Sunday, January 19, 2014

free Save McMillan Park yard signs

See this message from James Dezazzo:

free Save McMillan Park yard signs
Are you disgusted by the way the Vision McMillan team are ramming their development plan down the throat of our community? Their recent slogan "Create McMillan Park" made our skin crawl. So, we are offering free "Save McMillan Park" yard signs to the first 10 people who write to me at JamesDezazzo@gmail.com. Just send me your address and I will bring your sign by. Maybe if enough people get mad about the disingenuous marketing and other shady behavior, we will get the park the city needs and deserves.

Update from your blog moderator:

The image below is just a logo. It is not the image of the Save McMillan Park yard signs that you see around the neighborhood.

This is the Save McMillan Park yard sign.

So I believe that there is just * one * image for the Save McMillan Park yard signs.




13 comments:

Alex Dancingmantis said...

Wow, so there will be 2 different yard signs for the anti-development folks. I guess the large portion of the community that wants things to move forward so that we can access park space in our lifetimes (and before the existing structures collapse) need to get cracking on a second sign!
How about a new slogan appropriate to the site's 70 year incarceration behind chain link: "Free Our McMillan Now!"

mona said...

In case you haven't figured this out James your calling all your neighbors that support the VMP project shady. How many times must it be repeated, the neighbors went to VMP to get signs. They didn't approach anyone asking if they wanted a sign. And when they were asked they responded with the signs. So thanks for calling your neighbors "shady". BTW...what difference are more signs going to make? Until you realize that not everyone is in favor of turning McMillian into a vegetable garden with solar panels you will continue to make signs that say the same thing again and again and again.

CairaDances said...

For clarification - "Create McMillan Park" signs are for residents who WANT redevelopment of McMillan. We are pro-development, but also PRO-PARK. VMP's plans for redevelopment will include an 8-acre park. Currently, we have access to none of the park. And if James and his friends have their way - we may never have access. The reality is this: it is not a financial reality for the entire site to be a park! Enough name-calling. We respect your right to disagree - but the majority of people I know in this community are ready to move forward with redevelopment of McMillan! IF YOU FEEL THE SAME AND WOULD LIKE A FREE "CREATE MCMILLAN PARK" SIGN - email info@NeighborsForMcMillan.com.

DB said...

Disingenuous, James?? I believe it was the Washington City Paper that recently gave Friends of McMillan the year's "MOST MISLEADING SLOGAN" award for "Save McMillan Park." Because it was never a park. The "Create McMillan Park" signs are in fact accurate. VMPs plans will create and provide access - finally - to a large park and community center.

NeighborsForMcMillan said...

Please stop bullying those of us who support redevelopment of McMillan.

BCC said...

On the subject of bullying one's neighbors, how about laying off those of us who don't want the equivalent of Club Fur at the corner of N. Cap & Quincy Pl. NW? Because that's what a cover-charged, open until 3am, DJ-hosted business is going to be. Yes to restaurant, no to DC's newest open-all-hours nightclub. Yuck, I didn't sign up to live near the kind of business better suited to be across the street from Sursum Corda.

Jenifer said...

if they took the fence down we'd all have access too the park anyway....like it used to be...

NeighborsForMcMillan said...

BCC - Not sure what you are referring to? N Cap and Quincy Pl, NW is not near McMillan.

Unknown said...

I believe the commenter is drawing a comparison between the current situation with the Firehouse attempting to secure a liquor license and the McMillan sign situation in the neighborhood.

Alex Dancingmantis said...

Unfortunately, with the manholes and collapsing cells, the city doesn't even feel that the site is safe enough for tours at present. We are a considerably more litigious society than we were 70 or 80 years ago. Honestly, without any lighting or law enforcement presence in the structures and cells, I'm not sure how good taking down the fence would be for the surrounding neighborhood.

As it is, in spite of claims made by people who oppose redeveloping the sand filtration site for use with a new, enormous park, there was never an original park there to "save". Accounts of picnics, bike rides, and fireworks viewings all took place across first street at the reservoir. I am all in favor of taking THAT fence down, but I doubt that the Army Corps of Engineers who controls the site is likely to oblige.

mona said...

Site isn't safe as is. So taking down the fence and watching couple of kids fall through manholes really isn't a good option. Who polices this vacant park at night if you take the fence down? MPD? Don't they have enough to do? Wonder what kind of signs will pop up when every drug dealer in the city starts using the vacant unfenced park as their place of business. The fence was put up for a good reason and taking it down cause more problems. Without some sort of development where people will be active in the area and homes are located McMillian has the potential to become a hazard to the city and a haven for crime. That is why a garden and solar panels won't fly. Don't see anyone volunteering to patrol the area at night or direct people around collapsing manholes 24/7

Jonathan Tomer said...

Maybe the "Friends" of McMillan non-development can get a more honest sign, like "Keep Our Industrial Waste Sites Inaccessible Forever." Catchy!

Daniel in brookland said...


Friends, there are so many posts recently , on so many angles of turning part of McMillan into one or another COMBO development, housing, retail, and some section "park",,,,,it is truly unfortunate. I have thought for all the years , we all shared the respect, and inspiration of this site as a whole. That only the base mercenary extension of the DC govt hacks disrespect for this mystical, historic place and their overt racist, classist contempt for this once lower income section of Washington, was the only corrupt motivation to treat McMillan like a commodity. I really hope we can gather itself up for the task of immense difficulty, because we are convinced it is the right thing to do,,
SAVE THIS OLMSTED PARK.
Save it as the whole landscape art, socially valuable place it is. We even, can and should move this healthy ethic, out into the Reservoir, and AFRH, and other amazing sustainable urban recovery for our city. VMP will overcrowd and divide up the site, with years of construction, they do not need anyone to support such surgery of the PARK. When they start sectioning off Rock Creek Park, we'll see this destructive precedent reflecting equality of destruction of public good..right now it's only on our side of town.
This park is diminished by such divisive sell out and I hope we can stand for the specialness, the "great place" all of it, as this is how "Great Places" happen. I hope we can keep it's ethics straight and understand the value we support, coherently. I wouldn't engage in theories of how to divide this park, when Parks are Development, they have park related activities, zoos, bistro, like whole parks all over the world, not half housing, distorting, and diminishing the whole. Parks produce revenue for govt.s and park consortium, and REMEMBER there is extreme critical value for the community, and the environment that is NOT MEASURED IN MONEY.
I hope, that everyone attracted
to McMillan/Olmsted Eco Campus can come together with us for such a wonderful thing to preserve. If that isn't worth doing, Barry Danekers obsession for super urbanization,
" VMP- light" is what we'll have, concessions to mediocrity and excess..
The scary thing I'm reading is "to support housing and retail on half of McMillan to pay for the infrastructure and support the park space". The richest city in the world already squandered over $50 million and that kind of equation is ridiculous, get the money to demolish half the historic park so we can have a lawn on the other half. That is pathetic to me. Don't demolish this place, and as it is plainly been said , work together as a community and recover the "great place" . It is only the motivation and priority in the power brokers that's driving mediocrity, which we can fight and win, not co-opted by them to a miserable draw.

Daniel Goldon Wolkoff