(Updated at 4:38 p.m.) Locals will be able to help shape the future of a park in Southwest D.C. next month.
The National Park Service (NPS) plans to hold its first public meeting on the design of Buzzard Point Park at the Southwest Neighborhood Library (900 Wesley Pl. SW) on July 14 at 6:30 p.m. (Note: the meeting was originally scheduled to take place this Thursday but was moved to a new date, according to D.C. Councilmember Charles Allen.)
Members of the public will be able to share their thoughts and ideas on the future of the park, according to the NPS website. Attendees will also be able to learn about the history of the park during the meeting.
“Whether you live or work nearby, boat or paddle on the river, have an interest in local projects, or love your neighborhood national parks, stop by and share your ideas,” the meeting notice reads.
Locals who can’t make the meeting can also submit comments online or by mailing a letter to the government agency.
Photo via NPS
The National Park Service has added the former headquarters of a lesbian feminist group near Barracks Row to its National Register of Historic Places. NPS made the decision on Tuesday, according to The Washington Post.
The house, located at 219 11th St. SE, held a separatist collective of lesbian feminists called the “Furies” between 1971 and 1973, according to NPS. The Furies printed a monthly magazine and other publications that helped shape lesbian feminist ideology nationally and globally.
The home was also made the first lesbian-related historic landmark in D.C. in January.
Mark Meinke, a local LGBT history advocate, told Hill Now in January that he was confident the former Furies headquarters would make it onto the National Register.
“The National Park Service in 2014 launched an LGBTQ heritage initiative and they’re hoping to recognize a lot of queer sites,” he said. “The Barracks Row area was an early gay and lesbian neighborhood, so there are a lot of sites around there that would be interesting to nominate,” Meinke added.
Photo via Historic Preservation Review Board/ Mark Meinke
Federal Parks on Capitol Hill Remain Unshoveled — Capitol Hill residents and Ward 6 Councilman Charles Allen called on the National Park Service to shovel sidewalks in and around parks owned by the federal agency around Capitol Hill, many of which remain covered in snow. [Hill Rag]
All Metrobus Routes Running, Trash Pickup to Resume — The Capitol Hill area is slowly returning to normal after last weekend’s blizzard. Metro announced that all bus lines will run today, though some will experience detours. Trash collection will also resume. Those who usually have Thursday or Friday trash/recycling collection should leave cans out over the weekend, as the District Department of Public Works will be attempting to make all collections. On Monday, normally scheduled trash and recycling collection resumes. [Washington Post, D.C. DPW]
Photos: Snow Piles Up at RFK Parking Lot — WTOP has pictures from RFK Stadium’s parking lot 7, where snow plows and trucks are dumping snow from around the district, with snow reaching up to 20 feet high in some areas. [WTOP]
Developer Submits Plans for Mixed-Use Buildings Near Stadium-Armory Metro Station — Donatelli Development last week submitted its plans to redevelop a parking lot near the Stadium-Armory Metro station into two mixed-use buildings. [Washington Business Journal]
Hill East Resident Documents Years of Change on His Block — Hill East resident John Cochran shared photos he’s taken over the past five years which document recent changes to the area around 15th Street SE and Pennsylvania Avenue SE. [The Hill Is Home]
Photo via Twitter/ CharlesAllenW6
The newly formed Buzzard Point Marina Boat Owners Association has created an online petition asking the National Park Service to reconsider its decision to shutter the dock along the Anacostia River in Southwest.
The association, which boat owner Fred Mashack started earlier this month, has collected more than 80 signatures to “Save DC’s Buzzard Point Marina!” since its petition went up on Change.org yesterday. The National Park Service, the owner of the land under the marina, has told owners of the 58 boats docked at the facility that the agency would close it by the end of the year.
The petition says many boat owners who use Buzzard Point wouldn’t have the money to pay for more costly docking at nearby marinas.
“Buzzard Point is an historic D.C. marina dating over 50 years and has allowed D.C. boaters easy access to the water and to affordable boating for generations,” the petition says. “There are few other affordable and accessible nearby options for Buzzard Point boaters in D.C. to dock their 58 boats, which will likely force many to sell or move farther outside the District.”
Photo via Change.org/Buzzard Point Marina Boat Owners Association
Boat owners who use Buzzard Point Marina in Southwest are forming an owner’s association to lobby the National Park Service to reverse its decision to shutter the marina at the end of the year.
Last week, the 58 residents who keep their boats at the marina were told that they needed to vacate the docks by December 31. In response, Fred Mashack, who has docked his boat at Buzzard Point for 15 years, decided to try to organize his fellow boat owners and other community members to ask the Park Service to reconsider its decision.
“We want to do whatever it takes to help keep the marina open,” Mashack said. “We have to create enough interest that more people start using the marina and we can turn this thing around.”
The association, which was launched earlier this week, is still in its earliest stages. Mashack said he is going to spend the weekend at the marina recruiting other owners. For now, the association has a website where boat owners and other community members can sign on to show their support.
The Park Service decided to close the marina because the renovations and modernization that the marina needed were too expensive. Mashack said he understands where they’re coming from, but noted that less ambitious renovations might be possible if the association is able to encourage more interest in the marina and find people interested in docking their boats in the marina’s few empty spaces.
“It’s almost been a hidden treasure up until now, but now it’s at the point where we have to start getting more interest in the marina and get more boats in there,” he said. “The Park Services have a point: there’s not enough money to repair and modernize the marina, but the boat owners don’t really care about modernization as long as we can use the marina.”
Mashack says he hopes the association can gather community support for keeping the marina open and use it to pressure the Park Service to reconsider its decision.
“If we have enough people showing interest on the website, we could use that as a tool to say there is support here,” he said. “If we get enough people, we can talk to the Park Service and say work with us, don’t close it down.”
Photo via Google Maps
A historic home on Capitol Hill is one step closer to becoming part of the national park system.
The Sewall-Belmont House & Museum at 144 Constitution Ave. NE yesterday received word from the National Park Service that the site’s inclusion in the system is “suitable and feasible.” The National Park Service has more than 400 properties, including parks, monuments and historic homes.
The museum focused on women’s suffrage has an affiliation with the National Park Service. But it lacks the resources the agency provides to The Old Stone House in Georgetown, Arlington House at Arlington National Cemetery and other historic homes under its control.
The endorsement the National Park Service gave yesterday is “confirmation that this incredible story of women’s suffrage deserves a place in the national park system,” said Kristen Brengel, senior director of legislation and policy for the National Parks Conservation Association, which helps support U.S. national parks.
Neighboring the Senate Hart Office Building, the Sewall-Belmont House has served as the headquarters of the National Woman’s Party since 1929. The organization played a key role in securing the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.
With the museum’s new support from the National Park Service, President Barack Obama or Congress can move to bring the house into the national park system. But it’s unclear when, or if, the museum will become a National Park Service property.
“I don’t think there is a strict timeline here,” Brengel said.
Photo via Wikimedia/AgnosticPreachersKid
