The layout of the Crispus Attucks Park you see today is the result of years of incremental improvements, made in accordance with some basic principles developed collectively by the park community over the years and which CADC put to paper in 2005. Those principles, included in their entirety at the bottom of this page, are largely captured in the following four broad goals:

• Crispus Attucks Park is a community park.
• The park is first and foremost a green space.
• The space should be unified park with a coherent design.
• It promotes community through a design that is welcoming   of all residents and guests.

While a detailed, staged long-term design plan for the park does not exist, Crispus Attucks Park is, at the time of this writing, essentially fully designed. Future work will focus largely on maintenance, and on improvements consistent with the existing design.

Broadly speaking, the middle of the park is meant to remain relatively open, while the edges may be planted with “screening” plants and trees but free from significant visual obstruction. The map below illustrates the major elements of the existing design.

1. Great Lawn – This large open green space is designed for a limited amount of active recreation for children and adults, and provides space for community events and gatherings of larger groups of people and families. Unlike lawns in many public parks, the lawns in Crispus Attucks Park were not designed as play fields, and will die if overused. If you see the grass start to die and the lawn becoming muddy or dusty, please avoid using it until it has a chance to heal. Also, please note that off-leash dog play is prohibited throughout the park, including the Great Lawn.

2. The Memory Garden – This space is insulated from other park activities and is meant to serve as a quiet, tranquil escape where one can reflect and appreciate nature. The Memory Garden and the path system throughout the park were explicitly designed for this purpose, made possible by grants from TKF, a private foundation. Visit the TKF website to learn more about the philosophy of “Open Spaces, Sacred Places.”

3. Walkways – Ideal for a casual stroll, stone and stone dust paths now span the entire park from east to west, dotted with benches along the way. People walking their dogs through the park are encouraged to keep their dogs on the paths. Again, never take dogs off-leash in the park.

4. Petite Lawn – This lawn is smaller than the “Great Lawn,” and better for smaller community gatherings and perhaps for younger children to play.

5. “Screening” Plants – Plantings along the periphery of the park soften views from inside the park without blocking views into or through the park.

6. Smaller, More Intimate Spaces – Interspersed among the larger or more prominent features of the park are many small spaces ideal for picnicking, soaking up the sun, playing with a toddler, or just hanging out.

Have suggestions or ideas about how to improve the park? Neighbors interested in planting and gardening in the park, or in any other possible improvements or additions to the park space, should discuss their ideas with a member of the CADC Board of Directors. Below are some guidelines for the physical improvement of Crispus Attucks Park:

• Landscape improvements should be consistent with and maintain the integrity of the Park's overall design.
• Park improvements should favor low-maintenance designs.
• Changes to the design should seek to incorporate existing plantings as much as possible. New plants can take several years to establish themselves, and until they do they can experience slow or no growth and have a high risk of death. Decisions to remove established plants in favor of new ones will therefore not be taken lightly.
• Any new plantings should be hardy and drought tolerant, and appropriate for our climate zone.
• Park improvements, including plants as well as hardscape or other amenities, will be resilient to reasonable amounts of public traffic. Because the park is open to the community, plants are sometimes abused (intentionally or innocently) by kids, adults, pets, and other animals.
• Park improvements should, of course, not create unreasonable safety risks.
• Any new plantings or additions should not obstruct views into, out of, or through the park. There are two reasons for this rule:

1) Public safety – MPD has instructed us to avoid dense shrubs, plantings, or structures that can serve to hide illicit activity, or that potential criminals can hide behind; and

2) Aesthetics – visual obstructions can reduce the quality of views into and through the park, and can also (e.g., in the case of tall trees) can also ruin monument or city views from upper floors or rooftops of surrounding homes.

Click here for the formal “Guiding Principles for the Physical Development of Crispus Attucks Park,” adopted in spring 2005. These were developed before many of the existing features of the park were installed or planted, including the Memory Garden, pathways, and many trees and planting beds. Those changes have adhered to these guidelines.