Dear Houston PCA,

When I visited Quarra Stone Co. with the Peace Corps Park design team a few months ago, I was struck by a detailed blueprint showing the 228 unique pavers of Virginia Mist granite making up the world map at the center of the Park. 

I stared at it for a long time, and I can’t stop thinking about what it represents: an interlocking puzzle, each stone unique with its own exact shape and thickness, working together to create what will be the most accurate map of the world represented in stone in Washington, D.C.

“Thousands of hours of discussion have gone into this layout, over the years, with everyone on the design team and with our partners at Quarra,” project manager John Grant told me.

A few weeks ago, the project reached the final step before fabrication, called "100% slabbing." Every one of those 228 pavers has now been cut from a parent block, measured and prepped for the saw, ready to proceed as soon as we can raise the funds needed to give the green light.

Nothing about this map is generic. Nothing is a repeat. It is, quite literally, a 228-piece puzzle that only fits together one way.

Our design team chose that specific way after considering dozens of different ways to show the world. They chose the Pierce projection, with the North Pole at the center, because it’s the most accurate representation of the relative sizes of the world’s landmasses.

“We wanted the map to be as accurate as possible,” lead designer Larry Kirkland said, “because Peace Corps folks, more than most people, know the exact geography of the places they serve when they go abroad and we had to get that right.”

One result of using this projection, though, is that if you use latitude and longitude lines to separate the pavers, the pieces farthest from the center become so heavy that it makes them unwieldy to work with. That means the team had to design and place each seam and joint deliberately to facilitate shaping and to integrate seamlessly with the varying textures of land and sea.

“We created a lot of extra work for ourselves and for the fabricator,” Larry admits, “but it’s for the right reasons.”

As with the approach to the Park’s inscriptions, this is the kind of engineering that disappears into the experience of the place. A premium execution that’s meant to be felt, not noticed. It reflects the whole discipline of this design team: complexity in service of something that reads as simple, even inevitable, once it's built.

With the pavers ready and Quarra’s expert team standing by, they are just waiting on one thing from us — the notice to proceed. We can't issue that until we've closed the gap on funding. 

Every dollar raised now is a dollar closer to the day we can make that phone call and tell Quarra to start carving.

Yours in service,

Glenn A. Blumhorst
Chief Advancement Officer
Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation

GBlumhorst@PeaceCorpsCommemorative.org

Campaign progress

To date, this dedicated community has raised $8,347,013 of the $14,000,000 budget for Peace Corps Park and its digital companion experience, leaving us $5.7 million from our goal.

We recently launched a Friends of Sam Farr campaign to raise $250,000 in honor of “Mr. Peace Corps” to include his name on the on-site recognition plaque at Peace Corps Park – so far we have raised $39,752 toward that goal. If you would like your donation to be counted toward that campaign, please indicate that when you make your gift.

We gratefully thank and celebrate the following 222 supporters who have made new donations and/or pledges since June 11, 2026, contributing $192,690 toward the completion of Peace Corps Park:

*indicates new gift in addition to previous contributions
Explore the full list of donors on our website

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