JFK Conspiracy Museum loses its space

Michael Hogan · December 8, 2006

JFK Conspiracy Museum loses its space

Dallas: Sandwich shop to replace facility that has served up theories

By DAVID FLICK / The Dallas Morning News

December 5, 2005

The Conspiracy Museum, which for more than a decade has given JFK tourists plenty to chew on, will soon be replaced by a sandwich shop.

The Conspiracy Museum's lease expires at the end of this month. Its president said it could reopen elsewhere.

The museum, which has occupied the first floor of the Katy Building downtown since 1995, will temporarily close after the first of the year.

The space will become a Quiznos, where visitors, hungry for the real truth, can have lunch and, if they choose, contemplate the theories behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy – with windows that overlook the JFK Memorial across the street.

The restaurant is scheduled to open in April.

Tom Bowden, the museum's president, said plans call for the museum to reopen in the spring, either elsewhere in the Katy Building or at some other location to be determined. He said detailed plans will be announced later this week.

The new museum will include an extensive redesign, he said.

The museum has served as an unofficial counterbalance to the more mainstream Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza. Exhibits in the Conspiracy Museum largely consist of handmade panels questioning official explanations of the deaths of President Kennedy and other 1960s figures who – directly or indirectly – were connected to him.

These include Robert F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby. Other exhibition space has been devoted to the alleged UFO sightings in Roswell, N.M.

The museum receives about 12,000 visitors a year, not enough to break even, Mr. Bowden said. The Sixth Floor Museum has about 325,000 visitors per year.

He said expenses have been subsidized by revenue from his participation in JFK-related documentaries and other projects.

Sharon Friedberg, a spokeswoman for the building's owners, said the museum has been paying a lower rental rate for what had been the building's most valuable retail space.

Moving the museum allows the owners to charge the market rate, she said.

"We really wanted retail in the building, and this was the only space that opened to the street without requiring people to walk through a lobby," Ms. Friedberg said.

The museum's lease expires at the end of this month, and the building's owners have notified Mr. Bowden that he must vacate the space after then, she said.

She said they have offered Mr. Bowden space elsewhere in the building.

"We'd love to keep them here. They're a great addition to downtown," Ms. Friedberg said.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...n1.3de1160.html

Edited December 8, 2006 by Michael Hogan

John Geraghty · December 8, 2006

Strangely enough there was a snippet about this in a local paper here in Dublin, I found it quite odd when I came accross it on the train earlier this week.

John

Michael G. Smith · December 9, 2006

Sharon Friedberg, a spokeswoman for the building's owners, said the museum has been paying a lower rental rate for what had been the building's most valuable retail space.
Moving the museum allows the owners to charge the market rate, she said.

"We really wanted retail in the building, and this was the only space that opened to the street without requiring people to walk through a lobby," Ms. Friedberg said.

The same thing that killed JFK is mirrored in this minor 'death' of the museum....but casts the big shadow of the death of America - the power of money over all else.

WHAT A SHAME!!!!!! Speaking for myself, i think that the museum is sort of a landmark for all who visit Dealey Plaza, wheather they are just visitors, or serious researchers/buffs. You dont go to DP, and not visit the Museum. A wonderful place to spend hours looking through all kinds of historical memorabilia, films, and just chatting with other like minded "buffs". Not to mention a place to find very cool out of print books on the assassination.. The thought of it not being there is heartbreaking. I surely hope they stay open, hopefully in the same building, or if not, not far from where they are. Its sad to hear that they cant, or, just break even. I dont know about anyone else, but i am going to send Mr. Bowden a donation, to help out with his relocation, and any other expenses needed to keep the place open. Anyone here who feels the same as i do, please help out if you feel led. I would hate to see it pass away like many other things concerning the assassination. We need to keep places like Mr. Bowdens museum open and active for others, and future generation "buffs' alike.

thanks-smitty

Michael G. Smith · December 9, 2006

Sharon Friedberg, a spokeswoman for the building's owners, said the museum has been paying a lower rental rate for what had been the building's most valuable retail space.
Moving the museum allows the owners to charge the market rate, she said.

"We really wanted retail in the building, and this was the only space that opened to the street without requiring people to walk through a lobby," Ms. Friedberg said.

The same thing that killed JFK is mirrored in this minor 'death' of the museum....but casts the big shadow of the death of America - the power of money over all else.

WHAT A SHAME!!!!!! Speaking for myself, i think that the museum is sort of a landmark for all who visit Dealey Plaza, wheather they are just visitors, or serious researchers/buffs. You dont go to DP, and not visit the Museum. A wonderful place to spend hours looking through all kinds of historical memorabilia, films, and just chatting with other like minded "buffs". Not to mention a place to find very cool out of print books on the assassination.. The thought of it not being there is heartbreaking. I surely hope they stay open, hopefully in the same building, or if not, not far from where they are. Its sad to hear that they cant, or, just break even. I dont know about anyone else, but i am going to send Mr. Bowden a donation, to help out with his relocation, and any other expenses needed to keep the place open. Anyone here who feels the same as i do, please help out if you feel led. I would hate to see it pass away like many other things concerning the assassination. We need to keep places like Mr. Bowdens museum open and active for others, and future generation "buffs' alike.

thanks-smitty

Michael, I forgot to thank you for starting this post. If possible, can you keep us posted as to what is decided 'later this week" by Mr. Bowden as to his plans? Thank you in advance.--smitty

Peter McGuire · December 9, 2006

Sharon Friedberg, a spokeswoman for the building's owners, said the museum has been paying a lower rental rate for what had been the building's most valuable retail space.
Moving the museum allows the owners to charge the market rate, she said.

