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NEWS CONFERENCE
GOVERNOR PARRIS BRYANT
TALLAHASSEE
JULY 11, 1963
NEWSHBN PARTICIPATING: Robert 9. Delaney, ORLANDO SENTINEL-STAR:
Barbara Frye, UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL; David Gretsch, CAPITAL
BUREAU NEWS; Allen Morris, CRACKER POLITICS; Steve Prentice, FLORIDA
BROADCAST NEWS; Tom Raker, INSIDE POLITICS; Ray Starr, ABC RADIO;
George Thurston WFLA, WJXT; John Turner, WFOA, WTVJ; Tommy Andersen,
FLORIDA BROADCAOT NEWS; James Cillespy, UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL;
Ovid Lewis, FREELRNCE; Jerry Neck, JOHN R. PERRY PAPERS: Donrld
North, ASSOCIATED PRESS: Rick Tuttle, IIAHI Ru=$LD-ST. PETER EURO
TIMES SERVICE; Bill Bowen, NCTV; Prank Neel, AJ-OCIATBD PRESS.
(BECAUSE OF MECHANICAL DIFFICULTIES THERE ARE PORTIONS OF THIS
TRANSCRIPTION THAT HAVE BEEN SUMMARIZED TO CONVEY THE GENERAL TROUGHT)
GOVERNOR: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. (Pointing to a
large rendering of the Florida World's Fair exhibit) This is to
be the Plerida exhibit at the World's Fair. It is being developed
rather rapidly. I was there a week or so ago, at which time the
pilings were being put down in this entire area. This is going to
be a tremendous show. This will be the industrial and commercial
exhibits, and that will be towns and cities that are participating
in the program. This, and at the base or it, will be the citrus
tower exhibit, devoted entirely to citrus and one of the nice
things about this particular tower is that it is situated as it
is with about an eight lane facility right here and another one
right there. It is estimated that there will be several hundred
million exposures of this citrus tower to the public during the two
years of its operation there. The tower is being built in sections,
and when it has completed its usefulness there, it will be returned
to Lakeland and installed in Florida. We have been receiving
tremendOus cooperation from the cities and there are going to be
some model houses built -- model in nature, not in size. They
will be full size houses, or course, and there will be a water show
going on out in the lake. It's one of the most desirable locations.
FRYE: what lake is that Governor?
GOVERNOR: I don't know. Florida Lake, yes! (laughter)
TRURSTON: It's a swamp right now, isn't it?
GOVERNOR: No, it's very nice. It really is. But they have got
900 pilings in new and they are beginning to pour the footings,
and for the money that we have received recently from the
Legislature, we will be able to continue the schedule that we have
begun, private funds will come in to complete the work, and we
expect to have an operation that will exceed anything that Florida
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has ever done, and we think will be one of the most attractive at the
fair.
FRYE: Is it a million dollars it will cost?
GOVERNOR: The construction cost is initially $3 million. There is
$1 million from the state. Thats right. It is anticipated that
there will be 1L million visitors to this site, not to the fair,
but to the Florida exhibit, in the two years of its operation there
in addition to the multi-millions that I have indicated would be Just
seeing it as they passed by.
NORRIS: Governor, what will be in those circular buildings?
GOVERNOR: Different kinds of exhibits of cities and industries.
We have laid out the areas for educational exhibits and we have got
to get the universities and the Board of Control working on
preparing exhibits. For example, Tampa and St. Petersburg have
bought adJacent areas and they are going to take cut the panels
between their areas and develop it as the whole Tampa Bay area,
which is profitable for their own purposes, for it will cut down the
cost of their operation and will give them a larger display there.
Miami has three units right together. The airlines will be
operating ticket offices right on these grounds and will be in
conjunction with the Development Commission and any other agency
that wants to cooperate, operating passenger tours out of there.
People who come from Los Angeles -- we will make a big pitch -- for
$25 extra they can go back by Florida instead of going straight
across the country, if that's the way they came -- or San Francisco,
or wherever. So we're going to make a great pitch to try to get
people who come here to some on down to Florida.
DELANEY: Governor, has anyone tried to guess how much Florida money
from all sources will go into that exhibition?
GOVERNOR: Yes. In the Operation, our fees you see, we'll derive
some monies from sales of things, the commercial exhibits inside
this. The gross expenditure will be slightly over $5 million.
