Abolition Row Park
Massachusetts's Abolition Row Park has a story to tell, one that centers on the lives of many known and unknown travelers of the Underground Railroad, formerly enslaved people who sought liberty and self-determination in New Bedford. The park is located in what is still a diverse, multi-cultural community that serves as the gateway to the newly minted "Abolition Row Historic District."
Abolition Row Park has two primary areas: "the plaza" for larger gatherings and a variety of uses and "the gallery" - a quieter outdoor room for rotating educational displays. The plaza is surrounded by cherry trees that welcome visitors with their future mature canopies and blossoms. The plaza features a dramatic paving design of crisscrossing paths, what the designers call "the many paths to freedom." The paving design includes a tribute to the North Star and celestial navigation by using small paving lights to form constellations that shine at night and help guide the way. One of the park's standout elements is a statue by Richard Blake of Frederick Douglass as a pensive young man, before he emerged as the civil rights lion that he became.
Highmark Land Design Landscape Architecture designed this park and the City of New Bedford submitted this project. The Parks Issue of Landscape Architect & Specifier News saw many firms submit their projects for feature consideration. This project was not chosen for a Feature in the issue, but we at LandscapeArchitect.com thought the project deserved to be showcased online . . .
Click here to learn more about this project and to submit for future issues of LASN: https://landscapearchitect.com/landscape-articles/abolition-row-park
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