Westcot Center

The Walt Disney Co. settled a high-stakes battle between two Southland cities Thursday, announcing it wants to build a $3-billion resort at Disneyland in Anaheim and abandon a seaside project in Long Beach. Officials in Anaheim, a city whose economic fortunes have been tied to Disneyland for 36 years, were jubilant. "It's a monumental achievement in the history of the city," said City Manager James Ruth. "Everybody is on a real high right now, but there is still a lot of work to be done."

For civic officials and business leaders, the naming of this city as the next site of a Disney theme park Thursday generated a surge of hometown pride. It was as if the Rams had won the Super Bowl. "It's probably the best news that could happen," said Bill O'Connell, general manager of the Stovall motel chain surrounding Disneyland. "It will be a big boost for the entire area." The prospect of a new $3-billion resort project seemed to hold something for everyone.

The announcement that Anaheim is the preferred site for Disney's next theme park sets the stage for intense negotiations on nearly every aspect of the huge new development around Disneyland. But the leading topic of discussion, officials say, is sure to be money: How much will the city contribute, how and when. "Many hurdles lie ahead before Disney can make a final decision to build the project," said Disney Development Co. president Peter Rummell.

The president of the Walt Disney Co. has sent a two-page letter to government officials and business leaders in hopes of boosting support for his company's plans to build a $3-billion resort in either Anaheim or Long Beach. Disney officials said Wednesday that about 5,000 copies of the letter from President Frank G.

In remarks suggesting that Long Beach may be losing the race for the Walt Disney Co.'s new West Coast theme park, Mayor Ernie Kell said Thursday he believes that there is an 80% chance the company will select Anaheim as the home of its next $3-billion resort.

In its initial negotiations with the city, the Walt Disney Co. has suggested that the city raise as much as $1 billion toward the entertainment company's financing of the Disneyland expansion, city sources said Thursday. However, city officials recently answered with a public financing package totaling slightly more than half that amount that includes a variety of funding options, including possible federal grants and revenue bond sales, the sources said.

The city has added a second outside law firm to its team of negotiators working to land a $3-billion expansion of Disneyland. In a 3-2 vote Tuesday, the council approved the hiring of Jones Hall Hill & White of San Francisco to develop a plan for financing city improvements that would accommodate the proposed Disneyland Resort project. A city review team that included Deputy City Manager Tom Wood, City Atty. Jack L. White and Finance Director George P.

A quiet countdown continues in the Burbank headquarters of the Walt Disney Co. Leaders of two separate Disney development teams said this week that they are racing against a self-imposed deadline that is about to enter its final two months.

Plans that would transform two city streets near Disneyland into dramatic tree-lined boulevards were unveiled Tuesday night by city consultants. Their proposals to bring giant palms and wide green canopies to the now-congested Katella Avenue and Harbor Boulevard are part of an ongoing study to upgrade the city's commercial/recreation zone surrounding Disneyland.

The invitations were embossed, the tablecloths were white linen, the strawberries were dipped in chocolate and the meat was petit filet mignon. It was an elegant, well-funded Queen Mary cocktail party to announce the creation of Friends of Port Disney. It also was the biggest show of support yet for the controversial $3-billion resort that the Walt Disney Co. envisions building in Long Beach.