“Bricks and Mortar,†a poem by Barbara Buckman Strasko, can be found engraved in a river of granite at the corner of King and Queen Streets in downtown Lancaster.
Lancaster dedicated the newly renovated Market Square, including the poem in granite, on Friday, September 30, 2016 at 12:00 pm.
This project was begun back in 2009, when the City’s Office of Public Works invited Poetry Paths to commission a poem that would be incorporated into the already existing design for the renovation of Penn Square. John Hershey, then a member of the renovation design firm Thomas Comitta Associates, proposed that the poem be engraved in the granite “river†— now called “Confluence†— that would flow through the Square.
In 2010, after a national call for poems, a selection committee of Lancaster residents, writers, and arts professionals chose the poem “Bricks and Mortar†by Lancaster poet and teacher Barbara Buckman Strasko. Over two hundred residents of the city, by publicly commenting on the four poems named as finalists at displays throughout downtown Lancaster, had helped the committee make its choice.
We thank everyone who brought this project to fruition, including our advisors and donors, the poet and site designers, the construction team, the City of Lancaster, and all of the people who have participated in and supported Poetry Paths over the years!
