Thomas Jefferson Memorial: Landscape Overview, National Park Service

Tepper, Audrey; Prothero, Sally

This study is one component of the preservation of the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. It deals specifically with the landscape surrounding the Jefferson Memorial and those transition areas between the building and the landscape, such as the sidewalks, steps and plaza. In order to address these issues, it is necessary to study the landscape in its widest context, hence the need to investigate the evolution of the site from a marshland to the location of an internationally renowned memorial. The next step after this report, which is specifically for the Lincoln/Jefferson project, is to include these report findings in a Cultural Landscape Inventory, using sections of this report as basic research. A Cultural Landscape Inventory is used to identify and evaluate the significance of historic landscape elements. The upcoming work on the steps, which have become misaligned, and plaza, which is in a state of serious disrepair, has been temporarily suspended until the completion of this landscape overview study. Other studies and reports have dealt with the numerous aspects of the building. The firm of Einhorn Yaffee Prescott (Architecture and Engineering, P.C.) was commissioned in 1992 to compile a report “Specific Tests and Evaluations of the Stylobate Mall.” The stylobate mall is the grassed terrace that rings the base of the memorial, and the report covers the landscape, drainage and sheet piling in this area. This study encompasses the area between the Inlet and Outlet Bridge, East Basin Drive and the Tidal Basin. Adjacent areas, such as parts of West and East Potomac Park, will be included when they directly affect the project area, and when dealing with the issues of views, access and historical development.

Thomas Jefferson Memorial: Landscape Overview, National Park Service

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