, losses totaled $1.2 million.<ref>{{cite news |date=November 29, 1978 |title=The City: Radio City Deficit Put at $2.3 Million Kneller Resigns As College President Tram Runs Again 6,000 City Workers Reported Underpaid 3 Policemen Indicted Police Blotter |page=B3 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|123584948}}}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |date=November 29, 1978 |title=Pictures: 'Politicians' Phoney Aid' Cited; Radio City Music Hall Deficit Ongoing; Even Sinatra A Loss |volume=293 |issue=4 |page=5 |id={{ProQuest|1401341921}} |magazine=Variety}}</ref> The plans for an office building above the theater were recommended in a draft study that was published in February 1979.<ref name="The New York Times 1979">{{Cite news |date=February 11, 1979 |title=Radio City Tower Urged |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/11/archives/radio-city-tower-urged-radio-city-tower-proposed.html |url-status=live |access-date=July 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201131621/http://www.nytimes.com/1979/02/11/archives/radio-city-tower-urged-radio-city-tower-proposed.html |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> [[Davis Brody Bond|Davis Brody Associates]] had designed a 31-story office and hotel building that was to be cantilevered over the theater, with an entrance carved out of Radio City's Sixth Avenue lobby.<ref name="The New York Times 1979" />{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|pp=582β583}} The office building was ultimately not built.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|pp=582β583}} [[Robert Jani|Robert F. Jani]] instead assumed control of Radio City's programming, with plans to restore the venue to its original condition.<ref name="Shepard 1979" />{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=583}} The film-plus-stage-spectacle format ended at the theater on April 25, 1979, with the screening of ''[[The Promise (1979 film)|The Promise]]''.<ref name="cinematreasures" /> The theater was closed immediately afterward for renovation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Radio City Chandeliers Become Party Lights |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331 |date=April 27, 1979|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/27/archives/radio-city-chandeliers-become-party-lights.html|access-date=December 12, 2017|archive-date=December 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171213201001/http://www.nytimes.com/1979/04/27/archives/radio-city-chandeliers-become-party-lights.html|url-status=live}}</ref> It reopened with a ceremony on May 31, 1979.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=583}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=June 1, 1979 |title=Music Hall Arches: Theater Incarnate |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/01/archives/music-hall-arches-theater-incarnate-an-appraisal.html |access-date=July 8, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=July 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220708173936/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/06/01/archives/music-hall-arches-theater-incarnate-an-appraisal.html |url-status=live}}</ref>
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