Mansion restoration a (first) family effort
Former state governors, relatives plan to contribute to Anita Perry's private fund.
By Mike Ward
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Friday, July 18, 2008
Two former Texas governors and members of five former first families are joining first lady Anita Perry's private fundraising push to restore the arson-gutted Texas Governor's Mansion.
At a Capitol news conference Thursday, former Gov. Dolph Briscoe presented Perry with a $100,000 check for the fund, which was launched Tuesday. He joked that the amount was just a pittance of what "his very good friend," former Gov. Bill Clements, a retired billionaire Dallas oilman, would probably contribute.
 Ricardo B. Brazziell/AMERICAN-STATESMAN Former Texas Gov. Dolph Briscoe lent support, including a $100,000 check, to first lady Anita Perry on Wednesday for her Governor's Mansion fundraising effort. Learn more at www.texasonline.com. |
"I wanted to get mine in early," he said.
Other governors and first families in attendance said they plan to contribute, as well.
"You bring the checkbook?" former Gov. Mark White asked his wife, Linda Gale White, as she was introduced after Briscoe's surprise presentation.
During the brief ceremony, Perry read a letter from U.S. first lady Laura Bush supporting the restoration project.
Authorities have not yet identified a suspect in the June 8 arson fire, which occurred while the mansion was undergoing renovations and was uninhabited.
Perry said all contributions to the special fund — corporate and private — will be disclosed publicly. The fundraising goal has not been set, pending the completion of a restoration plan by preservation architects and a decision by lawmakers on how much they want to appropriate.
Asked whether the mansion, once restored, would become a museum, with the governor living elsewhere, Perry said she thinks it should remain the official residence of Texas' chief executive. It is the oldest executive mansion west of the Mississippi in continuous use "and I think ... it should stay that way," she said.
mward@statesman.com; 445-1712
