and Childs purchased the Plaza that November for $6.2 million in stock. The same year, the ground-floor Plaza Restaurant was renamed the Edwardian Room. James S. Graham Jr. simultaneously renovated the State Apartment, and air conditioning was installed in each guest room. Childs became the Hotel Corporation of America (HCA) in 1956, and Hilton's lease was renewed indefinitely that year. HCA sold the Plaza to Lawrence Wien in November 1958 for $21 million and immediately leased it back for 25 years. The transaction included curtailing Hilton's lease to April 1960, at which time HCA assumed the operating lease. Sonnabend operation The Plaza Hotel experienced financial difficulties during the early 1960s; but under Sonnabend's management, the Plaza's financial outlook improved by 1964. The facade of the hotel was cleaned in late 1960, the first time that the exterior had been fully cleaned since its construction. This was followed, in 1962, by extensive exterior and interior renovations, which resulted in the redecoration of many of the suites and public rooms. Four of the hotel's hydraulic elevators were replaced with electric elevators in 1964, including the three elevators in the 58th Street lobby. A second phase of renovations was announced the same year, which entailed enlarging some public rooms and replacing the ground-floor barber shop with a Trader Vic's bar. The ballroom's foyer and stair hall were combined during this renovation, which was completed by 1965, having cost $9 million. Upon Sonny Sonnabend's death in 1964, his son Roger took over the hotel. Further changes to the hotel's ownership occurred the next year, when Sol Goldman and Alexander DiLorenzo's firm, Wellington Associates, bought an option to obtain a half-interest in the underlying land from Hilton. Gender restrictions at the Oak Room were removed in 1969, after the National Organization for Women held a sit-in to protest the men-only policy during middays. HCA, by then renamed Sonesta Hotels, announced another round of renovations in 1971. This included the redecoration of the Grand Ballroom, as well as the replacement of the Edwardian Room with a restaurant called the Green Tulip, whose pink, lime, and brown design by Sally Dryden received a largely negative reception from the public. The ballroom was also renovated at this time. The renovations coincided with a decline in Sonesta's and the Plaza's finances, with the hotel recording negative net income in 1971. Sonesta repurchased the Plaza Hotel from Wien in 1972.