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Crystal Cathcart is a force of nature, helming an organization to create a living memorial to her nephew, Elijah Gomez, who was shot and killed while walking home from Hamden High School on the Farmington Canal trail in 2022. He was 15. His killer was recently sentenced to 35 years in prison.
Crystal hopes to create a woodland garden on 1.7 acres of town-owned land as a memorial to her nephew and a healing place for anyone impacted by violence. Elijah's Garden of Healing is located across from the Whitney Center retirement community on Leeder Hill Road--a property that was once part of the Olin Corporation’s holdings. Olin still owns neighboring Six Lakes.
The concept for Elijah’s Garden of Healing is similar to the High Line in New York City: a raised platform covered in native bushes and flowers. At the heart of Elijah’s Garden stands a 7- to 10-foot-high metal structure stretching hundreds of feet in length. Originally part of Winchester Repeating Arms Company’s ammunition testing and storage program, the structure still contains rooms from that era. Today, the platform is only accessible by ladder. Cathcart brings one to the site every time she shows a visitor around.
“See how the trees come together over this structure,” she says. “We absolutely love it. Our vision is to build boardwalk decking over it. We’ll have planters and seating, maybe for a survivor group or where a school classroom could engage, and also have individual seating. A place not only to commemorate those lost, but all kinds of other work that is going on related to violence in the community and violence prevention. We want to build long, sloping handicap-accessible ramps to get people up here.
“We have formulated plans we’re using as the basis of grant writing,” she adds, “but we need to do community feedback sessions and be entirely open to our plans changing based on that feedback.” She mentions that in 36 hours of community feedback at the recent CT Flower Show, two ideas emerged: a water feature and a labyrinth. Cathcart says Elijah loved nature and gardening, “and art, nature and wellness are pillars of our program.” She is thinking of creating art in the trees, which will be at eye level when visitors stand on the raised structure. There are also plans for a network of trails through one side of the property.
Cathcart posted just one flyer at Best Video as her initial outreach and got an immediate response from Marissa Meade--who happened to be the chief designer of the New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing Dedicated to Victims of Gun Violence on Valley Street, through her firm Svigals + Partners. She’s been helping the Elijah’s Garden project for the past two years, accompanying Cathcart to look at different sites around town with former Hamden councilman Justin Farmer (a member of the Six Lakes Park Coalition steering committee), as well as current Hamden council member Abdul Osmanu.
They were initially looking at sunny sites, which made sense because most gardens need a lot of sun. Cathcart had visited the open space behind the playground at DeNicola Park on Treadwell Street three times, but had never gone into the woods behind it.
“We did research to figure out what this was. This is part of the Olin Powder Farm originally. UConn did a project for us, providing historical information.” She adds, “DEEP dug all over and found no evidence of contamination,” unlike in parts of the Six Lakes section of the Olin property.
Cathcart appreciates the symmetry, even irony, of a property once used to develop the means to kill people now being used to comfort people who’ve lost loved ones to gun violence, as well as to discuss violence prevention.
What would this vision cost to bring to fruition? Cathcart estimates “the cost is just shy of $2 million to do everything we dream of, as long as structural support is not needed. Our idea is not to tap into any town funding because town taxes are already so high, but we do want state and federal funding. We do fundraising events around town because violence is happening all around town. Connecticut has funding for trails and also federal funding is available.”
If you’d like to support Elijah’s Garden, you can sign their petition calling for the creation of the healing garden here. Visit their website to learn about more ways you can get involved. |
The Town of Hamden has a program to plant more street trees in southern Hamden, specifically, in the Newhall/Highwood, Hamden Plains, and State Street neighborhoods. The Town will pay for and plant the tree, but the resident is responsible for its care. For more information or to request a tree, email Hamden Tree Warden Chris Rhone: crhone@hamden.com.