|
"A few months ago, on a beautiful April day, we
dedicated the museum that stands behind me, the home where Abraham
Lincoln will live forever," the governor said. "Today, once again
under a brilliant sky, we break ground for the park that will be the
front yard of that home. Union Square Park is a key part of the
Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum complex, a place that will
complement the library and museum that came before it. The park will
be filled with flowers and trees, a bronze statue of Lincoln, an
amphitheater, a gazebo, and a garden honoring Mary Todd Lincoln.
It's no small thing to say: this will be a place that Abraham
Lincoln would've loved."
Major elements of Union Square Park's design unveiled Wednesday
include a large open-lawn amphitheater and a Victorian-style garden
honoring Mary Todd Lincoln. Benches, arbors, plantings and sidewalks
provide areas for reflection and relaxation. The park will provide
green space in downtown Springfield and act as a staging area for
events coordinated by the library and museum.
"As innovative as the museum it complements, the new Union Square
Park will provide Springfield with a front yard -- an outdoor
performance stage -- and a handsome oasis in the middle of an
increasingly busy downtown," said Richard Norton Smith, director of
the presidential library and museum. "It will integrate the ALPLM
with the surrounding neighborhood, not just physically but
programmatically as well. And it will go a long way toward realizing
the full cultural, economic and aesthetic promise of this
world-class institution."
"Nine months from now this space will be filled with trees and
flowers -- but most important of all, with people," said Julie
Cellini, chair of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency board of
trustees. "People on their lunch hours, at musical performances and
taking part in outdoor educational programs. People will get married
in the gazebo. They will take photos in Mary Todd Lincoln's rose
garden. They will sit on a bench next to a bronze sculpture of
Abraham Lincoln."
Union Square Park was designed by White & Borgognoni Architects
and has a total budget of $2,650,000. BRH Builders of Springfield
was awarded the contract for general construction, and B&B Electric
won the contract for electrical work.
[to top of second column in this article]
 |
 "Once complete, the Lincoln complex will be a jewel in
Springfield's crown," said Janet Grimes, acting executive director
of the Capital Development Board. "With the beautiful and innovative
concepts that went into the construction of the Abraham Lincoln
President Library and Museum, added parking, the restoration of an
historical landmark, and now the construction of a wonderful,
multipurpose park, downtown Springfield exudes an air of growth and
economic development."
Union Square Park is scheduled to be complete next summer.
Meanwhile, renovation of the adjacent historic Union Station, built
in 1898, began in May. Union Station will serve as a gateway to the
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library complex, as well as
other historic sites in and around downtown Springfield. It will be
home to center for visitors, as well as office and meeting space.
Interior and exterior renovation of Union Station includes replacing
the clay-tile roof, new windows, new plaster, painting, opening up
the passenger platforms and replacing the 140-foot clock tower.
Recreating the clock tower is the featured aspect of the project.
When completed, it will have four working clock faces. The tower was
an original element of the station but was removed in 1946.
Approximately 20 percent of the work at Union Station is done, and
the project is expected to be complete in winter 2007.
The presidential museum, which immerses visitors in Lincoln's
life and times and showcases the state's world-renowned Lincoln
Collection, opened April 19. The presidential library, the state's
top historical and genealogical research facility, opened in October
2004.
"We have already seen what the ALPLM has meant for tourism at
Springfield-area historic sites," said Robert Coomer, director of
the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. "With this new urban park
and the governor's commitment to restore seven-day historic site
operations, the economic impact of the library and museum will
continue to be felt throughout central Illinois."
[News release from the governor's
office] |
