Hyatt opts to donate to Skywalk collapse memorial

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Hyatt Hotels & Resorts has changed course and donated to a planned memorial commemorating the 1981 Hyatt skywalk collapse that killed 114 people.

Officials with the Skywalk Memorial Foundation told The Kansas City Star that (http://bit.ly/s1jXoc ) Thursday that Hyatt made a $25,000 donation to the memorial fund. Hyatt had said previously it would not donate to the memorial fund.

The hotel, which was operated by Hyatt at the time of the 1981 collapse, became a Sheraton this month. The foundation broke ground earlier this year on the planned memorial about a block from the hotel.

The collapse occurred during a dance that drew about 1,500 people to the then Hyatt Regency. A fourth-floor skywalk gave way, falling on a second-floor skywalk, killing 114 people and injuring more than 200.