Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 33

THE STATE May 28, 1 978 C-9 Copenhagen slowly sinking Historic buildings sag as wooden pilings deteriorate 1 we, rows of 18th-century buildings buckle and sag as their foundations weaken. IT SEEMS that the city's pell-mell rush toward modernization after World War II is the root of the problem. Modern construction techniques require deeper excavations to provide firm foundations for taller buildings. Often the basements are very deep with room for underground car parks. Consequently, the ground water has to be pumped out.

Til i -i VVKTm How to go agent, and it is chewing away on the vitals of the city at an alarming rate. According to structural engineer Leif Egeskjold, "The problem is not nearly so severe as it is in Venice and Amsterdam, where buildings have actually been known to collapse, but it's serious enough." EGESKJOLD IS employed by Crone and Koch, a Copenhagen-based consulting engineering firm that has supervised some 20 foundation salvage operations in the central city during the past few years. Hundreds (perhaps thousands) of Copenhagen's oldest and best-known buildings are on the danger list. "No one knows for sure how many." admits Egeskjold, "except that the worst areas are in the city's center, the old harbor region, and the island of Christianshavn." One thing is certain: the cost of saving them all will be astronomical. EXTENSIVE NEW foundations have been constructed for the Royal Theater.

Founded in 1748 and rebuilt in 1874, it is the headquarters of the world famous Royal Danish Ballet. The total cost of saving the building By DON HINRICHSEN Christian Science Monitor COPENHAGEN Like Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Venice, much of the city of Copenhagen was built on reclaimed marshland. And like the others, it is sinking. Despite the fact that Copenhagen is practically surrounded by water, with charming canals facing its center and lake-studded parks scattered about, it's a wry paradox that the "Venice of the North" has water, water everywhere but not enough in the ground. MANY OF Copenhagen's most historic 17th and 18th century architectural masterpieces buildings that have survived wars, fires, and slow weathering over the centuries are in danger of permanent damage and eventual collapse as their wooden pile foundations rot away due to the gradual sinking of Copenhagen's ground water table.

As the water level drops, air reaches the water-soaked wooden pilings and they dry out, becoming vulnerable to attacks from bacteria and a virulent kind of timber fungus. It's the fungus that is the most destructive was about 18 million krone ($3 mT-lion). A few blocks away, the wooden foundations of Amalienborg Palace, home of the Royal family, are beginning to rot. "These old buildings are so valuable that they cannot allow this process to continue," warns Egeskjold. "In the case of Amalienborg, the ceilings and woodwork are priceless; that's why we are starting the salvage operation early." It will take three to four years to finish the job at a total cost of around 25 million krone ($4.1 million).

NOT FAR from Amalienborg is an example of what can happen if the deterioration is allowed to go unchecked. The once-glamorous 219-year-old Dehns Palace has stood gaunt and empty for four years. Hairline cracks have widened into ugly fissures on its facade. Windows and doors are beginning to jam and window ledges appear uneven. Inside, the floors sag and the cellar has cracked apart and sunk.

The city is trying to revitalize the building, but it will take a lot of cosmetic work to save it from permanent structural damage. Nearby on Fredenciagade, entire a ar Vacationers who want to see Old Copenhagen, the "Venice of the North," before it sinks into the ground can go in low season April and May and Sept. 15 through March 31 for about $759 roundtrip coach from Detroit on a 14-21 day excursion plan. High season rates June through Sept. run about $850.

Because there are no charter flights into Copenhagen at this time, a lower-cost option is to take a charter into Amsterdam, for example, and motor-or-tram to the Danish capital. Fares to Amsterdam range from $359 to $419. hmk'ttk ml ham Witi I "1 Ml Amalienborg Palace: wooden foundations beginning to rot ivieiee ami Atlantic City not Las Vegas Trauel LAS VEGAS Hamilton, Miller, Hudson end Fayrte Travel Corp. TOLL FREE 1-800-482-7270 I Air Fares Are As Low delighted, complained that the Maine Lobster served was over-cooked and too tough to chew, it was quickly removed and a new dish substituted without question. MEANWHILE, RESORTS Hotel-Casino is still in the process of renovating.

