More than 20 years ago, a group of hopeful individuals got together to create a monument to peace in Nebraska. The space was meant to give people a gathering spot to contemplate, meditate, and escape from the outside world for a while. Today, it sits empty and decaying.
The Prairie Peace Park is located outside of Lincoln in the tiny town of Pleasant Dale. It was once a 27-acre tract of land that encouraged visitors to contemplate their places in the world.
flickr/Justin Waits
The park opened in 1994 and attracted nationwide attention. Several notable celebrities and 1500 other attendees came to celebrate its opening.
flickr/Justin Waits
Two large-scale works of art were the highlight of the park. The sculpture above, a metal globe titled “The Dance of Children,” represented world peace with children leading the way.
flickr/Justin Waits
This enormous clay mural was created by 40 artists from around the world. Many fascinating scenes and messages are depicted all across the surface.
flickr/Justin Waits
flickr/Justin Waits
The park’s creator focused on children and teaching the next generation to live in peace with one another. Groups of children were invited to the park to paint murals like this one on the side of the house on the park’s grounds.
flickr/Justin Waits
Kids from all over the world sent in art, concepts for art pieces, and messages of peace and togetherness.
flickr/Justin Waits
This wall-size map of the world was made using painted film canisters. This series of photos was taken in 2010; since then, nearly all of the film canisters have either fallen off or been removed.
flickr/Justin Waits
In 2005, after experiencing financial troubles, the park was sold to Global Country World Peace, based in Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa. Plans to build a “peace palace” there fell through and the park was offered for sale once again. The land was up for sale for quite a while, with the stipulation that the globe sculpture and mural remain intact.
flickr/Justin Waits
Today, the house is in disrepair and the grounds are overgrown and fenced off. But there are still very real reminders of the messages of peace and love once embraced here, including the globe sculpture and the mural which can still be seen through the trees at exit 388 off of I-80.
flickr/Justin Waits
YouTube user Kayla Humphrey visits the park each year to see how it’s faring; this video was created in November 2016 and shows the park in a sad state.
flickr/Justin Waits
This video features park co-founder Don Tilley explaining more about the vision behind this unique piece of Nebraska’s past.
Have you visited this unusual park? Were you around when it was built? Tell us about your memories and experiences in the comments!
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