Judge Garry A. Weber Oral History

On Sunday, March 29, 1981, just one day prior to the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan, the former Texas School Book Depository building was officially reopened as the new seat of Dallas County government. About 200 people attended the ceremony, which also commemorated the 135th anniversary of the founding of Dallas County, inside the new two-story Dallas County Commissioners Courtroom. A Texas State Historical Marker, which referred to the building as "Formerly the Texas School Book Depository Building," was unveiled. Judge Garry Weber did not hide from the building's infamous past, saying during his remarks, "It's out of habit that we call it the Texas School Book Depository. We all know its 80-year history... but now it has become the new seat of Dallas County government." Even though The Sixth Floor exhibit would not open until February 1989, plans were already in the works. Weber told reporters that day in 1981 that county business would not be disrupted "by the proposed museum...because an outside elevator to the sixth floor will be built to accommodate the anticipated 100,000 visitors each year." Mired in controversy, construction on that elevator shaft began almost exactly seven years later in March 1988. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator