Restraint-of-trade of MUNY- only 49 nights a year instead of 100- severely hurts the Chase and other hotels and motels that ‘ring’ Forest Park just
as restraint-of-trade of Kiel Opera House hurts the failed convention hotel, Union Station, its struggling hotel and all of dowtown.

Kiel and MUNY are the ‘demand drivers’(used to be called destinations
of choice)that fill hotel and motel rooms, restaurants and retail
esablishments. What Civic Progress has put ‘in their place’ does not.

Probably time the injured parties take action.

Tax credits, is this another way of saying welfare or white collar crime. Fleecing tax payers so a few may enjoy the view of the park.

Again with the Fox theatre conspiracy theories…Ed…have you ever traveled to another city and booked a night in a hotel to see a touring company Broadway show? Do you know anyone who has ever done this? I have never booked a hotel room to see a touring company Broadway show and I don’t know anyone who has. We live in a small city…the potential audience for live theatre in St. Louis is limited by our population as well as the economy. People who travel to see shows go to New York or Chicago, not St. Louis. From what I have read about the Muny…we are lucky it is open at all…they have struggled for years and probably would have closed years ago has it not been for the generosity of it’s corporate sponsors. Have you been to the Muny? It’s hot…it is at the mercy of the weather…if it rains, no show…parking sucks…I could go on… and there is another outdoor venue, in Earth City that would certainly not be prevented from booking Broadway shows by “Fox Conspiracy” if they thought there was any kind of market for it…while I am a diehard Muny fan…a Muny show is not going to motivate anyone to book a hotel room…I really doubt that short of the rooms occupied by the cast and crew of these shows, they have any impact at all on hotel occupancy…do you have any facts or statistics to back up this claim that you keep making? St. Louis is known for studying problems to death…surely there is a study to support your theory if it has any validity…

These properties are over-valued. I remember when the Chase was shuttered, and it should be no surprise that it isn’t busting at the seams given the weak economy, in proximity to a dead highway, and St. Louis’ overall lack of convention business.

Couldn’t of said it better SeekeSTL. These crazy tirades are getting tired.

I noticed that Maritz Wolff’s Four Seasons hotel in Nevis in the Caribbean is in foreclosure. Not a good time to be a hotel investor.

So we as taxpayers gave them MILLIONS in tax credits and they don’t pay the bills. Something tells me they got the mine, we got the shaft–AGAIN and AGAIN.
Bend over and smile..

Restraint-of-trade of Kiel Opera House and MUNY hurts our hotels
year ’round. There is nothing conspiratorial about this. It’s factual.

MUNY is lucky to still be operating because it is the second target
of grand center. Had Kiel gone down and it may still go down…then
MUNY goes down. It averages 8500 paid admissions a show and is closed
all three holiday weekends. Generosity is not the point. It draws.

Wouldt be so bad if people poured into St. Louis to go to grand avenue,
or for Twilight Tuesdays…or Free SHakespeare…I would certainly
shut up. But, they are pouring into DAllas, Denver, Kansas City etc…
because they offer more and bigger in the live arts.

Again…where are your facts to back up your claim that “Restraint-of-trade of Kiel Opera House and MUNY hurts our hotels
year ’round. There is nothing conspiratorial about this. It’s factual.”
Were you in the room when the elite ruling class met to vote to “restrain” all competition for the Fox? Do you have any documents, articles, recordings, or eyewitness accounts to prove that the Fox controls the schedule, bookings, or business practices of the Muny? Do you have any facts to prove that local hotels,specifically the Chase and the convention hotel would benefit from any change at the Muny, Fox, or Kiel? We can all have our own opinions but we can’t have our own facts.
There are so many factors contributing to the downturn in our hotel business…the economy…the loss of major corporate headquaters, the loss of our hub status at the airport…the shut down of a major highway…

SeekerSTL,

Golterman is deranged. He attempts to tie every business and political issue in St.Louis to performing arts. Now how can everything going wrong or even good in St. Louis be related to performing arts? Dose someone have a motive? Exactly . . . Stop twisting insignificant and unfound facts around to keep driving the issue for performing arts in St. Louis.

Have a great afternoon. Sing a show tune or something.