More points of interest to be found in Brandywine Park in Wilmington, DE. When you drive up and away from the flood plain, you end up on the southeastern end of the park in a pair of green spaces that feel a world away from the Brandywine River and old growth trees that cover the steep palisades. Here there are three attractions. Two are war memorials and one a performance venue that traces its origins back to the early days of the park when street cars still operated on the abandoned tracks now so far below along the river.
The first is the Delaware World War I Memorial featuring a wingless Angel of Peace with a olive branch on a high pedestal looking down on a circular brick plaza. There is also a bronze plaque bearing the names of the dead directly across from the statue on the opposite edge of the plaza. Japanese cherry trees of some age line the sidewalks leading to the memorial.
Reminds me of the Bethesda Angel in Central Park, New York City
Across Baynard Boulevard in view of this war memorial is the Delaware Vietnam War Memorial featuring a statue of a very different sort. On a mound surfaces with cobble stones stands a statue of two men. One hale and standing proud. The other limp and cradled in the first solder's strong arms. Any student of art will immediately recognize the allusion to the Pieta: Mary, the Mother of God, cradling the limp, sacrificed body of Jesus in her arms. Across about a third of the mound at the midway up point is a series of bronze plaques. Circular plaques feather the names and emblems of the various branches of the military starting with the Army and ending with Coast Guard. Between these, rectangular plagues contain the names (in alphabetical order) of the men and women who were killed in the war. The statue is certainly more affecting than the one of the Angel.
The final point of interest is the Sugar Bowl Gazebo. First build in 1902 as a venue for musical presentations, if was rotten away with a platform only sequestered from the public by a chain-link fence when in 2006 restoration efforts began. The recreated version opened to the public in 2016. Built on the edge of the palisade, the view from the far edge down left me dizzy--but I am no fan of heights. Still, it would wonderful to attend a musical or other presentation there on the ample green lawn stretching away between Baynard Boulevard and W. 18th Street.
No comments:
Post a Comment