Sent: Wednesday, April 18, 2018 9:59 AM
Subject: McMillan Park Faces Imminent Destruction, as DC Mayor’s Agent Seeks to Fast-track Demolition of the Historic Park
Subject: McMillan Park Faces Imminent Destruction, as DC Mayor’s Agent Seeks to Fast-track Demolition of the Historic Park
CONTACT: Linwood Norman, 804-837-0737
McMillan Park Faces Imminent
Destruction, as DC Mayor’s Agent Seeks to Fast-track Demolition of the Historic
Park
Park
Supporters Have Petitioned DC Court of Appeals for Immediate Review of
Decisions Made by Mayor’s Agent
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Largely ignoring historic preservation laws, the Mayor’s Agent for Historic Preservation has approved the demolition of a major portion of McMillan Park, a 25-acre parcel at the corner of Michigan Avenue and North Capitol Street. The Mayor’s Agent refused a request made to delay demolition of the historic park until the matter could be reviewed by the D.C. Court of Appeals. Demolition thus could begin as soon as April 27.
In view of
the unconditional authorization made by the Mayor’s Agent to expedite
demolition, the Friends of McMillan Park has petitioned the D.C. Court of
Appeals to review the Mayor’s Agent decision in terms of its consistency with
D.C. historic preservation guidelines and other laws.
The Mayor’s
Agent is responsible for reviewing commercial development projects for their
compatibility with historic preservation guidelines, such as those that pertain
to McMillan Park, a District historic site. The City and a group of developers
seek to build a massive, high-rise complex at the park that would increase
local traffic by an additional 30,000 vehicles daily, in addition to other
adverse impacts to the surrounding neighborhoods.
In December
2016, the D.C. Court of Appeals overruled the developers’ project on zoning and
preservation grounds in a lawsuit brought by the Friends of McMillan Park and
others. The court remanded a series of questions to the Mayor’s Agent and to
the Zoning Commission for further review. Strong arguments were made by the
Friends of McMillan Park for a more creative re-use of the park’s assets rather
than destruction of the historic site, but the Mayor’s Agent ruled in favor of
the high-rise development.
“We’re
disappointed but hardly surprised that the Mayor’s Agent has once again sided
with the Mayor and her developer friends in favor of this no-compete project
that even the D.C. Auditor has said should be competitively re-bid.
Furthermore, we are shocked at the Mayor’s Agent sense of urgency in
fast-tracking the demolition,” said Friends of McMillan Park.
“The overwhelming evidence presented to the Court and applicable law do not permit the Mayor’s Agent to approve the unconditional demolition of 80 to 90% of this historic site in order to build a massive, out-of-scale medical office complex favored by the Mayor’s developer friends for purely speculative purposes. Neighborhood residents have overwhelmingly indicated support for an appropriate and creative, adaptive re-use of the historic park and its underground waterworks. We face an urgent threat against all we have been working for for years.”
“The overwhelming evidence presented to the Court and applicable law do not permit the Mayor’s Agent to approve the unconditional demolition of 80 to 90% of this historic site in order to build a massive, out-of-scale medical office complex favored by the Mayor’s developer friends for purely speculative purposes. Neighborhood residents have overwhelmingly indicated support for an appropriate and creative, adaptive re-use of the historic park and its underground waterworks. We face an urgent threat against all we have been working for for years.”
The
District-owned McMillan Park, purchased from the Army Corps of Engineers in
1987, is a Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. park with underground vaults that were
part of the City’s first effective water filtration system. McMillan Park was
declared a District Historic Landmark in 1991 and was placed on the National
Register of Historic Places in 2013.
In opposition
to the District government’s efforts to pave over the park land, actively
demolish its historic assets, or continue its long-standing neglect by keeping
the park fenced off, the Friends of McMillan Park, the McMillan Park Committee,
and others, have repeatedly asked the District to obtain competitive bids to
see what the possibilities could be for reviving and revitalizing this jewel
among the District’s parks. McMillan Park offers commanding skyline views of
the U.S. Capitol, the Washington Monument and beyond.
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3 comments:
Looks they tearing off the clay shingles from the brick buildings and leaving blue tarps for roofs making an eyesore of the site.
Gilbane Company was hired to do repairs to the regulator houses and the silos, and that's exactly what you see: the clay tiles on the roof have been removed to repair the wood roof itself underneath, after which the tiles will be put back, and any tiles that are broken are to be replaced with identical tiles from the company that made (and still makes) the original ones. The sand silos have had sand sitting in them for many years, causing some of the rebar in the silos to rust and fracture surrounding concrete. The sand has been removed from all the silos and repair of the rebar and concrete is going on as well. No work whatever going on in the caverns or on the open grounds, and all the work I described is being done in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's preservation guidelines, and in fact Gilbane was hired on that condition.
Thanks for describing the current work!
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