The JFK Tribute In The Spotlight Once Again

JFK Tribute

The JFK Tribute was designed to commemorate November 22, 1963 as a day of peace and hope. 

The Lighting Practice teamed with Jacobs, exhibit designers Museumscapes, and sculpture by Texas artist Lawrence Monroe Ludtke to bring this moment in history to light. The lighting of this presidential tribute was designed to enhance individual elements of the bronze likeness of President John F. Kennedy and the glass and granite memorial. The discretely placed LED fixtures create a memorable and inspiring nighttime experience.  Randy Sorensen, FASLA, of Jacobs, and colleague of TLP, details the project below in President John. F. Kennedy Tribute Fort, Worth Texas. We hope you take the opportunity to visit The JFK Tribute during your next visit to Fort Worth.

President John F. Kennedy Tribute, Fort Worth, Texas

Landscape Architecture by Jacobs Inc., Dallas, Design Principal Randy Sorensen, FASLA; Jacobs Design Team: Lori Gordon, ASLA, Justin Kmetzsch, and Matt Durkovich

On that fateful day of November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy awoke in Fort Worth Texas prepared to speak to an eager chamber of commerce breakfast audience prior to his trip to Dallas later that morning. Looking out the hotel window he saw thousands of people gathered in the rain hoping to catch a glimpse of him. He proceeded outside the hotel and spoke impromptu to the crowd before coming back in to deliver what would be the last speech of his life. As the people of Forth Worth listened to him, no one in the crowds that day had any inkling that the president’s vision for America and the course of the nation would abruptly altered just hours later at Dealy Plaza in the West End District of downtown Dallas. President Kennedy’s remarks that morning in Fort Worth became his final public speech as the 35th president of the United States, giving his Fort Worth visit heightened significance.

To recognize the importance of the president’s moments in Fort Worth, as well as the ideals he championed, a public-private partnership raised $1.5 million dollars to create a permanent exhibit to honor President Kennedy. Rather than memorialize his assassination later that day in Dallas, Fort Worth wanted to pay tribute to him in the city where he last spoke of his ideals for America as a world leader, and his courage in challenging Americans to embrace civil rights legislation; combat third-world poverty through his Peace Corps initiative; put an American on the moon within the decade; and to provide more jobs for people willing to work and better education for the new generations.

Click to read the full Landscape Architect & Specifier News magazine article and view pictures of The JFK Tribute taken by Jered Widmer, TLP Principal: President John F. Kennedy Tribute, Fort Worth, Texas