Dealey Plaza Restoration Fund

Restoration Project for Dealey Plaza Reaches Halfway Fundraising Mark
Site Repairs and Improvements to Honor 50th Anniversary of President Kennedy’s Assassination

DALLAS (Jan. 26, 2012) – Most people around the world know Dealey Plaza, on the western
edge of downtown Dallas, as the site where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on
November 22, 1963. More than a million people, a majority from outside the state, visit Dealey Plaza each year to pay homage to the fallen President.

But Dealey Plaza’s significance actually dates back to the 1840s when Dallas’ first settler, John Neely Bryan, marked the site as Dallas’ birthplace. A century later, under the civic leadership of former publisher of The Dallas Morning News, George Bannerman Dealey, the familiar concrete colonnades and triple underpass were constructed, serving as “the front door of Dallas” — the major gateway to the city from the west.

In preparation for the 50th anniversary of Kennedy’s assassination in 2013, key Dealey Plaza stakeholders have united to advocate and raise funds for much-needed repairs and improvements. With guidance from a master revitalization plan devised by Good Fulton & Farrell Architects, Phase 1 of the project was completed in 2008. In 2011, The Dallas Foundation established The Dealey Plaza Restoration Fund to help the City of Dallas complete the $2.2 million worth of restoration plans.

The scope of Phase 2 involves the north and south boundaries of the park, including maintenance to the broad steps leading to the two concrete pergolas, concrete repair, lead paint removal, cleaning and painting the pergolas and the underpass that serves Commerce, Main and Elm Streets, as well as improvements to lighting and directional and historical signage. The goal is to complete Phase 2 prior to November 2013.

The Dealey Plaza Restoration Fund has secured more than $1.1 million in commitments to date, including a $750,000 commitment by the City of Dallas.

Noteworthy gifts include: $125,000 from Downtown Dallas Inc., $100,000 from The Decherd Foundation, $50,000 from Belo Corp., $50,000 from The Dallas Foundation, $35,000 from The Jim and Lynn Moroney Family Foundation, $25,000 from A. H. Belo Corporation, $50,000 from the Summerlee Foundation.

To make a gift to the fund, please visit dallasfoundation.org. For more information about the restoration project, contact Judith Segura, capital campaign chair, at judithsegura@sbcglobal.net.