Leppert launches Dealey Plaza improvements in Dallas

[Don Roberdeau]

Good Day.... FYI....

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Leppert launches Dealey Plaza improvements in Dallas

08:18 PM CDT on Thursday, October 30, 2008

By DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News

dflick@dallasnews.com

Working a lever from the back of a batch truck, Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert on Thursday poured six yards of concrete along Dealey Plaza, officially launching a $840,000 renovation of the city’s most famous — and, internationally, infamous — public space.

When the renovation is completed in December, it will freshen up the 60-year-old esplanade along Houston Street on the plaza, the place where the city was born, where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated and which has since become one of the state’s most heavily trafficked tourist attractions.

Though the renovations will be taking place during the 45th anniversary of the assassination next month, a spokeswoman for the adjacent Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza said officials there expected little impact on museum attendance or on the traditional impromptu commemoration on the nearby grassy knoll.

The renovation project was envisioned as part of a city master plan for downtown, which seeks to expand and improve park space in the Central Business District. Funds came from two city bond programs and from a $200,000 grant from Downtown Dallas.

The project’s scope includes repainting surfaces, re-piping the fountain and replacing the sidewalks.

Various speakers at Thursday brief ceremony noted the plaza’s central role in the history of Dallas. The city’s founder, John Neely Bryan, built his home there, and Dallas’ first school, courthouse and fraternal lodge were all built nearby.

The plaza as it now appears dates to 1941, the centennial of the city’s founding, when it was named after George Bannerman Dealey, longtime publisher of The Dallas Morning News.

For years it served as the western gateway to downtown, intended to impress visitors with the importance of a growing, progressive city.

The city’s image and that of Dealey Plaza was abruptly altered on Nov. 22, 1963, when Lee Harvey Oswald shot President Kennedy from a perch on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository on the plaza’s northern edge.

In 1993, the plaza was designated a National Historic Landmark.

Although Mr. Leppert is a former CEO of the Turner construction company, he said he had never poured concrete until Thursday morning’s ceremonies.

“The trick, I’m told, is not to push the lever too hard or too fast,” he said.

Actually, when he pulled the lever, nothing at all happened at first — that’s because the truck was only lightly loaded for the largely ceremonial pouring, employees said. After a few minutes, the concrete rumbled out of the chute and into the reinforced sidewalk form.

The construction guys gave the mayor their professional endorsement.

“He did good. We’d hire him,” said Chris Quentin, vice president of Axis Contracting, which is rebuilding the sidewalk.

His Honor laughed when he heard the comment.

“It’s good to know that if this job doesn’t work out, I’ve got a backup,” he said.

What: Dealey Plaza restoration project

Details:

—Strip old paint

—Patch cracks

—Cover with high-tech coatings

—Replace pipe on fountain basins

—Replace sidewalks and curbs

Construction: Now through December

Cost: $843,000

Financing: $200,000 from private Downtown Dallas association; rest from 2003, 2006 city bond programs

SOURCE: City of Dallas

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Reference: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw....1634390ed.html

Best Regards in Research,

Don

Don Roberdeau

U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, CV-67, "Big John," Plank Walker

Sooner, or later, The Truth emerges Clearly

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T ogether

E veryone

A chieves

M ore

National Terror Alert for the United States:

"Drehm seemed to think the shots came from in FRONT OF or BESIDE

the president." (my EMPHASIS)

CHARLES F. BREHM, a combat gunfire experienced, United States

Army Ranger, World War II, D-day veteran, & very close Dealey Plaza

attack witness, quoted only minutes after the attack, and while he

was still standing within Dealey Plaza (11-22-63 "Dallas Times

Herald," appeared only in the fifth & final daily edition, which

mis-spelled his name)

"I happened to be about fifteen feet away from the president when

the FIRST SHOT HIT HIM. There is some discussion now as to whether there

was one or two shots that hit him, but the first shot rang out, and, I was

positive when I saw the look on his face, and saw him grab his chest,

and saw the reaction of his wife that he had been shot, and at that time,

which was probably a few seconds later --- the second shot rang out ---

and he just, absolutely, went down into the seat of the car. There was a

third shot that 'went,' and by that time i had grabbed my little five-year-old

boy who was with me and ran away from scene of the thing, but, the only

thing that I did witness --- and something I'm sorry I did witness,

very honestly --- was that, the look on his face when that shot hit, and

the look again on him and his wife's face when the shots started to ring out

and it was, very obviously, that he was hit. The first two shots that were

heard, and ---- the FIRST ONE HIT the president --- there was no doubt, whatsoever,

because his face winced, and he grabbed at himself, and he slumped down.

I do believe, without any doubt, that the second one hit him because he

had an immediate reaction with that second shot. I do know there was a

third shot but as I said by that time I had grabbed my boy and started to go."

(my EMPHASIS)

CHARLES F. BREHM, a combat gunfire experienced, United States

Army Ranger, World War II, D-day veteran, & very close Dealey Plaza

attack witness, quoted only minutes after the attack in a report he gave

over the radio, 11-22-63)

"Another eyewitness, Charles Brehm, said he was 15 feet away from the

President when he was shot.

'He was waving, then the FIRST shot hit him and that awful

look crossed his face.' " (my EMPHASIS)

CHARLES F. BREHM, a combat gunfire experienced, United States

Army Ranger, World War II, D-day veteran, & very close Dealey Plaza

attack witness (quoted to the "Associated Press," 11-22-63)