LAST public statement on a public works project by JFK - Newark, Delaware - Last of its Kind on Waymarking.com

A small display inside the Biden Welcome Center along Interstate 95 in Newark, Delaware, commemorates President John F. Kennedy's Turnpike dedication speech on November 14, 1963. The four foot wide floor-to-ceiling niche includes a bronze bust, brief synopsis, quotes, and photos. It is located within the Visitor Information nook on the east side of the food court, near the Starbucks kiosk.

The 12 inch (30 cm) bronze bust portrays a smiling JFK. It sits inside a plexiglass cube atop a glass-fronted display case. The case holds four framed photographs of the occasion, two of which feature President Kennedy. Also framed is the short description and JFK's words:

On November 14, 1963 President John F. Kennedy stood at the Delaware and Maryland border, only a few hundred yards from this spot, to formally dedicate the I-95 Turnpike between Wilmington, Delaware and Baltimore, Maryland. On what was to be his final statement on a public works project, President Kennedy declared:

"It symbolizes, I believe, this highway, first of all, the partnership between the Federal Government and the States, which is essential to the progress of all of our people; and secondly, it symbolizes the effort we have made to achieve the most modern interstate highway system in the world, a system which, when completed, will save over 8,000 lives a year and $9 billion in cost. And third, it symbolizes the effort which we are giving and must be giving to organizing an effective communication system here in the United States of America."

To listen to an audio [clip] of the President's speech, as well as a retrospective of the event, please speak to the Customer Service Agent at the Delaware Information Counter.

A poster-sized print featuring another JFK quote superimposed over a photographic image of a 1964 Kennedy half dollar coin is above and behind the bust. This one reads:

No industry has a greater impact upon the Nation and no industry a greater opportunity to affect our economic progress. This administration has proposed a new, comprehensive, national transportation policy, calling for an examination of the relationship between highways, rails, air routes, and water routes and our goal is the development of the most efficient, economic, and the safest transportation system for all of our people."

President John F. Kennedy
November 14, 1963
Newark, Delaware

Finally, a flat screen television is mounted to the wall space above the poster, but it wasn't turned on at the time of my visit.