Both of these Lower Manhattan churchyards have seen unprecedented visitorship in recent years that has taken a toll on their publicly accessible cemeteries. MNLA's master plans for Trinity Church, a National Historic Landmark, and St. Paul’s Chapel Churchyard, a National Register of Historic Places property, reestablish these icons as worthy of their place in the city's history.
Rather than restore the landscapes to a specific period in time, the church leadership agreed that these sacred spaces must reflect the evolution of time and significance to the community. The designs restore unobstructed views of the gravestones while protecting the base of mature trees from foot traffic. Low-scale circular beds around major trees form subtle landscape accents within the lines of gravestones. Additional improvements include soil amendments and new turf, replacement of damaged brownstone pavement, installation of bluestone check dams and runnels to solve erosion and compaction problems, and the removal of post-9/11 signage remnants.
