What a Reimagined Thanks-Giving Square Could Look Like

The prominent Dallas leaders who make up the board for the Thanks-Giving Square Foundation are in early talks of what a significant overhaul of the downtown oasis might look like. While still in initial discussions, the foundation’s president and CEO, Kyle Ogden, suggest it might be upward of $25 million to breathe new light into the private meditation garden. Interestingly, the greenspace anchored by a spiraling nondenominational chapel was conceived by a real who’s who of Dallas—such as The Hunts, The Meadows—following the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The idea, Ogden told D CEO, was to build something that Dallas could be proud of in the wake of the abased slaying. “My belief is the community came together around something they could be proud of that expressed the virtues and values of Dallas beyond what was in the headlines,” Ogden said. Before the Square’s dedication in 1976, religious leaders behind the project called it “a beacon of hope for generations.” No expense was spared as Dallas city leaders bought a city block and hired the most famous architect at that time, Phillip Johnson. Johnson has designed monumental buildings worldwide—Texas and Dallas held a special place for him, though. He first conceived the de Menil House in Houston in 1950 and, in 1964, designed the Beck House, which is well-known for its facade of slender concave arches that wrap around the home. Later, he created the Memorial in 1970 and composed the Marshall Field’s facades in Houston and Dallas, Momentum Place—now Bank One—and the Cathedral of Hope. Click to read more at www.dmagazine.com.