A project that promises to transform the triangle of benches and trees at Hanover Square into a sculpted English garden moved a step forward with the selection of a design team and the visit by a princess.

		Julian and Isabel Bannerman were selected by a jury that included representatives from the British consulate, the New York City Parks Department, Community Board 1 and the Downtown Alliance, to design the British Memorial Garden. The husband-and-wife team, based in Bristol, England, were chosen from a field of six British landscape architects. “They are renowned for doing classical Georgian gardens with a little bit of an edge,” said Camilla Hellman, president of the British Memorial Garden Trust. The winning design features curving green hedges, and 25 stone benches that will snake around a tall topiary and colorful flowerbeds. “I’m not aware of any garden quite like it in the city,” said Judy Duffy, assistant district manager of Community Board 1 and one of the jurors. The next step will be collaboration between the designers and the Parks Department to modify the plan to accommodate crosswalks and other access issues. A
place is also being sought for the statue of Peter Peyser, which will need to be moved. Neighborhood concerns, such as the cost of maintenance, will be handled by an endowment fund. Hellman said the designers have also promised not to remove existing trees. The idea for the garden grew out of the attack on the World Trade Center, when The St George’s Society, which aids British citizens in need in New York, was looking for a way to use money raised after Sept. 11.

“After 9/11 a lot of us who don’t have family here realized we all pulled together as a city and counted on each other a lot,” said Hellman. “I felt it would be nice to give something back to the city.” The garden will honor the 67 British victims of the terrorist attack, but is about more than Sept. 11. “There is an element that will notice the World Trade Center,” said Hellman, “but then there’s so much more that’s happened between the two nations for so long.” A second part of the plan, a work of art to symbolize unity between the United States and Great Britain, will be chosen in a separate competition to be completed by the end of June. The project has an estimated budget of $2.5 to $3 million. The British Memorial Garden Trust recently received nonprofit status and has begun to raise money.
Construction is expected to begin next spring, with completion targeted for the fall of 2004. A ceremony for Remembrance Day, the British Veteran’s Day, is planned for Nov. 11. Princess Anne visited Hanover Square on April 29 to present a selection of seeds from the royal gardens of England to Adrian Benepe, Commisioner of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. “This garden could do more than just act as a focal point to honor those lost on Sept. 11th” she said in a ceremony outside 3 Hanover Square. “This garden could also give a distinctly British contribution to the revitalization of Lower Manhattan.” After reviewing several sites, Hanover Square was selected in part because of historical ties to England. After the Revolutionary War, it was one of the few public spaces to retain its English name. The size and character of the square was also a factor. “Hanover Square is typical of a square you might find in London,” Hellman said.