Sonny Bono Park

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Sonny Bono admirers gathered around the plaque with park in background.
Sonny Bono admirers gathered around the plaque with park in background.

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 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."

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