G. Hale Harrison

In the record (12)

1. 1951

   G. Hale Harrison builds Harrison Hall at 15th Street — the first Ocean City hotel with a private bath in every room.

   G. Hale Harrison built the 77-room Harrison Hall as a gift to his wife, Lois Harrison — then the northernmost hotel on the Boardwalk, and the first hotel in Ocean City to feature a private bathroom in each guest room. It was the founding property of what became the Harrison Group hotel family. Sources disagree on the year: OceanCity.com's history puts construction in 1951, while the Harrison family's own company history says the hotel was "built and opened" in 1952 — consistent with construction spanning the 1951–52 off-season.

   built 1951–52 — sources differ on whether it went up in 1951 or opened in 1952

   Harrison Hall HotelOcean City Boardwalk

   Source · checked 2026-08-05

2. 1979 · 1979-09-03

   Davy Jones and the Monkees played Showell's theater on the Saturday night of Labor Day weekend 1979, and a councilman said the beer store across the street had the biggest Saturday of its owner's life

   The regular meeting of 3 September 1979 turned to a dispute over traffic cones the State had placed at a downtown business. Councilman Harrison, defending the arrangement: "she probably had the biggest Saturday night of her life the night they had Davey Jones and the Monkeys up there at Showell's theater, because there was nothing but a constant parade of people coming out of that theater coming over there and buying beer and hauling it back to that theater. And again the police were doing a good job, if it wasn't open they didn't say anything to them, but if the guy was drinking it they made him put it in the trash can right there on the corner ... I wouldn't want anyone to walk away from this meeting feeling that we barricaded or blockaded a 65 year old lady's business, because it's not true." The same weekend Mr. Showell had run a searchlight and generator at the theater on North Division Street and then beside the Kite Loft on 2nd Street, "shining in people's windows"; Mr. Dietert told the council no ordinance prohibited it.

   Source · checked 2026-09-10

3. 1979 · 1979-11-15

   Secretary of Natural Resources James Coulter came to a special session to lay out a stone-groin programme for the whole beach, built in bundles of ten from the south end, and left with a Key to the City he asked the mayor to autograph

   Special session of 15 November 1979. Coulter explained that Maryland's coast policy gave "some twenty-two miles of our coastline on Assateague" to open space and "the northern nine miles, essentially Ocean City," to "high density family recreation-type uses"; that Delaware had been consulted and no work would be done "within a mile of the Delaware border without first discussing the consequences"; and that the town would not be "doing something to the scale of twelve-to-thirteen million dollars all at once" but "a series of groins that will be built perhaps in bundles of ten starting from the southern end ... with appropriations from the General Assembly ... year-by-year." Councilman Harrison: "it's a great day for this Town that this jetty program is finally jelling together." President Frame: "I think the Mayor and Secretary Coulter had a few words back and forth but it's always nice to see them join hands." Mayor Kelley: "You won't believe it I gave him Key to the City and he got out the door (Secretary Coulter), he said wait a minute Harry I want you to autograph it on the back." Councilwoman Conner thanked him "from the business community also."

   Maryland Department of Natural ResourcesHarry W. Kelley

   Source · checked 2026-09-10

4. 1979 · 1979-12-17

   The council appropriated $8,000 for Christmas decorations at the Coastal Highway entrances and intersections, after hearing that the town's decorations vanished every year and all the white lights around City Hall had been stolen

   Councilman Trimper at the regular meeting of 17 December 1979: "the ladies of the Beautification Committee ... have worked out something on a few more Christmas decorations for next year since that seems to be one of my pet subjects ... that we appropriate an amount of about $8,000 to purchase new decorations for next year so that they can proceed with purchasing these right after the Christmas season when the price is cheaper." Susan Frame for the committee: "every year when the decorations are taken down they're taken down and some of them are taken, period ... you're talking about hundreds of dollars on decorations ... you're not talking a hundred or a hundred and fifty strings of lights." Trimper: "I understand all the little white lights sets that we had around City Hall have all been stolen." Frame: "Yeah, they all disappeared." Mrs. Smarte: the entrances alone would be $3,150; "the $8,000 was picking out major intersections on the Coastal Highway." Trimper moved the $8,000, Harrison seconded, and the mayor undertook to find the money and to have Jake Shaffer's public works crews hang the decorations and keep them "under lock and key."

