Testimony for HPRB Hearing March 28, 2013
Daniel Goldon Wolkoff
1231 Randolph St. NE
Washington, DC 20017
202-232-8391
amglassart@yahoo.com
www.adamsmrgoanstainedglass.com
HPRB Hearing on March 28th, 2013 DC Water Project at McMillan
Att:Steve Callcott
We must stop wasting a fortune in treasure, and preserve historic McMillan Park for so many excellent reasons—for its historic significance, its airy tree-lined landscaped beauty, breezy open sense of Great Place, value to the environment, for our economy, for our families, our community, our nation and the world. I ask the HPRB to reject the VMP development plan and block the destructive DC Water plan for storm water runoff storage at McMillan. Your own Nomination to the National Register of Historic Places
(http://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/13000022.htm) describes such a magnificent, fascinating and elegant historic and civic engineering accomplishment, it is difficult to understand how you will not completely protect and keep intact the McMillan site.
We must recognize the value of the whole site, and all it’s historic structures, ready for restoration and continued benefit as a park, with carefully selected adaptive re-use of facilities consistent with it’s history and the public’s need for open, parkland and “great Places”.
The proposal to excessively develop this park for revenue to the DC government is an insult to the DC community. After the DC govt. closed and completely wasted this special historic site for over 27 years, and has deprived residents of all the benefits of such an elegant and beautifully planned park. Who would reward this miserable performance? The next insult to our city is the disgusting idea to turn parts of this park into a sewer.
The Mayor’s Flooding Task Force blamed poor sewer construction from the early 1800’s for the serious flooding problems we have in Bloomingdale. How could they not blame the DC WASA for over 150 years of negligence, and miserable costly poor planning? WASA allowed this problem to persist to the year 2013? WASA did not correct this when local people were flooded 10, 20, 40 years ago, but suddenly they are so concerned as newer residents, a higher economic bracket, are horrified to have their dear basement apartment investments threatened by sewage and storm water runoff, coming the wrong way out of the toilets and drains. DCWASA has recently discovered inspecting, and cleaning out the storm drains, which was their responsibility all this time. Storm drains all over DC are clogged with litter and debris all the time, my storm drain at my corner was growing a bush! The storm drains are continually full of garbage, and we all wonder what DC Water (a useless, wasteful name change) is doing? This agency likewise does not deserve to bail itself out by turning sections of McMillan Park into a smelly sewer of storm water runoff full of gasoline, oil, antifreeze and animal feces.
The Flooding task-force and common sense tell us to use natural storm water mitigation like tree planting, community gardens, ground cover, rain barrels, permeable surfaces, re-charging curbs, removing the excessive paving that the DC govt. has destructively contracted all over the city. The $42 million for a huge tank at McMillan should be spent on trees and taking up pavement. Green spaces like Crispus Attucks Park an entire alley converted to green space, on 1st and T shows us how to reclaim impermeable areas and create gardens and green space with trees and bushes, with numerous benefits to cooling the city blocks and reducing storm water runoff. We need places to build our community, and the DC govt. needs to start facilitating our quality of life, not just “mixed-use“ super–urbanization, like this VMP plan.
If WASA was so concerned with the impact of storm water runoff, they certainly never demanded responsible zoning which allows unrestrained development to pave over our city and virtually deforest the struggling tree cover. This project for storm water retention is specifically to continue an irresponsible super-urbanization of this section of DC. It is to continue the environmental damage to our city with thousands of new housing and commercial units, worsening the flooding and eliminating the last open spaces, green space and even historic McMillan Park. A moratorium on new construction is the only responsible thing to do. While a massive green plan to naturally reduce the storm water runoff is the best use of the $42 million. We have a glut of commercial property already going to waste and new residents can renovate derelict and unused industrial properties, and we all can enjoy the remaining green space which is simply sensible, and conserving our resources for a healthier quality of life.
DC Water, has increased our water bills over 900%, paying for a $3 billion storm water retention plan to reduce the dumping of raw sewage into our rivers, mostly the Anacostia. God knows how much environmental harm this has caused, and still not addressing the impermeable surface issue, but charging us more for the driveway, and patio, than for water and sewer services. Less than 20 years ago 3 people paid $30 for water and sewer service, and today one person pays over $125 for the same service. Another expensive and destructive indication of the miserable planning we get from our DC agencies like DC Office of Planning. Would McMillan Park have been fenced off for 28 years had it been located in the upper NW section of DC? What else could the DC government do to insult our section of the city, make it into a sewer! Where does the smelly air vent as the pristine sand beds are polluted with dirty storm water runoff?
It is really the whole region and nation, and the international visitors that would come to such an interesting and gracious park as destination and “Great Place”, that is deprived by the massive waste of McMillan. These gracious healthy planned parks in the” Emerald Necklace” need to be restored, expanded, and interconnected, just as planned in 1901. Why waste these precious resources. The appointed development team VMP, 9 of the top design and planning corporations in the United States, has planned to section up the park, 50% for this, 20% for that, and they claim to be honoring the legacy of those civic minded talents in the Cities Beautiful Movement. How arrogant, this is not how DC was planned by the greatest architects and planners. The visions of Pierre L’Enfant and the Senate Parks McMillan Commission is certainly being erased, corrupted and paved over. This is a tragic waste of another needed community park, once landscaped by Frederick Law Olmsted, and now turned over to consumerism, and materialism, and even made a sewer.
It is the DC governments attempt to do way too much, that will make the fascinating history into a row of ruins between massive building complexes, and the project will fail from it’s own sheer excess. My vision of a healthy art, performance, and educational park, restored by our youth, training for hands on trades careers, with views, and tree lined promenades, urban agriculture and a healing garden, sustainable energy demonstrations and resident artists, concerts and festivals is exactly what the city has been deprived of for way too long. What exactly do the residents of Potomac and West Bethesda deserve in the benefits of Glen Echo Park,, that we here in the center of DC don’t deserve?
The site design presented by Professor Gusevich and her team from CUA absolutely addresses the HPRB concerns vastly better than VMP plan. Even then I think only certain things, mostly in adaptive re-use will enhance the park, it’s services and revenue production. Professor Gusevich concept for a large City Market and Bazaar in under surface galleries is “World Class”, imaginative, and consistent with preserving the surface area and restoration. We can pick and choose carefully, exactly which things will fit, and coordinate with the restoration of this Olmsted Park. A Park Conservancy and McMillan Consortium, of objective experts and community members, can work with Howard University, National Park Service and DC agencies, just like Glen Echo, for a spectacular, open breezy, shady, gracious park restoration, water works, sun-lighted stream, which will provide revenue for the city, increase property values and connect to other parks, trails, green space, with natural storm water mitigation, cooler shady neighborhoods, and a healthier quality of life.
Daniel Goldon Wolkoff
Adams Morgan Stained Glass
1231 Randolph Street, NE
Washington, DC 20017
Tel: 202-232-8391
www.adamsmorganstainedglass.com
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