6 - sunday, October 11, 1987 - Nasth Shore News : i cd C4 News Viewpoint t Sorely missed r HE INTERNATIONAL Plaza attempted to live up to its name, but unfortunately the travelling public didn't live up to the International Plaza, so the 13-year-old North Shore landmark will conse- quently be closed Nov. 4 and its 136-member staff dismissed. A sad conclusion resulting from bleak financial forecasts, but the earnest, hard-working hotel gets full marks for effort. Over the last decade, it has imported such dazzling entertainment as Ginger Rogers, B.B. King, Ella Fit- zgerald, Oscar Peterson and Tony Bennett; it has pro- vided boardroom and ballroom facilities for business functions and conventions; and it has offered a scenic retreat for travellers and tourists with its 152 hotel rooms. The big entertainment names attracted the big cus- tomers and the hotel filled its rooms during such ban- ner years as 1986, but these factors were not enough to keep the facility on its feet. Recent money sunk into upgrading the hotei’s res- taurant, installing a new piano lounge, expanding room service and launching a hotel limousine service was to no avail. The hotel’s size proved too large for its patronage, and its location too distant from the airport to compete with its downtown counterparts. Despite continuing efforts by the hotel to bail out a leaking boat, the hotel’s Toronto-based head, VIP Hotels Ltd., recognized a sinking ship and pulled the plug. Although the International Pl2za’s closure may not be noticed internationally, it will be sorely missed locally. ee. THE VOICE OF NOHTH AND WEST VANCOUVER Display Advertsing 980-0811 Publisher Peter Speck assifie : . . : 0 Vvertising 986-6222 Managing Editor....... . Sarrett Fisher Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution 986-1337 Associate Editor Noel Wright Linda Stewart Subscriptions 986.1337 North $ my + WEDNESDAY + FRIDAY 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 SUNDAY Entire contents 1987 North Shore Free Press Lid All nghis reserved ATS eS photo by Tor Bengtson OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DAY!...Ric Bengtson with bride Carrie LoGiudice (front row, second from right) and bridal party, including Ric’s three sisters: Debbie and Lynn (back row, right), and Kim (front row, left). 1. Wan goes shopping Noel Wright @ Sunday brunch @ for a nicer front door A MORE ELEGANT entrance to West Van is on the drawing board -— four boards, to be exact — and it will be a tall one. Several years ago, figuring that Canada’s best-heeled community deserved something a little classier than a used car Jot as its front door, city hall splurged a million or so to buy the Royal! Pontiac Buick property. Now, at last, council is coming to grips with what to build there and has been Jooking at four different proposals from four separate developers. Each is based on two or more components, ranging from condos and pricey seniors’ housing to an executive-type hotel (shed a tear for the poor International Plaza on its deathbed!) and a handful of retail stores — these latter, if any at all, ‘‘strictly limited’’ out of, deference to Park Royal. Mean- while, the feature all four plans have in common is twin high rise towers, Things have now reached the stage where council expects to make a decision within the next two months on which developer to go with. One incidental problem will be finding a new home for good corporate citizen Mike Car- michael’s car dealership. Ap- parently he’s anxious to keep Royal Pontiac Buick in West Van and council is sympathetic — but Tiddlycove’s supply of used car lot sites isn’t exactly abundant. Stay tuned when the ‘‘front- door’’ suppliers go public with their pitches! “MATCH POINT’’ could have been the title of last month’s wed- ding in San Pedro, Calif., when West Van's Ric Bengtson tied the ees YOUNG NE DEMOCRATS MIKEY WAS A NO-SHOW...stepping into the gap, Jamie McEvoy discusses program for the upcoming year with disappointed young New Democrats. knot with lovely Carrie LoGiudice, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Philip LoGiudice of Rancho Palos Verdes. The great white hope of Canadian tennis until sidelined with game injuries, Ric is the son of Tor and Sue Bengtson — Tor being the organizing genius who covered West Van with glory this summer as manager of the fabu- lously successful Federation Cup tournament. Down for the cere- mony, along with family members, were five of Ric’s former Sentinel schoolmates — best man Robbie Ludwig, Louis Stervinou, Martin Burian, Tony Prior and Kevin Geddes -~ and the guest list, much of which read like a Who’s Who of North American tennis, also in- cluded Australian tennis great Roy Emerson and wife Joy. After four years at the University of Southern California Ric now works for a leading computer software firm in L.A. and the newlyweds are mak- ing their home in Torrence, Calif. +e © HITHER AND YON: Congrats to Cap College labor studies instruc- tor Paul Petrie, one of only five “unsung heroes’? in Canada this year to receive the prestigious Corpus Certificate of Merit for his valuable contributions to the oc- cupational health and safety field Still on campus, Cap’s com- munications instructor Crawford Kilian has a new sci fiction novel, The Fall of the Republic, out on the stands -= a sequel to his earlier Empire of Time ... A bit miffed at their leader are a score of eager young New Democrats who gathered last weekend in North Van Rec Centre for a scheduled address by Mike Hercourt. He didn't show up ... A reader tells us the price for that seniors’ gambling weekend Oct. 17-19 at Whistler (SUNDAY BRUNCH, Oct.4) is $139, not $93 as the news release had it. Better check with PR lady Tina Baird, 984-7525 ... Shaking Prince Phitip’s hand tomorrow will be Colin Bannon, son of West Van’s Brian and Jean Bannon, another winner of the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award ... And many happy returns of the day to North Van’s Agnes Naud who's just turned 80 — a 25-year resi- dent and booster of Bowen Island AWARD-WINNING INSTRUCTOR...Cap College's which named her its 1986 Citizen of the Year, WRIGHT OR WRONG: He may not be lost at all. Sometimes he who hesitates is merely pausing to ask the way. NEWS photo Mike Wakefield Paul Petrie, honored as ‘‘unsung hero” in occupational health and safety field.