Anita Perry launches private fund-raising for mansion
In the shade of an oak tree hanging over the iron fence surrounding the Governor’s Mansion, Anita Perry accepted a $10,000 donation this morning toward a newly created private fund devoted to restoration of the charred landmark.
“We hope that all Texans will join us,” Perry said, adding that there will be an effort to involve schoolchildren.
Perry introduced Pamela Willeford, former ambassador to Lichtenstein and Switzerland, as a key adviser to the fund-raising effort. Willeford has been a player in previous restorations of the Capitol and mansion.
Perry fielded the check this morning from Julian Read, the Austin public-relations executive and former longtime aide to the late Gov. John Connally. Read is the president-elect of the Heritage Society of Austin, which donated the $10,000.
Perry conceded she otherwise had little information — and Perry and other officials did not speak to any aspect of the search for arsonists believed to have caused the June 8 fire.
Perry said former governors’ families would be enlisted and that U.S. First Lady Laura Bush has expressed interest.
Perry said she didn’t know if she and Gov. Rick Perry will make a personal donation, that no one knows the ultimate cost of restoring the mansion, that she doesn’t know if there will be a target portion of the restoration to be covered by private dollars, and that she doesn’t know if expenditures from donations will be limited to paying for certain aspects of the restoration or not.
Workers have finished cleaning and shoring up the mansion’s first floor and are focused now on doing the same on the second floor. By the end of August, the building should be readied for removal of its damaged roof to be followed by the construction of a temporary roof that effectively seals the mansion up, enabling the state to maintain the interior humidity and temperature with temporary air conditioning and heating units.
About the same time, look for the State Preservation Board to settle how it wants to proceed with the restoration — including decisions related to how much state money to seek from the 2009 Legislature toward the project.
Read, whose daughters include Ellen Read, caretaker of the mansion, showed reporters a handwritten letter from a Georgetown veteran accompanied by $30 cash. Dan Graham wrote that he was “proud of my state and proud of my Governor’s Mansion.” He referred to his contribution as a “small, but from the heart, restoration contribution.” His money, along with $10 sent by another mansion fan, was rolled into the $10,000 check, Read said.
Donations can be made online here.
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