An Architectural Puzzle

Veteran’s Memorial Park is getting a refresh with relocated and reinvented memorials as well as a strategic new layout.

Sometimes, Architectural design can feel like a puzzle—but it’s a puzzle the Murphy & Dittenhafer team is well-equipped to solve. 

With the recent dedication of the Four Chaplains and Charles W. David, Jr. Memorial at Veterans Memorial Park in York, the next phase of design work for the park is happening on an even broader scale: “We’re enhancing the whole memorial area, reinventing existing memorials and even moving other memorials from elsewhere in the city to the park,” said Harper Kvasnovsky, Senior Associate at M&D.

Moving pieces

Following the completion of the Four Chaplains and Charles W. David, Jr. Memorial in 2026 and the Gold Star Healing & Peace Garden about a decade prior, the current design work at Veterans Memorial Park aims to reconfigure and enhance the destination to offer a more cohesive visiting, remembrance, and educational experience.

The City of York has decided to move two memorials from their existing locations in the city to the park. Both the Korean War memorial on West Market Street and World War II Memorial in Continental Square will be getting a new home.

The plan makes sense for more than just the park. Due to an impending project along the Codorus Creek, the Korean War Memorial will have to be moved regardless. Moreover, the World War II Memorial’s move will help push forth a revamp of the center square.

Logistically, moving heavy stone memorials is no small feat. However, organizations like York County Economic Alliance and York Excavating are involved to streamline the process.

For the full park redesign, M&D completed the concept design earlier this year, and final construction drawings are currently underway. Fundraising for construction is also in the works with a committed team behind it. Overall, excitement is building, Kvasnovsky says.

Here’s what Veterans Memorial Park will look like following completion of the enhancements:

From the parking lot, visitors will be led via a crushed stone walking path and stream gravel pathway through a series of nine key elements:

1. Gold Star Healing & Peace Garden

2. Four Chaplains and Charles W. David, Jr. Memorial

3. Purple Heart Memorial

4. WWII Memorial

5. All Wars Memorial

6. Korean War Memorial

7. Ceremonial Plaza

8. Reflection Meadow

9. New Veterans Memorial Flag Pole

Bigger than design

Ultimately, this reconfiguration will guide people seamlessly from memorial to memorial. A stone pathway will lead visitors to every memorial, and the park will maintain an overarching story it can really own.

“After working on the Four Chaplains and Charles W. David, Jr. Memorial and creating a brand-new project, it’s nice to take a step back and look at the park’s big picture,” says Kvasnovsky. “This will help highlight what the park was created for, and that’s to honor veterans.”

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