Project Info
Working in collaboration with Svigals + Partners, Schmidt Design Group developed the construction documents for the Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence memorial. The project was initiated in early 2017 by a group of mothers who lost children to gun violence and who found each other through a support group sponsored by the New Haven Police Department. The group advanced their cause with the Urban Resource Initiative and eventually gained support from the City. In 2018 a site was selected and the design team began their work. Keeping the goals of the mothers at its heart, the site’s design aims to create a serene and peaceful place for families to remember, honor, and celebrate loved ones who were lost to gun violence; to raise awareness of the impact of gun deaths within a community and beyond; and to serve as an inspiration for communities and leaders to work cooperatively to address the multiple roots of violence.
With the back drop of West Rock, the heart of the memorial provides a place to sit and view a memory tile wall within the garden. Native plants and wildflower meadows are used throughout the property. A perspective sculpture is placed on the axis of the entry and the heart of the garden. Windchimes line the Magnitude Path made of engraved pavers with the date and age of those lost from 1976 to present.
*Simulation by Svigals + Partners