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Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/73468
FieldScience | ByMurray Cook Improving our nation's front lawn A and use that the National Mall has to deal with annually. The National Park Service (NPS) issues more than 3,000 permits a year for the lawn and it entertains 20,000,000 visitors a year. Ironically the number one complaint by people who visit the Mall is its appearance. The long overdue renovation is underway and is projected to be finished just be- fore the next Presidential Inauguration in January 2013. HISTORY Over the past 20+ years, the Na- tional Mall has had numerous tempo- rary renovations. They've had several turf consultants over the years pro- vide various reports and evaluations for improvement but as usual lack of funding, overuse, poor soils, and compacted earth resulted in dead grass. The NPS manages the lawn and they have used protective flooring systems, engaged in major sodding projects, added new irrigation and taken out old irrigation. fter several years of planning, the National Mall, our nation's front lawn, is receiving a well-deserved makeover. There may be no natural grass area in the world that receives the traffic The Trust for the National Mall THE NATIONAL MALL, which stretches from the Lincoln Memorial to the US Capitol Building, will be transformed from a swath of trampled grass to a grand urban park with spectacular gardens, a skating rink and a tree-framed theater, the Trust for the National Mall said. The Trust, which is working with the National Park Service to revitalize the Mall, unveiled the winners of a design competition to remake three sections. The projects are part of a $700 million plan to transform the nation's "front yard" into a world-class park. Former first lady Laura Bush, the honorary chairwoman of the fundraising campaign, said she often donned sunglasses and a baseball cap for anonymous early morning strolls on the Mall during her White House years. She said the "inno- vative" designs will enhance the experience for the Mall's 24 million visitors each year. "The Mall is suffering from overuse," said landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson of Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, who helped create the winning design for Union Square, the area that includes the reflecting pool at the base of the Capitol lawn. The first project is scheduled to be done by 2016 to mark the centennial of the National Park Service. Highlights of the three projects: At Union Square, a reflecting pool that morphs from fountain to hard surface to pool will accommodate different events and minimize damage to the grass, Gustafson said. The design includes an outdoor museum of gardens extend- ing from the US Botanical Garden. Constitution Gardens, the park and pond north of the Lincoln Memorial's reflecting pool, will be updated to be ecologically sustainable and to revive the "social life" of the park, said Peter Walker, whose firm, Peter Walker and Part- ners, created the winning design with Rogers Marvel Architects. In summer, picnickers will be able to rent toy boats to sail on the pond, archi- tect Rob Rogers said. In winter, the pond will be- come an ice rink. The design includes intimate areas for reading, picnicking and resting, and an indoor pavilion with a restaurant and terrace. The Sylvan Theater amphitheater, on the grassy slope around the Washington Monument, will be framed by trees that landscape architect Hallie Boyce of OLIN called a "magical setting for performance." 12 SportsTurf | July 2012 www.sportsturfonline.com