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CULNAN Gannett News Service ATLANTIC CITY. N.J.- Las Vegas has little to fear from this saltwater taffy capital's first foray into the world of casino gambling. At best. Resorts International Hotel Casino the first facsimile of its Western counterparts has offered margarine instead of the high-priced spread. RESORTS' CASINO looks something like the real thing, but it is only a substitute and not a very cheap one, at that.

Resorts International in more aspects than distance is far from the plush, giant hotels of Las Vegas' Hilton or the MGM Grand. Taking two aging Atlantic City landmarks the Chalfonte-Haddon Hall hotels Resorts embarked on a multi-million dollar facelift. In comparison to how they used to look, the rejuvenated hotels are plush. Compared to those in Las Vegas, they are somewhat disappointing. THE RESORTS Casino is huge, but cluttered, while Las Vegas' gamging rooms are open and spacious under elegant chandeliers.

Even when no one is on the Atlantic City casino floor it looks and feels crowded because of the lower ceilings and seemingly hundreds of support columns. Instead of capitalizing on the beautiful old architecture of the hotels. Resorts chose to modernize the buildings, with the overall effect akin to putting a mini-skirt on an old lady. The Superstar Theater fulfilled a Resorts' promise to offer first-rate entertainment with singing spouses Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme the premiere performers. But the theater does not compare to the Ziegfeld-styled stages of Las Vegas.

WHILE LAS Vegas offers massive stages where three-story props come and go by elevators and where giant raging waterfalls are tamed, the Superstar Theater's stage is crowded, restricting chorus line productions and props. Male chauvinists would be disappointed with the chorus line. The dancing, costumes, and many of the dancers themselves fell short of the extravagance of Las Vegas productions. There are eye-level booths in the Superstar Theater but not nearly so many as at the MGM Grand, Caeser's Palace and the Las Vegas Hilton. Nor are they as plush.

PRICES, HOWEVER, seemed a bit high in Atlantic City's theater. For the Steve-Eydie show, tickets cost $12 for seats in the back, $16 for enter seating and $21 up front. Additionally, ther is a two-drink minimum per patron. For a couple seated in the front row ordering two drinks, the 90-minute show costs $55 excluding the barmaid's tip and $5 to the captain for better seats. Resorts' Le Palais Restaurant, however puts to shame the best Las Vegas has to offer.

The dining room is plush red with mirrored pillars and chandelier sconces. The setting is further enhanced by prompt, professional and extremely courteous service under the watchful eye of Silvio, the maitre d. A COMPLETE dinner for two with cocktails, hors d'oeuvres. two bottles of fine wine and entrees costs about $115 with a 25 percent tip. The food is excellently prepared.

Any problems are quickly and apologetically corrected. When a customer, who was otherwise completely YOU TO SPEND THE HOLIDAY SITTING AROUND THE HOUSE. CALL NOW FOR 4th OF JULY TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS! The shoemaker's children go barefooted, so my husband and I managed to arrive in Amsterdam at tulip time without accommodations, and the difference between travel in April and May was immediate. No room at the Ir.n! In both Amsterdam and Paris, we had to rely on the agencies at the rail stations to help us out, and the results will not be written about here! They usually do manage to find you something, but you had better be flexible in price and location, as late comers can't be choosey and you could (as we did) end up walking up flights without a bath. The tulips in Holland were well worth it though, as the weather cooperated and we saw one of the world's great sights at Keuken-holf, a 70 acre park open only 7 weeks a year, at tulip time.

The setting is incomparable, with rivers, swans, carpets of flowers every-where, hyacinths, daffodils, narcissus, anemones, many other varieties, and of course hundred of types of tulips. The hyacinths were the tallest and fattest I've ever seen and it's exciting to go through the greenhouse and pick out exactly the ones you want sent home. They're reasonable about $3.75 for 10 and the bulbs arrive In the fall for planting. I've done this before and so can attest to the fact that they really look Just like the ones you chose in Holland. I'll never forget the sight of those bright colored tulip fields for miles.

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