Design Notebook -- Garden Of Remembrance

A garden of stone, water and the engraved names of those lost to war will surround the new Benaroya Symphony Hall at Second Avenue and University Street. While the symphony is planning its dedication for September, the new garden will officially open the Fourth of July.

So when the Public Safety Building is torn down in a year or two, the list of Washington state war dead will not be lost, but honored in stone and water and trees amid a new urban setting. The Garden of Remembrance will have low granite walls engraved with the more than 7,000 names of those who served from our state in World War II, Korea, Vietnam and later conflicts.

The L-shaped half-acre garden along the south and west sides of Benaroya Hall was designed by Oregon landscape architect Bob Murase, who studied in Kyoto for a decade. Slender reflecting pools, waterfalls tumbling over rough stone, and trees, azaleas and native plants will hide the design challenges of building a garden over a bus tunnel and parking garage.

The garden is a joint effort of the private and public sector. For information, or to contribute, call 206-623-5751, or write to Garden of Remembrance, 1315 Madison St., Seattle, WA 98104. - Valerie Easton