Location: Charlottesville, VA
Status: Complete 2024

Originally designed by Lawrence Halprin & Associates in 1976, the eight block Downtown Mall is an essential part of public life in Charlottesville, the only extent Halprin work in Virginia and his only designed pedestrian mall, the longest in the country. After 50 years of growth in compacted, urban conditions with an increase of regional droughts and hotter days (causing reduced photosynthesis), the originally planted trees are showing increased signs of stress and decline.

Of the 125 trees that make up the Mall precinct trees, 13% have been removed due with an additional 56 removals predicted over the next 10-15 years (58% total). In collaboration with Pitchford & Associates, the Management Plan provides preservation strategies to extend the life of the existing trees as well as short and long term phasing approaches for all of the trees as individual groves decline. Based on tree health and location, a proposed block by block interspersed replacement approach over two decades helps maintain the commercial vitality of the Mall while sustaining the design vision and dappled shade that has made this iconic landscape thrive.