thanksgiving place
As part of Stadium Place, ThanksGiving Place is a rare slice of peacefulness and natural green space in a bustling urban community.
ThanksGiving Place is a one-acre, park-like setting dedicated solely for the purpose of giving thanks and expressing gratitude, one of only two such places in America.
Currently, ThanksGiving Place features:
- A 65 ft Santa Rosa-bluestone labyrinth
- A grove of 35 Okame cherry trees framing the entrance
- A grassy, open space between the front entrance and the labyrinth
- Engraved bricks featuring individualized messages of reflection, celebration and personal memories
"When designing the redevelopment of such a cultural icon to the Baltimore community, we wanted to serve the greater good of the City's citizens. Affordable housing for our seniors was the top priority. However, we also wanted to offer a spiritual space for the public that welcomes all cultures and embraces all faiths. We are very blessed by having only one of two spaces in the entire country that accomplishes this goal," says Rev. Jack Sharp, President of Stadium Place.
ThanksGiving Place Background
During a visit to Dallas, Texas, Susan Macfarlane, then Chair of the ThanksGiving Place project team, was impressed by Thanks-Giving Square's message about the power of gratitude and thanks.
"A grateful heart is a healthy heart," says MacFarlane. "No matter your religion, if you are grateful to something bigger than yourself, the gratitude will unite you with that being. Gratitude is essential for living and healing."
Susan Macfarlane Tom Stoner
The Annapolis-based TKF Foundation jumpstarted the fundraising for ThanksGiving Place with a $150,000 challenge grant. The Foundation's mission is to provide the opportunity for a deeper human experience by supporting the creation of public greenspaces that offer a temporary place of sanctuary, that encourage reflection, that provide solace, and that engender peace.
"I was intrigued by the idea of creating a spot for reflection and giving thanks," said TKF Foundation President Tom Stoner. "Our world is very busy and impersonal. ThanksGiving Place offers an inter-faithful place of sanctuary that encourages reflection and a space for us to understand what we can be as we take the time to recognize what we are grateful for in our lives."
The TKF Foundation funds these projects through their Open Spaces, Sacred Places program. The projects are open and accessible to the public, such as healing and restorative gardens, community parks, pocket parks, public art, destination points on greenways and recreation paths, labyrinths, and Chesapeake Bay buffers.
The Future of ThanksGiving Place
November 19, 2007 the community joined in the dedication of the the J. Joseph Curran Memorial and Carillon. ThanksGiving Place also contains the Curran Memorial Bell Tower, which was relocated from it's home at the intersection of York Road & Woodbourne Avenue, in the Govans neighborhood.
