danger of closing permanently unless $365,000 was pledged by that August to support the programming over the next three years. The Shubert Organization granted $125,000 for Town Hall that May, and enough money was raised by August to sustain the venue for two years. A fundraiser was held that November to raise the remaining money. Still, NYU president John C. Sawhill warned in mid-1977 that there was not enough money to keep Town Hall open past 1978. Closure and preservation Town Hall had $5 in its bank account by 1978, and there were concerns that Town Hall could be demolished. With Town Hall's annual operating costs ranging from $50,000 to $100,000, NYU's board of trustees voted in February 1978 to close the auditorium within six months. The NYU Club and Alvin Ailey Dance Company would continue to use the upper stories, and NYU planned to hand over operation to "a responsible group" rather than demolish it. By then, the venue was mostly vacant during prime-time evenings and weekends, and the neighborhood had become dilapidated. The high crime rates of Times Square also discouraged potential events. Although 355 events had been hosted in the 1977–1978 season, the announcement of Town Hall's closure had resulted in the loss of over $165,000 of potential revenue for 1978–1979. After Town Hall's closure was announced, the Committee to Save Town Hall organized a campaign to preserve the venue. Despite the advocacy in favor of Town Hall, NYU's trustees closed the venue and planned to turn over the operation to the nonprofit Town Hall Foundation. In September 1978, Craig Anderson of the Hudson Guild acquired the lease to Town Hall at $1 per year. He created the Town Hall Theater Foundation and announced that the auditorium would be split into two smaller theaters. The Town Hall Foundation was to take title to the venue while the Town Hall Theater Foundation would operate it. Amid opposition to the plan, Anderson then said he would consider retaining the original 1,500-seat auditorium and erecting a new theater on the roof. The 1978 preservation effort led the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to consider the venue for city landmark status. The LPC designated the façade and auditorium as city landmarks in November 1978. Following the landmark designation, the electronic organ was removed. Hudson Guild then asked the LPC for permission to convert Town Hall into two auditoriums, but