The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) and Plymouth Meeting-based BrightView Landscapes, a national commercial landscaping services company, recently announced a plan to make significant improvements to the grounds of one of Independence National Historical Park (INHP) in Philadelphia.

BrightView is donating landscape rehabilitation work to INHP, including the complete replacement of sod in the park’s most visited section, Block One of Independence Mall, bounded by the Liberty Bell Center on South Sixth Street and Independence Hall on Chestnut Street. Work began this week and likely will continue until the end of April. The lawn will remain roped off through May to allow the sod to take root.

In addition to turf remediation, BrightView has committed to repair or replace the Block One irrigation system, to make significant improvements to the gardens and hardscape along South Independence Mall East, to improve beds surrounding the Liberty Bell Center, and to provide arbor care for trees along the east and west sides of Block One. BrightView also has committed to maintain the Block One landscape for a full year at no cost to NPS.

“We are sincerely grateful to BrightView for this much needed in-kind donation. This landscaping project in front of Independence Hall – a World Heritage Site and the birthplace of our nation, will beautify the Park for our millions of visitors to enjoy as they move through the grounds and make their connections with history,” said Park Superintendent Cindy MacLeod. “We truly appreciate Independence Historical Trust for facilitating the relationship between INHP and BrightView.”

BrightView President and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Masterman said the company is honored to help.

“We’d like to thank the National Park Service for the privilege of working on this historic site and for helping to improve the experience for everyone visiting Independence National Historical Park,” he said. “BrightView is a national company, but Philadelphia is our home. INHP is a source of pride for everyone living in this community and for those who travel here from around the world to experience the history of America’s independence.”

INHP is not the first historic landscape developed or cared for by BrightView. The company installed new sod on the National Mall in Washington D.C. in 2011 and developed landscapes in New York’s Governors Island. BrightView also maintains landscapes at Virginia’s historic Colonial Williamsburg and Green-Wood Cemetery, a National Historic Landmark in Brooklyn, N.Y.

BrightView and Independence National Historical Park will host a ribbon cutting event for the new Block One landscape work later in the spring.