DELANEY: Well, this will be like $1 million from the state...
GOVERNOR: Plus all the other monies that we take in.
TRURSTON: How many people will work there?
GOVERNOR: The Florida world's Fair group itself will have about 30
employees. There will be a great many employees, of course, of the
individual exhibitors who will be operating their own exhibits. I
don't know how many that will be.
FRYE: When does it open?
GOVERNOR: April 22 -- I believe is the day.
FRYE: Next year?
GOVERNOR: Yes ma'am. Now here is the site Florida has, which is one
or the largest sites. We took this particular site for two reasons:
One, we could get a lot more area here than we could anywhere else,
and two, we were onthe lake, and we felt that whatever Florida did
ought to be oriented to the water. So here, you see, is the exhibit
building with all the booths around it. Here are the retirnent
houses, and those sort or things. Here's the citrus tower, and
these are the exhibits. And, of course, out here is the Dick Pope
water show.
RAKER: Is there going to be a place to see the exhibit from a place
where that picture is made? In other words, what is on the other
side or the lake?
GOVERNOR: Oh. Land way over there. It's quite a large lake.
RAKER: In other words the only view that anybody will get or the
exhibit as it is drawn is from a boat?
GOVERNOR: well, no. In this area here is the largest parking lot
or the entire World's Fair and people who will come in and park
there will be looking across the lake. The lake goes down along
here and then they will come across into the fair at this point and
we'll have the first chance at those people. Then on this side or
the lake, which is a little ways over here, with Texas not being
on the water but right at the entrance, is another large parking
lot. There will be Rawaii, which has appropriated about $3 million
of state money, I think, and they will have an exhibit there, and
there's one other exhibit in this particular area, but I have
forgotten at the moment, but all or these, we think, will draw
people into the Florida exhibit.
MORRIS: Do you expect there will be a lag in Florida tourism during
the period of the World's Fair?
GOVERNOR: If we don't do something about it, of course there will.
There are several things that are being done. The communities that
have always in the summertime, made a bit pitch for the people from
the Northeast and Midwest are this sumer going to make a larger
effort in the Southeast, and they are going to be shooting at
Tennessee and that area south in a cone shape from there, feeling
that there is a larger potential this summer in that particular area.
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It will get most of their advertising dollar. Our direct
compensation is going to be a real effort to see that people who go
to the world's fair have an opportunity for Just a few dollars more
to take in Florida while they are on the way, and if we can do
this, of course, while we won't be able to make up entirely, we will
be able to compensate to a good degree. That's one of the schemes.
I am sure the Development Commission will have many more. And then,
of course, you see the airlines are making a great effort in the
foreign market. Eastern and National, for instance, both have full-
time respresentatives in the European Market and we are working with
them in the promotion of package tours -- those people who come to
New York through Eastern and National and any other lines that want
to cooperate, do get to visit Florida while they are here.
NORTH: Are these the triangle tours?
GOVERNOR: Right. Now, Cunard-Eagle, which went with Cunard
Steamship Lines Just as they were about to start a Florida-London
run, has somewhat severed its relations with Cunard Steamship and
has gone back under the management that was operating it when they
made that combination. We are hopeful that we will be able to get
them to revive their plan out of direct line from Miami into London.
FRYE: What are your -- you don't know, I guess v~ what are your
expectations in terms of dollars the return we might get on the
World's Fair exhibit.
GOVERNOR: No we don't. Actually, you see, in making that decision
we were faced with the problem of exactly what would be the adverse
results of not going into it. This is almost a situation of having
to fight. I Just think it is inevitable that a lot of people are going
to take their families to the World's Fair that might be coming to
Florida, and we've Just got to do something to try to compensate for
that, and you have to go to the point where you can reach them in
order to be able to compensate. Now Just to think about the
potential of things last week, for instance, we had in our welcome
station 38 thousand people stop. This was the week ending June 24.
In our Florida showcase we had, I think, 34 thousand people through
there that registered, and in our traveling bus which is out in the
midwest now, we had 6 thousand people. Well, these are big figures,
but they are small when you are thinking of the fact that we are
trying to get 15 million people a year here. We Just have to reach
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out and use every tool we have to get the message of Florida over
to these people.
