Sonny Bono Memorial Park

Sonny Bono Memorial Park
Sonny Bono Memorial Park, January 2005
Location within Washington, D.C.
Location	Washington, D.C.
Coordinates	38°54′30″N 77°02′41″W / 38.9084°N 77.0447°WCoordinates: 38°54′30″N 77°02′41″W / 38.9084°N 77.0447°W
Area	800 square feet (74 m^2)
Created	1998

Sonny Bono Memorial Park is a park in Northwest Washington, D.C., at the intersection of New Hampshire Avenue, 20th Street, and O Street near Dupont Circle. It is named for Sonny Bono. The park was established in 1998, after Sonny Bono's death, by Bono family friend Geary Simon, a local real estate developer. He approached the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation's Park Partners program and paid $25,000 of his own money to revitalize an unused 800-square-foot (74 m²) triangle of grass. His improvements included installing an underground sprinkler system, planting new Kentucky bluegrass and a Japanese maple, as well as benches and a wrought-iron fence. The park also features a vault of Sonny Bono memorabilia, such as the sheet music for "The Beat Goes On," his official Congressional cufflinks, and a mug from his string of Bono's Restaurants.

At the entrance, on the ground, is a plaque that reads as follows:

IN MEMORY OF MY FRIEND SONNY BONO 1935-1998; ENTERTAINER - ENTREPRENEUR - STATESMAN - FRIEND.

External links

• Article at The Washington Post
• 2005 article from Washington Monthly