   Granville TrimperHarry W. Kelley

   Source · checked 2026-09-10

5. 1981 · 1981-01-19

   On the night before the Iran hostages flew home, an Ocean City police officer told the council that one of them, Alan Golacinski, had been a summer policeman in the town in 1974 and his own patrol partner

   At the regular meeting of 19 January 1981 - the deal for the release of the American embassy hostages had been announced that day; they left Tehran the next - Officer William (Tiny) Kerns of the police department asked to speak: "I'd like to take this opportunity to inform the public and Mr. Harrison and Councilman Duggan that one of your former employees is a hostage in the Embassy in Iran and will be home, hopefully, within the next week or so and that's Alan Golazinski. Seventy-two-seventy-three he was a summer employee of Mr. Harrison's in the Plim Plaza complex and the following summer Alan Golazinski was a police officer here in Ocean City and worked under Chief Duggan's command and was a police partner of mine at that time. And I hope that maybe he will have the opportunity to be here this summer." Councilman Harrison added that Golacinski was "my fraternity brother from the University of Maryland" and that he had known for months he was among the hostages. Mayor Kelley, in his own remarks that night, noted that "Councilwoman Conner recognized it in her prayer that we all should be extremely happy" and wished "the prisoners of war and other people could be freed as possibly the hostages were." (The minutes spell the name Golazinski; the embassy security officer among the fifty-two hostages was Alan B. Golacinski.)

   Harry W. Kelley

   Source · checked 2026-09-10

6. 1981 · 1981-01-19

   Albert Alford, the former head of the Sanitation Department, died on a Saturday night in January 1981 and the council voted a resolution to his widow rather than only the flowers the mayor had already sent

   Councilman Harrison at the regular meeting of 19 January 1981: "It is with deep regret that I inform the Mayor and City Council that Albert Alford, who was the former Head of the Sanitation Department, passed away Saturday night. His funeral will be this Thursday in Baltimore. I believe it would be appropriate, your Honor, if we did have a Resolution sent to Mrs. Alford for Al's contribution to the City. You know, his brother works for us, for the City, in the Engineering Department and Al always did a fine job for the Town and many of the people from the Sanitation Department will be going up Thursday to Al's funeral." Mayor Kelley: "Well, we've written a letter, Councilman Harrison. We sent flowers. I think the Resolution idea is excellent. He was a tremendous employee, as is his brother. So, if you would get, Ted get us a Resolution, we'll sign that and send that to Mrs. Alford ... It is a sad thing. He gave us his best."

   Harry W. Kelley

   Source · checked 2026-09-10

7. 1981 · 1981-05-04

   For the White Marlin Band Parade of 9 May 1981, moved up from Memorial Day to open the season early, the council voted 6-1 to let two or three private cars onto the Boardwalk so the Fire Department Queen and Miss Teenage Maryland could ride in a convertible

   Bob Givarz, president of the Downtown Improvement Association, reminded the regular meeting of 4 May 1981 "of the upcoming White Marlin Band Parade, May 9th, of which the Mayor and City Council will be serving as Grand Marshals" - "the whole concept of this parade was to try and kick off the summer season a little bit early rather than the traditional Memorial Day." He asked the council to relax its rule against private vehicles on the Boardwalk: "We do have some ladies who will be in the parade, some Queens, one of which is the Ocean City Volunteer Fire Department Queen, and we think we might have Miss Teenage Maryland here ... we would like to have a nice car to allow them to ride in"; the Chamber of Commerce wanted a four-wheel drive "to show sport fishing" and the Assateague Mobile Sport Fishermen an entry. President Trimper was against it: "you're setting a very dangerous precedent, because everybody wants to use the boardwalk to put vehicles on. We've denied the antique cars. We've denied all others." Councilman Ayres had asked Public Works' Jake Shaner, who saw "no problem with automobiles or even pick-up trucks", and thought convertibles "an intricate part of a parade". Councilman Feehley moved to try it "on a one-time basis" with the boardwalk liaison; Harrison seconded; "Six in favor, one opposed. President Trimper was opposed." Givarz then asked, for the same association, that bicycles be allowed on the Boardwalk until 6 p.m. on May and September weekdays.

