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For the Constitution Gardens site, the design possibilities offer significant improvements. The park with a lake framed by trees was dedicated in 1976, and a memorial was added a few years later on a small island honoring the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. The park was slated to have a restaurant as well, but funds ran out. In the past 30 years, its memorial has been mostly forgotten, and the grounds grew shabby. Designers have proposed glass pavilions or buildings growing out of earthen berms, as well as performance spaces and cafes. They would open up views to the nearby Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial and link the park to one of Washington's main boulevards nearby, Constitution Avenue, to connect with its urban setting. "So if you're standing in that area, you aren't just looking at the memorial, you're thinking about the memorial in a larger context of the city and the monuments that are around it," said Stastny, who previously managed design selections for the Oklahoma City and Flight 93 national memorials. In comparison, the Washington Monument grounds are in better shape after recent security upgrades by the National Park Service, but a theater space has been left neglected for years. And there are few restrooms or food options for millions of people who visit each year. Proposals in the competition are varied. One from New York-based landscape architect Diana Balmori calls for reshaping the landscape as a grassy bowl around an outdoor theater and adding a building with a garden roof to produce food for a restaurant below. Another design by New York-based Diller Scofidio Renfro and Hood Design, the landscape would be "peeled up" on one edge to serve as an outdoor theater and reveal a new underground structure. "The whole intent is that the mall continues to be an evolving place," Stastny said. "The improvements at this point will carry us into the next evolution
-- I think that's what a lot of the designers are feeling." ___ Online: National Mall Design Competition:
http://www.nationalmall.org/design-competition/
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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