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A preferable plan has much, much less impact on the landscape (the highly treasured, history-cherry-tree-ridden landscape), and develops some of empty space in the dead Southeast into a place with livable streets - including residential, commercial, and a museum every so often. Getting tourists to explore brutalist streets, much less consider their passage part of a park, is difficult.

*Widen East Potomac Park 50 yards into the Potomac (double or triple the sidewalk area as well), and build small memorials, museums, and light commercial there. Plant more cherry trees.

*Set up a low speed ultralight rail line that circles East Potomac Park. Six-foot-wide tourist "steam engine" attractions do it cheaply all the time.

*Eliminate the White Course - http://www.golfdc.com/gc/ep/gc.htm from East Potomac Golf Course, and replace it with facilities for other sports. Move the maintenance facilities down below the driving range. If ye desire a hill for placement of anything (Supreme Court or no), build it here and paint recreation fields around it.

*Build a *small* canal parallel to Buckeye Drive Southwest that allows two-way small boat traffic and small underground boat slips. Frequent pedestrian bridges over it.

*Yellow Line station. Build it.

*Deck over and develop the area between the freight tracks and Buckeye Drive Southwest into a new urban center. Underground parking and Metro.

*Develop the area around Banneker Circle into a suitable commercial atmosphere to take care of a bus depot at L'Enfant Promenade.

*Develop the massive parking lot at the end of Maryland Avenue into a multistory garage with associated residential & commercial space

*Across from the Bureau of Engraving & Printing, take a chunk out of the Mall and build a thick mixed use complex with at least one attractive museum. The rugby field can be moved to EPP. People need a reason to be there and see it as a continuation of the Mall, not just vacant land, in order to unify the park.

*Build some type of attraction in the plot of land north of the paddle boat rental, without disturbing too many of the cherry trees or blocking the view of the Washington Monument.

by Squalish on Jun 27, 2008 5:46 pm • link • report