   Ocean City Volunteer Fire DepartmentOcean City Chamber of CommerceGranville TrimperGuy R. Ayres III

   Source · checked 2026-09-10

8. 1981 · 1981-05-04

   Ocean City's surfers were left five designated beaches for 1981 - losing 66th Street to the Holiday Inn and 52nd to a condominium once it was occupied - and lost 4-3 their request to surf until 10:30 on weekdays

   Rich Parolski, for the Surfers' Liaison Committee, made his annual appearance at the regular meeting of 4 May 1981, having toured the beaches with Councilman Ayres. The 1980 beaches had been 52nd-53rd, 66th-67th, Pyramid to Century One, 118th-119th and 144th-145th Streets. Proposed for 1981: 52nd-53rd "until occupancy of 'Constellation House' project", 58th-59th (by consent of the owner), Pyramid to Century One, 118th-119th and 144th-145th - "We will lose 66th to 67th because of the Holiday Inn ... in effect we're losing two beaches and adding one." Parolski: "obviously the beaches are diminishing as time goes on. I think surfing has turned from a sport to now it's a commercial venture," naming three surf shops in the room. The committee asked to extend weekday morning surfing from 10:00 to 10:30. President Trimper: "I think your beaches are quite crowded by 10:00"; Councilman Harrison: the tourists "are on the beach in sufficient numbers by 10:00 to warrant the surfboards coming off." Ayres's motion to approve the whole request including 10:30 failed, "4 opposed and 3 in favor" (Feehley, Ayres and Duggan for); a fallback extension only north of 135th and south of 7th Street also failed - Ayres: "You know, we're running out of beaches." Parolski: "Got plan C?" The mayor suggested a beach patrol crew chief be made liaison to the surfers so the word could travel on days the swimmers stayed out.

   Ocean City Beach PatrolGuy R. Ayres IIIGranville Trimper

   Source · checked 2026-09-10

9. 1981 · 1981-06-15

   VFW Ocean City Memorial Post 8296 won unanimous leave to raise $20,000 to $25,000 over a year and build a memorial to Americans who served in wartime at the Entry Park, with a service there one day a year

   Bob Hastings of "the VFW Ocean City Memorial Post 8296", with the post's memorial committee (Roy Young, Mac McKenzie and Bill Allen), told the regular meeting of 15 June 1981: "what we want to do is put on a fund drive which will last a year until next Memorial Day. We wanted to give this to the City and ask permission to put it in your park, your Entrance Park ... The Memorial is to the American Men and Women who served honorably during the time of War." "Our first estimate was $28,000. We made some changes and now it looks like it's going to be between 20 and 25 thousand. We don't want to get this money all together from the people in Ocean City and all of a sudden we got no place to put it. People is going to be beating us about the head and ears." Councilman Feehley reported that Al Berger, whose family had paid for a memorial in the same park, had been consulted and "the monument was compatible with the fountain that would be in there"; Councilwoman Conner, worried about parking, was told a service would be held there "only ... on Memorial Day"; Councilman Duggan and recreation director Jerry Groves suggested the new Northside Park with its planned grass amphitheatre instead. President Trimper: "you can put it at the Entry Park or a better location if one is found and suitable to you." Feehley's motion, seconded by Harrison, carried: "It's unanimous."

   Granville Trimper

   Source · checked 2026-09-10

10. 1981 · 1981-08-17

    Nine months after the MGM Grand fire, Ocean City's Ordinance 1981-12 required sprinklers in the hazardous areas of every existing building over 75 feet, smoke detectors, stair-tower ventilation and posted evacuation routes, on the recommendation of a 22-member citizen fire task force

    The ordinance, introduced on first reading on 3 August 1981 with task-force chairman Sam Villani at the meeting, is titled "An ordinance amending Chapter 50 (Fire Prevention) of the Ocean City Code by creating a new Section to be known as Section 50-9 (A) to require smoke detectors, stair tower ventilation, evacuation routes to be posted in all new and existing buildings and sprinkler systems in all buildings, new and existing, which are over seventy five (75) feet in height and maintenance of fire lanes at all buildings, new and existing." Its recital: "a Fire Task Force was appointed by the Mayor and City Council of Ocean City for study and to make recommendations as to the up-grading and up-dating of the Fire Prevention Chapter". Section 3-4: "All structures exceeding seventy-five (75) feet in height shall provide approved sprinkler systems as protection in hazardous areas (hazardous areas defined herein as being all areas other than the actual living unit) and common spaces with pipe size for future expansion to entire building," to NFPA Standard 13. On 17 August 1981, on Harrison's motion and Conner's second, "1981-12 is approved. (unanimous)". On 21 December Villani presented the town's certificates of appreciation to the task force: "A short time after the tragic fires in Las Vegas at M.G.M. and the Las Vegas Hilton the Town of Ocean City ... became interested in fire safety in regards to looking at our own town and our own high-rises. In early January a task force was formed by many citizens of Ocean City. People in the insurance field, sprinkler field and managers of condominiums ... In early August Ordinance #1981-12 was passed which contained most of our recommendations, including partial sprinkler systems of high-rises over 75 feet. Smoke detectors in multi-family dwellings. Stair tower ventilation of fire lanes. This was a great step forward for Ocean City in fire safety. We had 22 people to serve on this first fire safety task force."

