Custom House Square is a renovation of a existing 37,500 square foot parking lot located in the heart of the New Bedford Historic District, adjacent the historic Custom House, The New Bedford Whaling Museum and monument to the 54th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. 

The site had been a recruiting station for the 54th Regiment, one of the first black units to fight in the Civil War. The site is also a popular site for regional events and festivals. The new park design incorporates lushly planted groves and mounds amongst a flexible field of hardscape that welcomes meandering paths, spaces for small groups and an area for larger seasonal events. The planting and design materials are environmentally sensitive and provide a subtle interpretation of the worldly locations the historic whalers of New Bedford traveled to while at sea.

client

City of New Bedford

location

New Bedford, MA

TEAM

Stoss