CROW SHARES GOP BURDEN

You’ve got to envy Mayor Jack Evans. When he needed to raise an extra $4 million to cover the costs of the 1984 Republican convention, he solved the problem through a two-sentence conversation with developer Trammell Crow.

Crow, a devoted Republican, says that he and Bill Cooper, chairman of the board of Market Center, will “share the burden” of raising the funds, so that no tax money will be needed to support the convention.

“It won’t be hard to raise the money because it’s such a civic project and such a matter of interest, ” Crow says, adding that he expects help from “the chambers of commerce, restaurants, hotels and civic leaders. “

The big push for donations won’t start “until the Republican convention is in the news … maybe two months before the convention, ” he says.

So far, he adds, no meetings or discussions have been held among the people who probably would form the fund-raising organization. “It’s just been one brief conversation, the passing of two or three sentences between me and the mayor, ” Crow says.

No one knows exactly how much the convention could cost the city -primarily for police and other security measures – but Crow says estimates range from $2. 2 million to $4. 2 million. On the other hand, the convention could add $20 million to the local economy.