Site Analysis:
Location-
The Memorial Park will emerge from the middle of the heartland of the country; bringing together North, South, East and West to a central location easily assessable to all.
We envision a location void of trees, but not void of life. Our Nation’s heartland is prime agricultural land ripe for the new growth of trees and ideas.
The site will require several hundred acres. This is a sobering but necessary truth. Our losses have been numerous, with more names uncovered almost weekly. Sadly, we firmly believe that we are barely scratching the surface of the actual numbers of fatalities.
Irrigation will play a major role in the Memorial Park, and most agricultural land is already equipped for this necessary aspect. Water will be used not only for the continued growth of the planted trees, but will become a significant design element both physically and symbolically; adding another level of movement and life to the Park.
Opportunities and Constraints-
By beginning with land that is not already forested, our plantings of trees will become more significant. The precision in geometry, layout and color, will be obviously different from the surrounding land; therefore, enabling an opportunity of evidently planned and meaningful space even to those who have no idea what the Memorial Park is all about.
Issues of inclement weather, property values and dwindling space are constraints on all coastal lands. The Nation’s heartland offers an opportunity for the possibility of abandoned farmland or unused governmental subsidized properties.
Accessibility to all is a major consideration. The site will need to be located close to a freeway and international airport in order to make usability feasible in both cost and travel time. We are currently in the process of researching National hubs of transportation and satellite transmission.
"In creating, the only hard thing's to begin; a grass-blade's no easier to make than an oak."
- James Russell Lowell
© 2006 The National Lyme Disease Memorial Park Project
