The Allee Trail at Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial in southern Indiana was rebuilt, renovated and expanded to create a route for visitors that meets the laws and standards of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA.)
The accessible path leads from the Memorial Visitor Center to the flagpole terrace and the pioneer cemetery in order to make the park more welcoming to visitors who come to gain insight into the boyhood years of Abraham Lincoln, learn about the philosophy and tenets he developed in his youth, and visit the burial place of his mother who died when the future president was nine years old. As an example of the NPS initiative “All In” the park now helps visitors with disabilities experience the historic designed landscape in the same manner as their family and friends.
The renovations include an upgrade from a gravel tread to an all-weather concrete aggregate surface for the trail and the observation pad at the Pioneer Cemetery. Improvements were made to the infrastructure that provide better long-term sustainability of the trail against the forces of water, runoff, and erosion.
The formal grounds with its parallel trails of the main Allee, planned by the celebrated landscape designer Frederick Olmstead in 1926 as a vista and a sanctuary, is a primary feature of the cultural landscape and was preserved while contemporary modifications were implemented to meet modern needs under the guidance of national and regional staff including landscape architects, historic landscape architects, cultural and natural resource specialists, compliance team members, and accessibility experts. The staff of the Indiana State Historic Preservation Office conducted a site visit and agreed with the NPS that there would be no adverse affect to cultural or natural resources.
The project was the result of an extraordinary team effort of collaboration among National Park Service preservation specialists, project managers, funding managers, contractors, as well as park partners and community members. Throughout the project there were many collaborative conference calls, site visits, consultations, and problem-solving discussions.
The project team was committed to the principles of Universal Design, a guiding philosophy that ensures that the upgrades and features that empower full accessibility for people with disabilities also create an improved park experience for all visitors.
Two new shaded walkways were added as spurs to the original parallel trails of the Allee and now serve as alternate routes to the stairs of the original Olmstead design. They curve through the wooded area to the upper level, but are not visible in the long-range view. This was a priority to preserve the viewshed of the open, columnar core of the Allee that was created in 1929 as a processional that contributes to the contemplative experience, leading to the gravesite of Nancy Hanks Lincoln and two forested trails that lead to the Lincoln Living Historical Farm.
In order to recruit community input, the staff installed in the visitor center a display of surface options and routes under consideration and invited written and verbal feedback. The Lincoln Boyhood staff hosted on-site visits by park neighbors who live with disabilities to test the current trails and share their opinions and input about preferred trail surfaces, materials, routes and preferred surface colors after traversing the route with wheelchairs.
The resulting trail system is a beautiful addition to the park and seen as a model for other national park improvement and accessibility projects. The trail is used and appreciated daily by visitors with wheelchairs and walkers, by joggers and pedestrians, athletes in training, dogs on leash, and families with babies in strollers and wagons, with universal design features that allow visitors of all abilities, disabilities and preferences to choose their ideal options between path or stairs, sun or shade, direct or indirect routes. It is a welcoming feature for those who already love the park, and those new to the park, who marvel at the opportunity to be immersed in the history and landscape where a self-educated boy lived and worked and studied for fourteen years among his family and friends in the Indiana woods.
