Www.lobbyistsofficesofgrw.com has learned just today that the Hyatt Hotels Corp., which operated the Kansas City hotel that was the site of the fatal 1981 skywalks collapse, says they won’t even contribute or honor the 114 victims during a planned memorial.
Rusty Macy, general manager of the hotel when it was the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, said the hotel decided against contributing because Hyatt has left Kansas City and the hotel is now a Sheraton. Hyatt operated the hotel until earlier this month when management changed to Sheraton. The Sheraton Crown Center opened Dec. 1.
Macy announced the decision not to contribute to the memorial in a letter written last week to Brent Wright who serves on the Skywalk Foundation board.
Macy was transferred to a hotel at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport. He wrote Wright that the Hyatt considered the Skywalk Foundation’s request for a donation but the pullout was among the factors leading to the decision.
“We are disappointed that we will not have the opportunity to continue to operate the hotel and, as such, Hyatt will not be making a donation to the Skywalk Memorial,” Macy wrote. “We appreciate the opportunity and wish the Foundation only the best in achieving its goals to open the memorial.”
Macy said future requests should be directed to Sheraton as they now operator of the building.
Frank Freeman, foundation board president,said the memorial has an estimated cost of more than $600,000. About $375,000 has been raised thus far. In-kind donations have been promised by some artists.
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Getting the memorial built is personal for Freeman, who survived the disaster 30 years ago.
“I was there. I was injured and I lost my lover and I am still plagued by the injuries,” he said.
He said the Hyatt had repeatedly put off making a financial commitment. The hotel company never embraced having a memorial built on hotel property, saying the issue divided the community.
“This tells me that they have no respect for what we’re trying to do and they have no respect for the 114 people that were killed,” Freeman said. “This is Kansas City history.