BOWEN: Governor, do you have any figures or anything at hand to tell
you whether Florida is spending more money for their exhibitions
than any other state might be?
GOVERNOR: We're not one or the biggest there are in terms or state
money. Rawaii, for instance, is spending $25 or $3 million of
state money. I hope that we will be one of the biggest in total.
BOWEN: How about size or the exhibit itself?
GOVERNOR: In that area, I would say we would be one or the biggest
if not the biggest.
FRYE: Bigger than Texas?
GOVERNOR: Texas has a very small land area. Oh yes. They're not
in the running. (laughter)
FRYE: Are you going up and open it?
GOVERNOR: I haven't planned that far ahead. If the Legislature
is not in session, I might. (laughter) I would like to. We are
really rushing now to get this thing done because of the tight
schedule. An interesting thing, for instance, every tree that you
cut down, you have to pay them $800 or put up a deposit as a
guarantee that you will put the tree back.
FREE: Good idea.
BOWEN: We are putting trees back, I presume?
GOVERNOR: well, there are four of them that we are thinking or not
cutting down right now. There are four or them right in here, I
think, those four right in there, I believe. We're trying to work
them into the landscape as best we can. (laughter)
FRYE: Paste some oranges in them.
GOVERNOR: Well, we need to, that's right.
NORTH: Are you going to have some Florida palms up there?
GOVERNOR: Oh yes, there will be Flora and Fauna, and sand, and
many, many.... Well, it's going to be a real Florida exhibit.
FRYE: Do you have a restaurant in it?
GOVERNOR: Yes, there will be restaurants.
NORTH: Is there an admission charge to enter any exhibit.
GOVERNOR: I'm sure there won't be. You mean the entering or an
exhibit? No. Nobody has told me one way or the other, but I am
sure there wont be.
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TUTTIB: I have a copy or a letter addressed to you from a Mrs.
Norwood N. Phelps, who is the President of the Florida Division
of the American Association of the United Nations, asking you
to proclaim a United Nations Day and pointing out that you
were one of the few governors of the Nation who had not done so.
A copy or this went to President Kennedy. Do you plan to proclaim
United Nations Day in view of the past....
GOVERNOR: I hesitate to be specific in this area. Actually, you
see, this is sort or like asking me to proclaim a day for the
celebration of a treaty of some kind. It's in the area of foreign
affairs. I have written members of our congressional delegation
asking them what should be the position of Florida on this
particular thing, as a matter of advice, not that I would be bound
by their decision, but the day that she seeks is not until October
2h, so there is still time for consideration of action.
FROM THIS POINT 0N, BECAUSE OF MECHANICAL DIFFICULTIES, THE QUALITY
OF THE RECORDING WAS SUCH THAT NO TRANSCRIPT COULD BE MADE.
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MEN PARTICIEATIRG: Robert W. Delaney, ORLANDO SE]fEINEL-3T era Fr-;e, UNITED PEE33 IlEEENATICNAL; David Grotech, CAPIT AU NEWS' Allen Morris, CRACKER POLITICS; Steve Prentjue, F DCAST NEES; Tom Riker, INSIDE POLITICS; itay Starr, ABC RAD se Thurston, WFLA, UJXT; John Turner, WFOA ':-|TVJ; 'i'ommy An IDs DEOADCiST NEl:5; Janes Gillespy, UNITED -:'E35 INTEPl]ATILewis, EGELA]iCE; Jerry Nock, JOHN H. EE PAPEES: Dcr.. h, A33CC26TED PRE,5Edok Tuttle, MIAMI II ~. :2-ST. FIT. S SERVICE ; Bill &:,a:n, WCTV; Frank Noel, 6-:. s:3IATED is G. AUSE OF MEC]iANTCAL DIFFICUETIE5 YKERE ARE FORTIONS OF THIS SCHIP-ION T]{AT HAVs BEEN SL1/MARIZ.ED TO CONVEY THE GENERAL R];O-: Good af'ternoon ladies and gentlemen, (Pointing to e renderi.5 of the Florida Yorld 91 Fair exhibit) This 13 he Florida exhitit at the Uorld's Fair. It is being devel er rapid1';. I was there a week or so aco, at which time t neo 1:Gre belna put down in this entire area. This La gcin; tremendous chew. This will he tbr knanntrin1 nna nnmmern
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