On March 16th, 2020, the City Council of Astoria, Oregon unanimously approved the Ocean View Cemetery Master Plan. This comprehensive Plan was prepared by the Vancouver office of LEES+Associates with support from the Portland office of David Evans Associates Ltd and was intended to help foster sustainable operation and development of Astoria’s remarkable, 123-year-old cemetery.
Ocean View Cemetery is situated on an aging sand dune about 2 km. from the Oregon Coast. The rolling site contains a 1915 community mausoleum designed by renowned Portland architect, Ellis F. Lawrence, and an intriguing 30’ tall conical mound set within the Civil War veterans’ burial section. While there are no known burials inside the mound, it features a set narrow set of steps leading to a flagpole and memorial plaque at its apex, from which there are panoramic views over the site and its Cemetery Lake.
Near the end of the project, the LEES+Associates design team came across an image suggesting that Ocean View’s original landscape architects had borrowed the idea of a conical mound from a strikingly similar feature at The Mound Cemetery, in Marietta Ohio.
The Marietta cemetery was constructed around a burial mound (or “barrow”), which had been built by the indigenous Adena people that had inhabited the area from about 100 BC to 500 AD. This ancient landform is reported to contain prehistoric human remains and is believed to be the last of many similar mounds that were once scattered across the American Midwest.
The Marietta mound was saved from destruction Marietta pioneers, who chose to to establish a cemetery around it. They surrounded the landform with the graves of more Revolutionary soldiers than are buried in any cemetery in the country. The Marietta cemetery, with its iconic mound, remains active to this day.
As cemetery designers, finding hidden connections like this is among the greatest pleasures of our work— always amazing “hidden treasures” to discover!
Student brainstorming sheet
We were at Monterey Middle School this week as part of our work on the Carnarvon Park Master Plan for the District of Oak Bay. We had a chance to meet with nearly 50 Grade 7 students to get their input on the park.
After a brief presentation, a group brainstorming exercise, and a “sharing out” of each group’s favourite ideas for the park, there was an opportunity for the students to vote on what they would love to see in the new park using sticky notes.
We’ve generated ton of great ideas that we can’t wait to incorporate into the master planning process as we move forward.
A big thank you to Mr. Friese and his class for welcoming us into their classroom and making the engagement session a success.
Sticky dots after students voted on their favourite ideas
We are pleased to announce that Victoria’s City Council voted unanimously to adopt the Parks and Open Spaces Master Plan!
The plan is the culmination of a year-long effort to create a strategic level roadmap to help guide the planning, management, and investment into the City’s parks system for the next 25 years.
Developed by Lees+Associates staff in collaboration with City of Victoria staff, stakeholders and the public, the vision for the parks system is strongly rooted in environmental protection, inclusiveness, diversity, health and wellness.
We look forward to seeing how the implementation of the plan unfolds!
Fall at Beacon Hill Park, Victoria
The Cochrane Cemetery Master Plan reached a milestone on Monday Nov 14 when Town Council unanimously adopted the new master plan and cemetery bylaw. The master plan aims to create a cemetery with a beautiful, park-like setting, diversify the range of interment options and reflect the unique character and heritage of Cochrane.
According to the Cochrane Times;
In order to ensure the Cochrane Cemetery is able to appropriately service the community as the population grows, town council gave all three readings needed to implement the new Cemetery Master Plan and updates to the cemetery bylaw…
Below are some renderings and photos of the current site…