Porhászka László: The Danube Promenade - Our Budapest (Budapest, 1998)
manently closed off the exit from Türr István utca to the promenade. Designers were not only obliged to bear in mind the panorama, but also had to take into consideration the increasing motor traffic of the former promenade on the bank of the Danube. That is why the hotel's open-air terrace, raised above street level, was provided with a one- and-a-half metre high limestone breastwork. This parapet did in fact provide protection from the unwholesome effects of the traffic, but today having lost its original function, with cars banned from the promenade which is once again reserved for pedestrians, it separates, even segregates the space behind it. Until the opening of the Hilton in the Castle District of Buda, the Hotel Duna Inter-Continental was the only five- star hotel in Budapest. A whole array of celebrities stayed here. Although contemporary daily papers devoted only a few lines to the event, it remained no secret that in 1972 Elizabeth Taylor celebrated her fortieth birthday here in the company of her husband Richard Burton and such international stars as Ringó Starr, Raquel Welch and Grace Kelly, who was already Princess of Monaco at the time. The Monument to Souiet Airmen on Vigadó tér was replaced in 1975. The carved limestone monument was demolished and replaced by a more restrained new obelisk carved of expensive Swedish granite to plans by József Schall. The opening of the rebuilt Vigadó in 1980 marked an important stage in the reconstruction of the promenade. Work started in 1967 to plans by György Tiry resulted in the restoration of the building to its former shape outside. On the inside, the builders managed to reconstruct the original design of the foyer on the ground floor and the ornamental stairway, and the once famous banqueting hall was also given a shape approximating its earlier appearance. Several smaller auditoria and rehearsal rooms were created in the renewed Vigadó. A smart, modern beer-hall- cum-restaurant was opened on the ground floor, while the southern wing houses temporary art exhibitions on the two floors of the Vigadó Gallery. With money provided by an Austrian credit earmarked for tourism development, and to plans by József Finta, the construction of a new hotel started in 1979 between the former Dunapalota and the Lloyd House. Opened in 1981, the Hotel Forum rose to a height level with what was then 45
