CAPITOL
BUILDING MEMORIAL
ST. THOMAS, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
PROJECT STATUS | UNBUILT
PROJECT BACKGROUND
VA was hired to prepare design and construction documents for the rehabilitation of the Capitol Building Grounds, including the repositioning of historic cannons and the reinterpretation of the Battery and Transfer Monument, which commemorates the 1917 transfer of the Danish West Indies to the United States. The project introduced a memorial wall and esplanade to host Transfer Day ceremonies while creating a dignified public space for residents and tourists to connect with the islands’ history.
EXISTING CONDITIONS
The site required a full upgrade of infrastructure, hardscape, lighting, and landscape to restore its dignity as a historic landmark. Storm-damaged mahogany trees with exposed roots disrupted paving, while air-conditioning chillers and mechanical equipment detracted from the main façade. Parking built on shoreline fill blocked views of the cannons, Transfer Monument, and ocean, while also harming marine life.
PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL
Our design introduced grassy embankments and buttressed walls referencing the historic battery and Fort Christian, with memorials, historic markers, and a ceremonial pedestrian approach featuring ADA access to the Legislature. Parking lots were eliminated to dignify the island’s last undeveloped historic waterfront, aside from limited temporary spaces for senators.
AFTERWARD
A complete set of construction documents was prepared, though the project was never built. As with many public and institutional works in the islands, debates over infrastructure were central: for years the community argued whether the Capitol’s Battery and Transfer site should be surrounded by a four-lane highway to connect to Veterans Drive and Charlotte Amalie, or instead reconnected to Fort Christian through harbor fill. The latter—restoring the historic link without a roadway dividing the sites—was the solution most likely to move forward.
