Photo: Friends of Titanic Memorial Park celebrate their 2021 bench repainting project. 
Courtesy of Beth Hall

By Southwester Staff

Forty-four benches at the Titanic Memorial Park received a fresh coat of paint on Saturday, September 17.  

The National Park Service (NPS) provided the materials and 18  volunteers provided the labor to update the benches. The event was organized by the Friends of Titanic Memorial Park, an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that works with the NPS to preserve, restore and maintain the park. The group has developed several projects and plans to restore the park to its original beauty, maintain the park for everyone’s enjoyment, and build community within the neighborhood of Southwest DC.

When not limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, the bench repainting is an annual project. In addition, the group hosts cleanups each year after July 4 as well as planting during the spring and fall season. The northern play area of  the park was re-tiled in 2019, though the southern play area re-tiling was delayed by pandemic restrictions. 

In 2018, the Friends of Titanic Memorial Park found as-built drawings of the original landscaping and the water service at the National Archives. These documents will be used to inform a major renovation project that the National Park Service is scheduled to begin in 2023 or 2024. To celebrate and support this effort, the Friends will commemorate the 110th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic and celebrate the future of Titanic Memorial Park at Arena Stage on April 16, 2022.

The Friends of Titanic Memorial Park welcomes all new members. More information is available at www.fotmpdc.org.

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