page_title: John Y. Brown Jr.
section_title: Renovation of Governor's Mansion
hierarchical_section_title: John Y. Brown Jr. / Political career / Renovation of Governor's Mansion
caption_attribution_description: English: Kentucky Governor's Mansion. Taken by user Acdixon in Frankfort, KY on April 27, 2007
context_page_description: John Young Brown Jr. is an American politician, entrepreneur, and businessman from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. He served as the 55th governor of Kentucky from 1979 to 1983, although he may be best known for building Kentucky Fried Chicken into a multimillion-dollar restaurant chain.
  The son of United States Congressman John Y. Brown Sr., Brown's talent for business became evident in college, where he made a substantial amount of money selling Encyclopædia Britannica sets. After briefly practicing law with his father, he purchased Kentucky Fried Chicken from founder Harland Sanders in 1964. Brown turned the company into a worldwide success, and sold his interest in the company for a huge profit in 1971. He then invested in several other restaurant ventures, but none matched the success of KFC. During the 1970s, he also owned, at various times, three professional basketball teams – the American Basketball Association's Kentucky Colonels, and the National Basketball Association's Boston Celtics and Buffalo Braves.
  Despite having previously shown little inclination toward politics, Brown surprised political observers by declaring his candidacy for governor in the 1979 election.
context_section_description: Within a month of moving into the Governor's Mansion, Brown noticed significant deterioration in the wiring and ordered a full inspection. The Department of Buildings and Construction's preliminary report stated "If this was a privately operated structure, this office would have no alternative other than to give the operator 30 to 60 days to rewire the structure." The report went on to say that the mansion was a virtual firetrap. Upon receiving the report, Brown immediately moved his family out of the mansion and back to Cave Hill, his estate in Lexington. The Department of Buildings and Construction forbade use of the mansion for overnight purposes or group meetings until repairs could be made. Brown's Cave Hill estate was officially designated the temporary executive mansion, and the state agreed to furnish Brown's groceries, reimburse him for entertaining official guests, and pay for telephone calls made in his capacity as governor. He was also given a travel allowance.
  In March 1980, the General Assembly created a committee to study whether it would be more feasible to construct a new governor's mansion or repair the old one. Ultimately, they decided to renovate the existing mansion, and Brown's wife Phyllis was given liberal input into the decision making. The state had expected to cover the cost of the repairs using federal revenue sharing funds, but President Jimmy Carter ordered a halt to the funds in May 1980. First lady Phyllis Brown organized a group called "Save the Mansion" to raise private funds to offset the repair costs. Independently wealthy, Governor Brown donated his first year's salary to the project. (He waived the salary for the remainder of his term.) The renovation and repairs were completed in March 1983, and the Brown family returned to the mansion in April.
caption: The Kentucky Governor's Mansion underwent a significant renovation during Brown's term
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