"We really wanted retail in the building, and this was the only space that opened to the street without requiring people to walk through a lobby," Ms. Friedberg said.

The same thing that killed JFK is mirrored in this minor 'death' of the museum....but casts the big shadow of the death of America - the power of money over all else.

WHAT A SHAME!!!!!! Speaking for myself, i think that the museum is sort of a landmark for all who visit Dealey Plaza, wheather they are just visitors, or serious researchers/buffs. You dont go to DP, and not visit the Museum. A wonderful place to spend hours looking through all kinds of historical memorabilia, films, and just chatting with other like minded "buffs". Not to mention a place to find very cool out of print books on the assassination.. The thought of it not being there is heartbreaking. I surely hope they stay open, hopefully in the same building, or if not, not far from where they are. Its sad to hear that they cant, or, just break even. I dont know about anyone else, but i am going to send Mr. Bowden a donation, to help out with his relocation, and any other expenses needed to keep the place open. Anyone here who feels the same as i do, please help out if you feel led. I would hate to see it pass away like many other things concerning the assassination. We need to keep places like Mr. Bowdens museum open and active for others, and future generation "buffs' alike.

thanks-smitty

Michael, I forgot to thank you for starting this post. If possible, can you keep us posted as to what is decided 'later this week" by Mr. Bowden as to his plans? Thank you in advance.--smitty

I for one, am going to donate some money.

Michael G. Smith · December 9, 2006

Sharon Friedberg, a spokeswoman for the building's owners, said the museum has been paying a lower rental rate for what had been the building's most valuable retail space.
Moving the museum allows the owners to charge the market rate, she said.

"We really wanted retail in the building, and this was the only space that opened to the street without requiring people to walk through a lobby," Ms. Friedberg said.

The same thing that killed JFK is mirrored in this minor 'death' of the museum....but casts the big shadow of the death of America - the power of money over all else.

WHAT A SHAME!!!!!! Speaking for myself, i think that the museum is sort of a landmark for all who visit Dealey Plaza, wheather they are just visitors, or serious researchers/buffs. You dont go to DP, and not visit the Museum. A wonderful place to spend hours looking through all kinds of historical memorabilia, films, and just chatting with other like minded "buffs". Not to mention a place to find very cool out of print books on the assassination.. The thought of it not being there is heartbreaking. I surely hope they stay open, hopefully in the same building, or if not, not far from where they are. Its sad to hear that they cant, or, just break even. I dont know about anyone else, but i am going to send Mr. Bowden a donation, to help out with his relocation, and any other expenses needed to keep the place open. Anyone here who feels the same as i do, please help out if you feel led. I would hate to see it pass away like many other things concerning the assassination. We need to keep places like Mr. Bowdens museum open and active for others, and future generation "buffs' alike.

thanks-smitty

Michael, I forgot to thank you for starting this post. If possible, can you keep us posted as to what is decided 'later this week" by Mr. Bowden as to his plans? Thank you in advance.--smitty

I for one, am going to donate some money.

Thank you Peter! Hopefully we can get some more people here on the site rolling along with us and help out with the preservation of the museum. Im sure alot of others here feel the same as we do about this situation. For anyone interested in sending in a donation, i have the following address:

The Consiracy Museum

110 So. Market St.

Dallas, Tx 75202 Phone # 214-741-3040

thanks in advance--smitty

Michael Hogan · December 14, 2006

From The Dallas Morning News:

Yeah, Right: Our theory? This is nothing but a conspiracy

December 11, 2006

Sure, believe the official version if it comforts you at night. Keep your head buried in the sand.

But is this really plausible? Does it make sense that the Conspiracy Museum, the only beacon of truth for the JFK assassination – not to mention RFK, MLK, Lincoln, Korean Air 007 and every other significant such event of the last two centuries – is losing its prime downtown Dallas location to a Quiznos?

Think about it. Do we really need more toasted subs? (Heck, there's a Subway not three blocks away. It has a toaster oven, you know.)

Past is prologue. The truth is out there. We just have to find it.

With apologies to Oliver Stone, ask the questions a wise, if troubled, man might have asked:

Could the Mob cause the owners of the historic Katy Building to decide that first-floor, street-access retail space should yield fair-market rent? Could the Mob locate the truth directly across from the JFK Memorial, on the opposite side from the official-version Sixth Floor Museum? Could the Mob position Quiznos imposters all over town, just to throw off suspicion?

Could the Mob change the parade route or eliminate the protection for the president? Could the Mob send Quiznos to Russia and get it back? Could the Mob get the FBI, the CIA and the Dallas police to make a mess of the investigation? Could the Mob appoint the Warren Commission to cover it up? Could the Mob wreck the autopsy? Could the Mob influence the national media to go to sleep?

And since when has the Mob used anything but .38s for hits, up close?

The Mob wouldn't have the guts or the power for something of this magnitude. Assassins need payrolls, orders, times, schedules. This was a military-style ambush from start to finish, a coup d'etat with Quiznos waiting in the wings.

Rogue elements of the CIA and military intelligence, right-wing extremists, defense contractors, anti-Castro Cubans – heck, maybe "The Beard" himself – where does it all lead?

That's right. The PWM – the Professional War Machine. (Yes, we used to call it the military-industrial complex, but that was too hard to explain.)

Sure, believe, if you like, that one lone nut took down the Conspiracy Museum. If the government would just release all of the classified documents, we'd know.

Quiznos is a patsy. You'd know it, too, if you'd just open your eyes.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dw...n1.3ddaaad.html

Michael Hogan · December 14, 2006