SVN | Wood Properties
By George Brown, President and Managing Director

We lost Dolly Parton on Tuesday, and millions across the country went looking for a way to say what she meant to us.

Within about forty-eight hours, more than forty buildings and bridges across the country had turned pink for her.

The Empire State Building lit its tower in what it called a pink sparkle at 9:25 p.m. — nine-two-five, for “9 to 5” — and the lights shone for exactly one hour in her memory. The New Year’s Eve ball at One Times Square came on at the same minute. Two nights later, New York illuminated seventeen landmarks at once.

Nationally recognized landmarks like One World Trade Center, Grand Central Terminal, and Niagara Falls all turned pink. Willis Tower in Chicago went pink. So did Coit Tower in San Francisco. In New Orleans, the Superdome, the Crescent City Connection, the National WWII Museum, and Hibernia Tower all lit up together. Massachusetts lit five bridges. Portland’s Morrison Bridge ran five nights in what was called “Dolly-pink.” Lexington’s downtown parks and buildings all turned pink. The three major cities in Tennessee, Dolly’s home state, showed their respect by lighting Knoxville’s Henley Street Bridge, Nashville’s airport parking lots, and Memphis’ Hernando De Soto Bridge.

That’s how we honored her. Not with words. With buildings and public spaces.

The part I can’t stop thinking about is how many of them were commercial properties.

For one night, each of them became more than just an asset; they became an expression of emotion — somewhere between a eulogy and a love letter. Everyone who saw them understood exactly what was being said, no caption required.

City after city, the same response went up. A skyline saying what our hearts were feeling.

And each of these buildings is recognizable and impactful — iconic in a way that resembles Dolly’s own enduring legacy.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll continue to say it. A huge portion of our time is spent within commercial real estate. You work in it, shop in it, eat in it, see your doctor in it.

This week, all of that meant something else to me, and to the nation.

If that much of our lives happens inside these properties, then they are not neutral. They take on the character of what happens inside and around them. A building watches a city live for years, and somewhere in there it stops being square footage and becomes something a community can speak through.

That’s why lighting one works. You can’t put your arms around a whole country. You can light up the buildings the whole country can see.