Ever since the Depression caught U.S. hotelmen overexpanded, they have been chary of risking money on new hotels. In 20 years, only three big new hotels have gone up: Cincinnati's Terrace Plaza, Washington's Statler, Houston's Shamrock.
In Manhattan, big (6 ft.), drawling Arthur F. Douglas, president of the Hotels Statler Co., Inc., thought it was time for a change; the nation's growth had made the caution of hotelmen shortsighted. Last week he signed construction contracts for a new $20 million Statler in downtown Los Angeles. It will be the biggest new U.S. hotel since the Waldorf-Astoria.
The new Statler, ninth in...
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