Honoring F. Eugene Dixon, Jr.

WHEREAS, Mr. Dixon was appointed to the Fairmount Park Commission in 1977, and immediately he took a personal and professional interest in the Park's well being. He worked tirelessly to protect its acreage and enhance its facilities, and in 1983 he assumed the Commission presidency; and

WHEREAS, During Mr. Dixon's tenure the Park has changed and evolved in important and permanent ways. Early on, he purchased, donated and refurbished Robert Indiana's Love Statue, which today sits in J.F.K. Plaza; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Dixon has consistently earned the respect of the staff and the admiration of the Park's users. He helped establish the Citizen Service for parks, which has become a national model, and today Fairmount Park boasts 30,000 volunteers who help care for the Park; and

WHEREAS, Also during Mr. Dixon's presidency, the Park received an historic $26.6 million grant from the William Penn Foundation to reforest the natural areas within the Park The Fairmount Park Ranger Program was also established by the Commission to educate and interpret the Park for the citizens who use it; and

WHEREAS, F. Eugene Dixon, Jr. has been an enthusiastic, pro-active and wise president of the Fairmount Park Commission, and he will be missed by the untold thousands of citizens whose lives he has enhanced through his ongoing commitment to making Fairmount Park better for us all; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor and commend Mr. F. Eugene Dixon, Jr. for his remarkable contributions to this City.

FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Mr. F. Eugene Dixon, Jr. as evidence of the high esteem and deep admiration and gratitude of this legislative body.

End