Newspaper Page Text
Page 12
— Griffin Daily News Monday, December 10, 1973
Energy crisis blow to Interstate business
(From Weekly Advertiser, McDonough)
Motels and service businesses on principal roads and
thoroughfares are being dealt mortal blows throughout
the nation.
The industry, reeling for the last several months under
adverse businesses conditions, must now face an energy
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crisis which threatens to bankrupt a considerable
number of businesses.
In Henry County the effect is telling as motels attempt
to survive on meager occupancy ratios. With possibly
two exceptions, motels are losing money every day in
Henry County.
Move up to
boardwalk
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (UPI)
— Harvard University students
claimed a new world’s record
Sunday for playing Monopoly in
a moving elevator—s7 hours
and 34 minutes.
The old mark of 50 hours was
set by a group of freshmen at
Kansas University in 1970.
About 15 Harvard students
took turns at the Monopoly
board while the elevator
traveled 6,708 floors in the four
story Currier House dormitory
between 8 a.m. Friday and 5:30
p.m. Sunday. The Kansas
students traveled 7,212 floors in
a seven-story building.
“They were going to go for 60
hours,” said sophomore Bill
Durett, one of the Harvard
players, “but they decided to
quit because they wanted to see
themselves on the six o’clock
news.”
Charlie Burnett, General Manager of Holiday Inn at
Locust Grove and McDonough, says the dilemma is
national in scope but especially bad on the interstates,
which are dependent on tourists, a vanishing breed in the
days of gasoline shortages.
Mr. Burnett said, “We have a number of things in mind
to combat this thing, but it has been rough. The way we
see it, the energy shortage will continue for at least three
years and Holiday Inn is going to be around at the end of
that time, but many motels will not.”
BIG FIRMS FOLD
During the past month three of the nations old line
chains have folded and numbers of motels are up for
sale.
The situation has fed on itself somewhat and has
brought even greater expenditures to an industry beset
with enough problems. As an example owners
immediately began rushing about to buy advertising
space on billboards, which sent those prices
skyrocketing. Now billboards cost $275 per month,
further draining the motels.
Holiday Inn, the world’s largest motel chain and the
first to locate in Henry County, recently held a meeting of
all Interstate-75 locations. Only one of the sites, Valdosta,
was operating at a profit and business at some was
virtually nothing. One Holiday Inn, Calhoun, broke away
from company policy and began advertising rooms at
$8.50 per day, an action unheard of for the World’s
Innkeeper.
But Holiday Inn is not taking the adversity without
retaliating. An Innkeeper said, “We plan to pour big
money into advertising campaigns on Interstate-75.
Immediately Holiday Inn launched an ad program
pitched to the local folks with unheard of low prices for
buffets.
SLIM BUSINESS
Proud Penny opened less than three months ago at
Locust Grove and the number of vacancies has been
staggering. Many, many nights Proud Penny is
reportedly operating with only a handful of the 150 rooms
occupied. Across the interchange. Holiday Inn has not
done much better in Iz>cust Grove. On a typical night at
Locust Grove, no more than 65 rooms will be rented
according to estimates of owners. That figures out to only
18 percent of the 356 rooms. Thousands of dollars are
being lost every week at the corner as one time
vacationers spend the winters back home in the frozen
north rather than run the risk of running out of gas far
from home.
At Hudson Bridge Road, the huge and elaborate
Matador Inn with its twinkling lights and vast
accommodations is doing even less business than the
motels at Locust Grove knd the losses are bound to be
huge.
Matador has problems other than the energy crisis.
The motel location is concealed from the road below and
many travelers are already past the motel before they
realize anything is on top of the hill.
Even Disney World at Orlando has felt the pinch. At the
recent meeting of Holiday Inn officials in Forsyth, the
Disney World Holiday Inn reported occupancy of less
than 25 percent, and there are some posh motels at
Disney World doing less than 20 percent. This is a huge
contrast to the most recent summer when
accommodations were virtually unavailable in the
Orlando tourist attraction.
The same is true of interstate real estate. The valuable
corners, sites for service stations, which commanded
prices of $200,000 per acre six months ago will not bring
even a fraction of that figure today.
For owners and Investors it is a scary time. Some are
trying to sell. Others are not going to financially survive,
and some like Holiday Inn pledge to keep their chin up
and weather the storm.
It is a time of uncertainty throughout the land, but
perhaps most of all in the tourist business.
Bank trio
out in 7?
The Thomaston Times
The three Molena Bank
robbers-kidnappers may be
considered for parole in seven
years, not 36 as earlier
reported, but they face the
prospects of court trials in
Fayette County with the same
district attorney and judge who
tried the cases in Pike county
last week.
District Attorney Ben Miller
said the three are under
charges in Fayette involving
kidnapping, robbery and auto
theft and that “we may try
them on these charges in the
April term of Fayette court.”
Judge Andrew Whalen, who
presided over the week-long
trial in Zebulon that resulted in
life plus 86 years in sentences
for A. D. Allen, Charles
Waymon Patrick and Daniel
Warren is also the presiding
judge for the Fayette County
Superior Court.
Fayette charges against the
three revolve around their
efforts to escape from the
dragnet thrown out after they
kidnapped Mr. and Mrs. John
Barker, Jr., and their son and
robbed the Bank of Molena on
the night of October 22. Only
Allen and Patrick would face
kidnapping charges there
R/-* 1
PARTING WARNING that
mandatory measures, to
conserve energy were
“very real possibilities”
was delivered in congres
sional testimony by Charles
Dißona. Dißona, who had
been the President’s
special assistant for fuel,
lost his post in the White
House shakeup of the
energy control program.
stemming from their action in
forcing a man to drive them out
of the manhunt area.
But the report that the three
men would have to serve 36
years before being considered
for parole was changed here
this week with the explanation
that the Pardon and Parole
Board considers 21 years the
maximum prison sentence and
the present rule is to give a
prisoner parole consideration
after serving one-third of the
sentence.
Judge Emeritus John H.
McGehee said that “no matter
how much sentence is given the
Pardon and Parole Board won’t
consider any time beyond 21
years.”
Each man was sentenced to
life for armed robbery, 20 years
on each of three kidnapping
ch4rges, 20 years for burglary
and 7 years for auto theft. Since
life is considered 21 years, the
total runs to 108 years and it
was first believed that parole
consideration would come after
a third of that time was served.
Judge McGehee explained
that the Pardon and Parole
Board “could even change the
7-year minimum time and
consider parole earlier.”.
Good trip
CAGLIARI, Italy (UPI) —
Police said it was a good thing
for Rachelle Marganelli, 37,
that she went into labor on
Sunday when pleasure driving
was banned.
“In normal conditions the
baby might well have been
born on the trip,” said the
patrolman who drove Mrs.
Marganelli to a hospital in time
for her to give birth to a son.
DON’T MISS...
A powerful presentation of
Jesus Christ in word and
song by the Horizons.
Church of Christ
669 S. Hill St.
Dec. 19th —7:30 P.M.