From: Erin Fairbanks
[mailto:erinwhite@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2016 6:40 PM
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Local Leaders Blast D.C. Request for Demolition Proposals for McMillan Park as Irresponsible
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2016 6:40 PM
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: Local Leaders Blast D.C. Request for Demolition Proposals for McMillan Park as Irresponsible
For Immediate Release:
August 31, 2016
Contact: Linwood Norman:
804-837-0737
Kirby Vining: 202-213-2690
Kirby Vining: 202-213-2690
Local Leaders Blast D.C. Request for Demolition Proposals for
McMillan Park as Irresponsible
Amidst a Court Case and Protests from D.C. Residents, Community
Asks,
“Why is the Mayor’s Office rushing it through now?”
“Why is the Mayor’s Office rushing it through now?”
Washington, D.C. – This
week, the D.C. Department of General Services issued a Request for
Proposals (RFP) for general
contractors to submit bids for the demolition and infrastructure development of
the historic McMillan Park. However, this casting call for contractors comes in
the midst of a continuing legal battle to halt the shady “sole source” bid that
even D.C. Auditor Kathleen
Patterson said should be competitively re-bid.
“It is illogical and
fiscally irresponsible to spend an exorbitant amount of taxpayer money on a
project without proper legal clearance,” said Kirby Vining, a Director of the
Friends of McMillan Park. “The selection and bidding processes included in an
RFP should not be considered while the court has yet to hand a decision down.
If the court rules that the Mayor’s Office has violated its own laws and
regulations in permitting demolition of a significant portion of the site and
subdividing this historic site, then the time and money wasted on the issuance
of this RFP will be considerable. “
A number of issues
concerning the project, and whether it will come to fruition, remain before the
court, after the Friends of McMillan Park filed a lawsuit against the City
challenging its disregard for the recommendations of the Comprehensive Plan and
the historic designation of the site. The McMillan Sand Filtration Site is part
of the larger McMillan Park Reservoir Historic District, listed on the National
Register of Historic Places and the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites.
“The city is investing
$84 million of public funds into what is essentially a private development
project, the majority of which is medical office buildings and market-rate
housing,” said Mr. Vining. “Legally, the developer is required to provide a
significant public benefit in order to justify destroying a historic landmark. Essentially,
this is the biggest developer give-away in the history of the city.”
The project would permit
the demolition of 80-90% of the 25-acre, D.C.-owned portion of McMillan Park in
order to carve up the land for massive commercial use. The historic landmark,
at Michigan Ave. and North Capitol St., NW, includes irreplaceable features
such as underground vaults and the surface landscaping designed by Frederick
Law Olmsted, Jr.
Aside from unique
historic preservation concerns, the issuance of the RFP is inappropriate at a
time when the project remains tied up in a continuing court case. The Mayor’s
Office refuses to state why it is taking this premature action.
“From the very
beginning, Vision McMillan and the District government have tried to create the
impression that this project is a done deal, that resistance is futile, and
that the train has left the station. But that self-serving story is wrong,”
says Philip Blair Jr., a resident of Ward 5 and a long-time opponent of the
project. “A court is currently reviewing a serious challenge to the
fundamentals of the project. The court could nullify the current project on a
number of grounds. The RFP for demolition proposals is an especially
irresponsible part of this ‘done-deal’ argument. It is, moreover, an abuse of
the taxpayers, the residents, and even of the possible bidders themselves.”
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