METRO MEMORIAL PARK
A Sacred Grove

The project, completed on June 22nd, 2015, was the result of a winning competition entry for a new memorial park to honor the nine citizens who lost their lives during the 2009 Metro train crash.

The ancient impulse to commemorate, is the origin of the sacred grove, where an exceptional event, often long forgotten, becomes transmuted into a destination where succeeding generations can find solace. As such, we proposed a sacred grove to commemorate the nine victims of the accident as a place that can also re-knot the broken threads of the surrounding urban fabric.

The church overlooks the site as a caretaker. The garden weaves its pattern into the memorial and makes it part of the labor of gardeners to make the land fruitful. Together they tie the memorial to people's everyday lives to make it a living and active place.

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Photo: New Park

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Photo: Commemorative Plaque

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Site Location Plan: The site for the Legacy Memorial Park occupies a small parcel of the Fort Drive Park System, at the junction of Fort Totten, Lamond Riggs, and Manor Park neighborhoods.

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Photos: Existing Park Conditions

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Existing Site Plan: A swath of expropriation has left a ragged edge in the urban fabric which the church building and the community gardeners have attempted to repair.

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Diagram: Circulation

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Site Concept Plan

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New Park Plan

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Photo: Existing View From Street

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Rendered View: Proposed View From Street

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Photo: Existing View From Church

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Rendered View: Proposed View From Church

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Photo: Existing View Towards Church

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Rendered View: Proposed View Towards Church

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Photo: Existing Park View

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Rendered View: Proposed Park View

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Rendered View: Proposed Park View

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Photo: Dedication Ceremony with Victims' Families and Former Mayor Vincent Gray

Photo: New Park

Photo: New Park

Photo: New Park

Photo: New Park

Memorial Sculpture Location Plan: To honor the victims of the accident, nine singular abstract forms by sculptor Barbara Josephs Liotta, one for each victim, would rise in groupings from landscaped mounds.

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Details: Memorial Sculptures

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Plan: Park Lighting

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Planting Diagram: Canopy

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Planting Diagram: Mounds

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Planting Diagram: On Site Bio Retention

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Planting Diagram: Entry Berm