Anita Perry fields $10,000 to launch private fund to restore landmark
She says she expects to enlist schoolchildren and past governors' families.
By W. Gardner Selby
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Anita Perry launched a private fund Tuesday intended to cover at least part of the undetermined costs of restoring the Governor's Mansion, which was heavily damaged by a June fire.
Perry, fielding a kickoff contribution of $10,000 from the Heritage Society of Austin, said, "We hope that all Texans will join us."
 Laura Skelding/AMERICAN-STATESMAN Texas first lady Anita Perry, announcing the formation of the nonprofit Texas Governor's Mansion Restoration Fund, said the cost of refurbishing the fire-damaged landmark is not yet known. |
She said that there will be an effort to involve schoolchildren and past governors' families — and that Laura Bush, her predecessor as the state's first lady, has expressed interest in the project.
Perry, who is chairwoman of the nonprofit Texas Governor's Mansion Restoration Fund, introduced Pam Willeford, a former U.S. ambassador to Liechtenstein and Switzerland, as its vice chairwoman.
Willeford worked for the State Preservation Board when the Texas Capitol was restored from 1992 to 1995; she helped raise money for that project.
Perry, standing on Colorado Street in the shade of an oak inside the mansion grounds, did not speak about the hunt for an arsonist believed to have caused the June 8 fire.
Perry said she would talk to her husband, Gov. Rick Perry, about their family making a personal donation. She did not know how much it could be.
She also said that the cost of restoring the mansion is not yet known and that she doesn't know if the fund will have a goal or if expenditures from donations will be limited to paying for certain aspects of the restoration.
Workers have finished cleaning and shoring up the mansion's first floor and are focused on doing the same on the second floor.
The mansion could be ready for the removal of its damaged roof by the end of August. That will be followed by the construction of a temporary roof that would effectively seal the building, enabling the state to maintain the interior humidity and temperature with temporary air-conditioning and heating units.
The preservation board could then set in motion decisions on how to proceed with the restoration, including how much money to seek from the 2009 Legislature for the project.
Public relations executive Julian Read, president-elect of the heritage society, presented its check. Read, a former aide to the late Gov. John Connally, said the total included $30 from Dan Graham of Georgetown and $10 from Mary Bruce of Austin.
Graham said in a handwritten note that he was "proud of my state and proud of my Governor's Mansion." He referred to his donation as a "small, but from the heart, restoration contribution."
wgselby@statesman.com; 445-3644
