IN RECOGNITION OF THE GRAND OPENING OF THE CLEVELAND SYRIAN CULTURAL GARDEN; Congressional Record Vol. 157, No. 71

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IN RECOGNITION OF THE GRAND OPENING OF THE CLEVELAND SYRIAN CULTURAL

GARDEN

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HON. DENNIS J. KUCINICH

of ohio

in the house of representatives

Monday, May 23, 2011

Mr. KUCINICH. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the grand

opening of the Cleveland Syrian Cultural Gardens, taking place on May

29, 2011.

The 254-acre piece of land that constitutes Rockefeller Park was

donated to the City of Cleveland by John D. Rockefeller in 1896. The

Cleveland Syrian Cultural Gardens is a fifty-acre piece of land within

Rockefeller Park. These gardens were founded in 1926 to create a

memorial area for the diverse ethnic groups that shape the region, and

to serve as a space of reflection on peace, cooperation and

understanding. The Cultural Gardens is currently a collection of 26

gardens which include African-American, American Indian, British,

Chinese, Czech, Estonian, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Irish, Italian,

Polish, and Slovenian gardens, among others.

In 1929, the land for a Syrian Cultural Garden was allotted to the

Greater Syrian American Community. The Syrian American and Arab

American community have, for over 100 years, played a vital role in the

spiritual, social and cultural life of the greater Cleveland community.

For unknown reasons, the garden was never planned or built.

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Decades later, while researching Arab immigration, the Arab American

Community Center for Economic and Social Services (AACCESS) in Ohio

came across the garden plot. After informing Cleveland's Syrian

community, the project was restarted in 2004. The Syrian American

Cultural Garden Association, Syrian Medical Society, Syrian American

Cultural Council and the National Arab American Medical Association,

Ohio Chapter worked to design the project.

The design of the Syrian Cultural Garden was created by an

architectural graduate student from Damascus University. The garden

will be composed of many elements that represent Syrian culture such as

the Arches of Palmyra, Amphitheater of Basra, Syrian Arch, and the

Arabic Fountain and will include Damascene roses.

Mr. Speaker and colleagues, please join me recognition of the grand

opening of the Cleveland Syrian Cultural Garden, the newest edition to

Cleveland's historic Cultural Gardens.

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