ANSWER PAGE

Q. Cost overruns seem to be standard operating procedure for taxpayer-financed projects. What’s the biggest one you’ve ever heard of? F.P., Dallas.

A. Without a doubt, the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant at Glen Rose is the cost overrun champion. (It’s not paid for with taxes, but through your light bill. Dallas Power & Light officials say construction costs customers about six cents per dollar of their bills.) When the plant was announced in August 1972, Texas Utilities, the parent company of Dallas Power & Light, said construction would cost $779 million. Latest estimates, compiled in July 1980, showed it would cost a cool $2.235 billion before the first reactor is activated in 1982. Inflation and costs caused by new federal safety regulations boosted the price tag, says Frank Shants of Texas Utilities. “We won’t underestimate so badly next time.”

Q. My sister-in-law claims that Spanky McFarland, the kid who starred in all those Our Gang comedies, lives in Fort Worth and is broke because there aren’t any roles available for former child actors. How about it? P.G., Arlington.

A. McFarland lives in Fort Worth, but he’s not broke. He works for an electronics company and sells TV sets to motel and hotel chains.



Q. We’re planning our first trip to Dallas this June, and are wondering what events of cultural interest might be taking place at that time which would make our trip more memorable. What do you recommend? B.B., Bokoshe, Okla.

A. Try the annual Bless-A. ing of the Fleet at Lake Dallas. BYOB.

Q. Every day on the way to work, I drive past the Town House Motor Hotel on Harry Hines, just across from Channel 13. A while back, somebody said that in the early Sixties, a Hollywood star was found dead in there. Who was it? Some hippie musician? R.T., Richardson.

A. The person you speak of was Ward Bond, who starred in Wagon Train and was a character actor in many western and war films.

Q. Someone told me that a Dallas country club got in trouble with state authorities because its bar is in a dry area. Can that be true? Mrs. K.Y., Addison.

A. Not quite. The wet/ dry boundary on Dallas’ north side follows Walnut Hill Lane to Central Expressway and then takes off on a diagonal to White Rock Creek-right through Royal Oaks Country Club on Greenville Avenue. Eleven years ago, when the clubhouse was being positioned on the grounds, County Surveyor Bob West was brought in to be certain that the bar was legally wet. “I believe the line was to run right through the clubhouse,” West recalls. “I’ve often wondered how that thing turned out: It’s possible that people are buying drinks on the wet side and crossing the floor to the dry side to drink them.”

Q. I understand that since Jethro Pugh retired from the Dallas Cowboys, he’s been working the night shift at Texas Instruments. Can fame be that fleeting? D.D.L., Dallas.

A. A TI spokesman con-firmed that Pugh was working as a supervisor on the second shift, but resigned two months ago to enter a private business venture.

Q. Somewhere, recently, I read that a motion picture regarded as the worst ever released was filmed in this area and that a well-known Dallas personage appeared in one of the leading roles. Can you give me some information on this? F.J.M., Lewisville.

A. You are probably think-A. ing of The Attack of The Killer Shrews, produced in 1959 with most of the location work done at Lake Arlington. Gordon McLendon, a radio celebrity in those days, played a mad scientist in his first and last serious attempt at the silver screen. The film also starred James Best, currently seen on The Dukes of Hazzard.

Q. Is there any substance to the rumor that The Quadrangle might be torn down to make room for an office high-rise? P.K., Piano.

A. The demolition of The Quadrangle had been considered as part of a Canadian commercial development in the area, but that alternative has been discarded.