    Source · checked 2026-09-10

11. 1994 · 1994-06-06

    A flier campaign showing a bloated figure "feeding City Council with your money" killed the plan to put 700 parking meters on the side streets, and the council balanced the FY-95 budget instead by selling 600 surplus meters at $175 apiece

    At the regular session of 6 June 1994, before the first reading of the FY-95 budget ordinance, Councilman Feehley read from a flier - "Certain members have decided to install parking meters on every street from the Inlet to the Delaware Line" - and from an advertisement that "shows a grotesque, bloated figure wallowing in money, stuffing money in its mouth. 'Feeding City Council with your money.' I wish the person who put this ad out would stand up and explain it to me. Hale, you raised your hand." Hale Harrison, from the floor: "I'm not gonna explain it to you, George. As you know, I'm the one that put the ad in, and I have no apology to make." Feehley: "I still say it was misleading and malicious." Councilman Duggan told Harrison that the Holiday Inn at 67th Street had 60 to 70 toed-in spaces on its two streets and the proposal asked for six of them, and that the claim of 4,000 meters was "an outright lie" - "I'll call it 'Harrison's Law'." President Meehan then withdrew his support for the meters "because of the amount of revenue that it was in reality going to actually produce" and recommended recognising $75,000 of extra interest and "the sale of 600 of the parking meters with an anticipated sale price of $175 apiece which comes to $105,000" - "to get rid of the ghosts and not have 'em sitting in the closets ready to jump out at us every year." The vote was 5-2, Duggan ("you're passing a budget that is not balanced") and Feehley opposed. The mayor added that meters had been installed downtown that season "without any authorization or any ordinance"; the sale, Ordinance 1994-20, passed second reading on 5 July.

    Rick Meehan

    Source · checked 2026-09-10

12. 2001 · 2001-03-19

    The council rewrote the Holiday Inn's 1997 overlay ordinance to name kinds of shops instead of named tenants, restoring Hale Harrison's original promise of no T-shirt shops, tattoo parlors, 99-cent stores or 'honky tonk style stores' on the 17th Street Boardwalk frontage

    The Harrison Group's lawyer wrote to the town in January 2001 that Ordinance 1997-3, approving the Planned Overlay District for the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites at 17th Street and the Boardwalk, "provides that the uses of the retail areas shall be limited to specific named tenants," when the intent had been "the type of stores and the quality of the stores" - "by virtue of the obvious error in this matter" he asked to correct it. Attached was Hale Harrison's letter of 21 April 1997 offering, "in order to deviate the concern of our neighbors as to what quality of stores the Harrison Group would have," a written list. Stores the Harrison Group would rent to: Wockenfuss Candies, a jewelry store, bike rental, ice cream shop, apparel, gift shop, South Moon Under, Liljenquist & Beckstead Jewelers, Sea Quest Fashions. Stores it would not rent to: "T-shirt shops, Bar/Nightclub, Surfshops, Arcade, 99 Cent Store, Honky tonk style stores, Sunsations style shop, Souvenir gift shops, Tattoo/body piercing shops, Carnival type stores (games of chance)." Ordinance 2001-05, "removing specifically named retail stores and inserting allowable types of stores at this location," passed second reading on 19 March 2001, 6-1 with Councilman Gisriel opposed. At the 20 February hearing Mayor Mathias called the Harrisons "one of the most responsible groups of people that I've met here in 25 years."

    Ocean City BoardwalkJames N. "Jim" Mathias Jr.

    Source · checked 2026-09-10