Convention Sites: Hostage to $50 Million

"Hostage" to $50 Million

For financially depressed New Orleans, it was an embarrassment of riches. First the city was notified by the Republican National Committee that it had been selected as the site of the 1988 G.O.P. Convention, a three-day bonanza that should generate $50 million in business. Then Democratic Chairman Paul Kirk said his committee (which had just sampled the Cajun cuisine and first- class hotels) might also choose the City That Care Forgot as its party's convention site.

The catch was that New Orleans had already signed a contract giving the Republicans six weeks of unlimited access to the Superdome before the convention...

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