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Posts Tagged ‘john fitzgerald kennedy memorial’

Dallas is where President Kennedy was shot. The John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial , located at 411 Elm Street, west of Dalla’s downtown, on Market Street between Main Street and Commerce Street, is a simple, concrete memorial to President Kennedy. It’s placed 200 yard from where he was assassinated. Dallas chose to honor the memory of our storybook President by erecting this 30 foot high concrete walls, 50 foot square monument in 1970.

It’s an open-air structure that resembles an ancient tomb. Philip Johnson, a Kennedy family friend and architect, created this monument with the help of private donations from the citizens of Dallas. It’s open 24/7 and is lit-up at night. This monument is a space for contemplation. One might think this monument oppressive until they step inside the and see it open in the center. In the center is a black granite slab, which deliberately squares the memorial, making a tomb-like quality. On the black granite is inscribed, simply ‘John Fitzgerald Kennedy’, embossed with gold to capture the light from the white floating column walls and pale concrete floors. It’s intended not to be a memorial to the sorrow and pain of death, but as a permanent tribute to the joy and excitement of Kennedy’s life.

Visitors will be glad to know how convenient the memorial is to the five star hotels Dallas has to offer. There’s a short walk up a slight concrete incline, embossed with concrete squares making the Memorial very accessible. Inside, visitors will be confronted with a low-hewn granite square, too short to be a table, too empty to be a base, but too square to be a tomb. But, the 3 words inscribed on the black granite is the only verbal message in the empty room.

A majority of Dallas visitors spend most of their time in Dealey Plaza and the area around the Texas School Book Depository, and hardly make it to the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Memorial. So, when you do visit, you’ll be able to enter the memorial and be the only person there, alone with you’re thoughts and deep reflection about the life of one of America’s greatest Presidents.