 The event was timed to coincide with World Space Week in order to pay homage to the special place in history held by the Gragg Building, which was NASA’s first Houston home. The Space Agency occupied it from 1962 to 1964 while the Johnson Space Center was being built in Clear Lake. The Mercury Program was in very-visible full swing, and the Gemini and Apollo programs were in the works.
To tie in the building’s present and its past, guests at the celebration were greeted by space suits courtesy of NASA and photographic displays of the Mercury astronauts at work at the Gragg building. A mockup of the space shuttle stood in the courtyard. KHOU Anchorwoman Deborah Duncan was the moderator. Houston Mayor Bill White gave a stirring speech on the importance of historic preservation, and Council Member Carol Alvarado thanked the Gragg family for its generous donation of the property that makes up Gragg Park.  Ms. Jeannie Kamrath Gonzales represented MacKie & Kamrath, Architects, who were responsible for the building’s design, and Reagan Miller, an authority on MacKie & Kamrath, spoke on their significance to the mid-century development of Houston.
| 
