Pegasus Plaza is a public park located in downtown

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. Located at the corner of Akard and Main Street in the Main Street District, the plaza takes its name from Pegasus, the iconic sign atop the adjacent Magnolia Hotel and the mythical flying horse. The shaded plaza includes several fountains and is used for concerts, festivals and Christmas celebrations.

History

Pegasus Plaza was created as the centerpiece of a $7 million restoration program for the historic Main Street District. The project reconstructed Main Street and included new lighting, landscaping and street furniture in hopes of spurring redevelopment of many Dallas historic structures. The $2.5 million plaza, an idea of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture, was paid for with $750,000 of 1982 bond election money and private donations, including $500,000 from actress

Greer Garson Eileen Evelyn Greer Garson (29 September 1904 – 6 April 1996) was an English-American actress and singer. She was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer who became popular during the Second World War for her portrayal of strong women on the hom ...

. Constructed on a corner parking lot originally the site of the Southwestern Life Insurance Building (Otto H. Lang, architect; built 1912; demolished 1972), work on the plaza began in 1993 and the plaza was opened in September 1994 by Dallas Mayor Steve Bartlett and former Mayor

Annette Strauss Annette Louise Greenfield Strauss (January 26, 1924 – December 14, 1998) was an American philanthropist and politician who served as the 55th mayor of Dallas. The Annette Strauss Artist Square in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas i ...

. The plaza has been the site of many city celebrations since its opening, including the city's millennium celebration in 2000 which included fireworks and relighting of the restored Pegasus atop the Magnolia Building.

Design

The overall Main Street redevelopment project was created by a consortium of architects and engineers led by Good Fulton & Farrell Architects, the Slaney/Santana Group and Cardenas-Salcedo and Associates. Artist Brad Goldberg was responsible for the design of the Pegasus Plaza itself. Although the plaza sits in the shadow of the 50-year-old namesake neon sculpture atop the Magnolia Building, the idea for the plaza and its crowning jewel heavily references Greek mythology. The design retells the story of when the warrior Perseus slew the serpent-haired monster

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

and Pegasus sprang from her severed head. He stamped the earth with his hoof, creating the Fountain of the Muses. A limestone fountain and winding stream anchor the design of the plaza. The fountain is connected to a natural mineral spring below the Magnolia Building and is the source well for water in the plaza. A series of concentric circles embedded in the pavement radiates from the fountain into the surrounding streets. Scattered throughout the plaza are nine granite boulders taken from Marble Falls carved and dedicated to the nine Muses. A stone dedicated to

Terpsichore In Greek mythology, Terpsichore (; grc-gre, Τερψιχόρη, "delight in dancing") is one of the nine Muses and goddess of dance and chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance". Appearance ...

, the Muse of dance, is next to a performance area. A stone dedicated to Melpomene, the singer of elegies and tragedies, is next to a grove of willows, which are a symbol of death. A 4,000-pound quartz crystal, a grove of bald cypresses and other symbols of healing also fill the plaza.David Flick. (1994, October 18). Downtown's newest park nearly ready - Sculpor wants to make Pegasus Plaza `sacred place'. The Dallas Morning News HOME FINAL ed., 1A. Retrieved December, 15 2009 from NewsBank on-line database (America's Newspapers)

References

{{reflist

External links

Flashback Dallas: The Akard Street CanyonPublished photo of post-demolition space that would become a parking lot
Buildings and structures in Dallas Parks in Dallas