St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 7

n-n.) Police Declare Gaslight Square to Be One of City's Safest Sections 5b raw cotrimmti muimn 1 A I I -A 1 A i lf gnnftrramrf) d) tart) (to I ti 1 Teen-Age Crowd at Gaslight Square youth are attracted to the area by the carnival atmosphere but are not permitted to enter the liquor-dispensing establishments. Gaslight Square customers in evening clothes crowding past teen-egers who jam the sidewalk in front of the Whisky a Go-Go nightclub each night. Underage Especially designed for buslnesmen, family travel, and leisurely adventure, Continental Trailways now offers drastically reduced fares in three major areas of interstate travel MID-WEEK BUDGET FARE featuring round trip rates based on 150 of the existing one-way fare FAMILY PLAN only one spouse pays full fare while the other spouse and children under 22 yean of age pay only 75 of the existing and the $99 EXCURSION FARE offering 99 days of unlimited bus travel in the continental United States and Canada. Now you have It, three monty-saving reasons why Continental Trailways is the "Easiest Travel On Earth!" For more information on reduced fares and schedules, call your local Continental Trailways agent By FRANK LEEMING JR. of the Post-Dispatch Staff Gaslight Square is one of the safest sections in the city, although it is surrounded by an area with a high crime rate, police said today.

"Crime is not a problem on the square," said Capt. Thomas J. Moran, commander of the Ninth police district, which includes the square. "It is unfortunate that t.e square is in the middle of a blighted area that is marked by a high crime rate," he said. "We have stepped up our patrol In the square in an effort to combat the criminal elements that tend to gravitate toward an entertainment area.

"I think we have succeeded, for we no longer consider the square a headache," Moran said. There were 94 crimes in Gaslight Square in the first nine months of this year, 50 of which were thefts of less than $50 each, police said. Nine Auto Thefts There were two robberies of persons, five assaults and nine automobile thefts. There were 79 crimes in the corresponding period last year. By contrast, police handfled 602 crimes in the area immediately surrounding the square in the first nine months of 1985.

George Edick, operator of the Roaring 20s nightclub, showed a reporter three large, brilliantly lighted parking areas adjoining the square on the north and west, and "The people want to save a buck by not parking here where it is safe. We shouldn't be held responsible for robberies and musings that occur when our customers return to their cars early in the morning in dangerous areas." Capt. Moran said he only wished that "the customers of the square would exercise common sense in where they park their cars." The square is usually protected by two uniformed officers on foot, four men in two patrol cars, four detectives, a Juvenile officer and a field interrogation group, Moran said. Business Hurt Publicity about crimes In the vicinity of the square has had a marked effect on business in recent months, proprietors said. They agreed that the area had relied more and more on convention and tourist trade as St.

Louisans have tended to stay way. Another complaint directed at the square was aimed at the discotheque places. Both patrons end propietors urged that something be done about large groups of youths that jam the sidewalks in front of several of the "a-Go-Go" establishments. Russ Lewis, operator of the Whisky a-Gc-Go, agreed that the ten-age crowds were undesirable. "The kids don't belong down here," he asserted.

"But it isn't our fault that their parents let ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH By a Post-Dispatch Photographer with a minimum investment of $10,000 generally required to open a new place of business or entertainment. There are a number of apartments above tlie taverns and nightclubs. They were rented mostly by college students until owners craoked down several months ago because, they said, the students gave wild parties and caused disturbances on the streets. Now the apartments are generally occupied by artists, employes in the saloons and night spots and older persons, operators said.

ments in Gaslight Square. Twenty-nine, including five discotheque places, have liquor licenses. $1,250,000 Invested There are 11 restaurants and sandwich shops, 19 nightclubs, a motion picture theater and a legitimate theater, eight book and art shops, 13 antique shops, two rug dealers, an interior decorator, a labor union office, a stamp dealer and a charity center for the blind. Operators have invested about 11,250,000 in the establishments. The turnover is relatively high, 'CONTINENTAL TRAILWAYS 701 N.

BROADWAY them run all over the place. "They like to participate, to look in. But most of them are under 21 years of age and we can't let them in. I'd like to see the police move them on," he said. Objects to Noise M'ss JoAnn Pagano, owner of the Bella Rosa Restaurant, said: "Those places have nothing to do with the atmosphere of the square.

For one tiling, the noise is just too loud. The waitresses have to practically sit in your lap before (hey can hear your order." E. Weston Colbrunn presi-dent of Westminster Enterprises, which operates the Three Fountains Restaurant, said that if customers thronged to the dscotheques, they should be tolerated. "If the a-Gojo's are doing as well as I think they are, then they must appeal to the public," Colbrunn said. "They simply reflect the times and shouldn't be outlawed for that." Colbrunn, president also of the Gaslight Square Businessmen's Association, said: "There is a very vocal, articulate minority in St.

Louis whom we refer to as the the group that sets the trends," he said. "Right now, they are against us, they don't come here. Why, I can't say. They tell us that what we offer is not as tasteful as it was eight years ago. "The square started out as pretty dumpy place and has Nov.

1965 7A VT' CE. 1-7181 VTAU.Y cox GiVE YOUR LEGS THE NATURAL LOOK been changing ever since. I feel that it stili has great charm," he said. Co-operation Difficult The Square association has been criticized for its inaction. "It is hard to get a bunch of saloon keepers to work together," Bud Elliot, operator of the Gilded Cage nightclub, told a reporter.

"We feel that our first task is to prove to St. Louis residents that they can have fun on Gaslight Square," Colbrunn said. "We want to provide excellent entertainment, food and facilities in a safe atmosphere." The area's importance as selling tool in the city's drive for more industry was cited by Mayor Alfonso J. Cervantes. "We point with pride to Gaslight Square when we attempt to attract conventions and business to St Louis," the Mayor said "My administration has pledged itself to maintaining the quality established in the square to recent years.

We improved police protection in an effort to quell rumors circulated because of recent Incidents." Gouging Denied Some persons have complained about high prices the area. "People don't want to spend as much for entertainment as they used to," Elliot, said, "Costs have gone up and so have prices, we won't deny that But we aren't gouging people. "Prices charged on the square Include entertainment, a 10 per cent entertainment tax and a 3 per sales tax. When someone goes out for a night on the town, he should expect to pay for it." Colbrunn said that prices on the square compare favorably with those in Greenwich Village and the French Quarter. Many operators said that two persons can have dinner and an evening of entertainment end drinks for about 525.

There axe 64 nightclubs, restaurants and other establish ITALIAN COMMUNIST PARTY TO CONVENE JAN. 25 IN ROME ROME, Nov. 1 (AP)-Leaders of the Italian Communist party, deeply divided by internal disputes, agreed Saturday to hold a national congress Jan. 25-30 in Rome. The decision to convene the broad policy making congress of western Europe's largest Red party was taken after four days of debate in the central committee.

Party boss Luigo Longo, heir of the late Palmare TogUatti, said the party's main scope would be to fight Italy's center-left government at home and to seek the unity of the international Communist movement abroad. $45,000 JEFFERSON COUNTY PARK BUDGET TO BE SOUGHT The finance committee of the Jefferson county park and recreation commission will recommend to the full commission that it request a $45,000 budget for 1966, Thomas J. Law, a member of the committee, has announced. The commission will meet Nov. 8, and budget requests must be submitted to the county court by Nov.

15. If approved, Law said, the budget will be divided as follows: for the purchase of park land, $7000 to hire a director and $3000 for office equipment and incidentals. Jefferson county does not own and operate any parks. ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH ComuM hr IMH FULTIW Dm.

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