A peaceful place where the city’s joggers, walkers and softball players come to relax and recharge. It has miles of wooded trails, a ‘picnic’ loop used heavily by road cyclists and a softball field.
This park is also home to a NYC AIDS Memorial which pays tribute to those who died from the disease and the activists, health professionals and caregivers who mobilized to provide care, fight discrimination and change policy.
Symbolism
Memorials and monuments often evoke particular symbols that convey a particular meaning. These symbolic elements can vary from the well-known to the less familiar. They may also be interpreted differently depending on a viewer’s sociocultural and political position.
A common way of memorializing a fatality is to construct a roadside memorial, which uses readily understood symbols or messages to communicate a particular message. For example, a white painted bike may represent a cycling fatality.
Other examples of memorials utilize geometric forms to mark spaces and define paths through the memorial park. The choice of shapes creates a mathematical-like structure that adds to the beauty of the landscape and helps guide visitors throughout the memorial park.
History
Memorial Park has been an important part of the community’s history since its creation. It is one of the oldest parks in Long Island.
After the war ended, the cemetery and park were re-designed to meet the needs of the local community. The new design was a major success.
Today, the park features a memorial for all village residents who served in the military, and a September 11th memorial. It is also the home of one of the nation’s most popular jogging trails, and many professional sports athletes are regular visitors.
The six-panel Walls of Remembrance were reconstructed in 2011 after a two year restoration project. The newest monument in the park is the Gold Star Monument, built in accordance with style guidelines established by the Woody Williams Foundation and Delaware Gold Star families. The monument is the only one in the Park with a void design symbolizing those who never came home. The Submariners Monument, built by the local Dover Submarine Foundation, pays tribute to the 52 submarines from both World War II and Korean Conflict that were lost during their service.
Environment
A memorial park is a modern cemetery, and while it may be a place for mourning, it should also be a beautiful, living landscape where people can spend time with nature. This is especially true in Orange County, where a memorial park can be a great place to see wild plants and animals.
The memorial park at Memorial Park is the largest urban wilderness in the fourth most populous city in the United States. A former World War I training camp, this 1,500-acre park is now the heart of the Uptown district and a popular spot for recreation, socializing, exercising, walking, wildlife watching and commemorating the dead.
Research on the site’s cultural history revealed that the dense forest typical of many modern parks was not endemic to this area, and a new vision for Memorial Park focused on restoring multiple authentic, native ecologies that could endure drought and flood into the future. This led to the creation of new areas such as the Kinder Land Bridge & Cyvia & Melvyn Wolff Prairie.
Amenities
Memorial Park attracts millions of active Houstonians each year, who enjoy the miles of trails, myriad sports facilities, and picnicking opportunities. Many also visit to get some serious exercise, such as running or playing golf on the park’s 18-hole course and swimming pool. The three-mile Seymour Lieberman exercise trail draws joggers in the early mornings, afternoons and weekends.
The shady wooded grounds, fenced in from urban sprawl, still support a rich population of eastern woodland birds. Listen for pine, Swainson’s and Kentucky warblers, and look for American woodcocks in late winter.
Memorial Park offers a variety of camping sites and hiking trails to give campers an immersive experience with the woods. A nature center is open daily with natural and historic exhibits, games and hands-on articles to encourage learning. A park naturalist leads evening campfires and nature programs during the summer. In addition, drop-in family picnic sites and reservable group picnic areas are available. The park also hosts a series of free summer concerts each year in a bandstand.