Five stories that have North Texas talking: the Sixth Floor Museum is 25 years old; longtime WFAA-TV anchor Gloria Campos is retiring; Dallas is interested in hosting the 2016 GOP convention, and more:
The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza is marking its 25th anniversary with a year-long celebration that starts today. After President Kennedy was shot at Dealey Plaza in 1963, some hoped the Texas School Book Depository would have been torn down. Instead, it’s become one of the city’s most visited tourist attractions. Today at 11 a.m., associate curator Stephen Fagin will present a history of the museum based on his book, “Assassination and Commemoration: JFK, Dallas and The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza.” At 2 p.m., curator Gary Mack will present “From Outsider to Insider,” a look at the museum’s early days. Oh, and there will be cake, too – at 3 p.m., at the Museum Store + Café, which is across from the museum. The museum’s core exhibit, “John F. Kennedy and the Memory of a Nation,” opened on Presidents’ Day in 1989. Today, the museum includes more than 45,000 items, including 1,200 oral histories.
- Could Dallas host the 2016 Republican National Convention? The city is preparing a bid for Dallas to host the event, but the Wednesday deadline is looming. "The logistics of putting something together like this are right up there with the Super Bowl," Matthew Jones, executive vice president of the Dallas Convention and Visitors Bureau, told WFAA-TV. Up to 15,000 delegates would attend, but thousands of others would be in the city, too. The convention would be held at the American Airlines Center. Former U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and a delegation will fly to RNC headquarters March 3 to present the proposal, WFAA reported. Denver and Las Vegas are among the cities that have expressed interest in hosting.
- Gloria Campos, the longtime WFAA-TV 10 p.m. news anchor, has announced she is retiring. Her last newscast will be March 7. Campos, WFAA’s first Hispanic anchor, started at the station in 1984. For many years, she anchored both the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts. She anchored her last 6 p.m. newscast in 2012. The station announced that morning anchor Cynthia Izaguirre will replace Campos on the 10 p.m. news. Take a video tour of Campos’ career here.
- It will cost the city of Dallas about $200 million to maintain its arts facilities and build new ones. A Dallas City Council committee heard the news Tuesday, The Dallas Morning News reports.“High on the to-do list: Overhaul the aging Majestic Theatre, where the carpets and bathrooms haven’t been touched since the ’70s, the exterior façade is “failing” and letting in water, and a new HVAC system’s desperately needed,” the newspaper reports. The Meyerson Symphony Center needs to have its HVAC replaced – that could cost $10 million. The Dallas Museum of Art needs a new fire suppression system. The Kalita Humphreys Theater, needs about $30 million in improvements. Council members have asked city officials to come up with a plan to maintain and improve the buildings.
- Mexican architect Carlos Bedoya is the featured speaker tonight in the Dallas Architecture Forum’s lecture series at 7 p.m. at the Magnolia Theatre. A reception is at 6:15 p.m. Bedoya is founding partner of the Mexico City architectural firm PRODUCTORA, which has been honored as an international emerging voice by the Architectural League of New York. The group’s work has been exhibited at Beijing’s National Museum of Art and at the Victoria & Albert. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $5 for students with ID. Learn more here.
