Restoration of Jackson Place and Lafayette Square
White House Conference Center
[Sketch of townhouses along Jackson Place, NW - the western border of Lafayette Square - behind which the White House Conference Center was constructed in the 1960s & 70s.]
Dedicated to those whose spirit and vision helped to preserve the historic architecture of Lafayette Square.
Grosvenor Chapman, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and Vice-Chairman of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, in 1961 provided a sketch reproduced here that indicated a radically new vision for the development the Square
David Finley, Founding Director of the National Gallery of Art, Chairman of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, and friend and advisor to Jacqueline Kennedy, successfully opposed several plans for the Square that would have swept away the historic architectural context.
Charles Glover, Jr., eminent banker, member of the Committee of 100, and childhood resident of the Square, shared with Grosvenor Chapman the concept of the sketch.
William Walton, correspondent and artist, and close friend and advisor to the Kennedys, presented the sketch to the President and First Lady, receiving their enthusiastic endorsement.
This sketch so impressed Jacqueline Kennedy that she became its chief advocate. The principles it evoked became the basis for the historic restoration of the Square.
Marker is on Jackson Place, NW south of H Street, NW.
Courtesy hmdb.org
