Public Spaces
Earth Day brings new community park & garden to Hill East
What does it look like when a group of neighbors, a non-profit or two, a couple of federal agencies and a handful of DC government offices partner effectively? Swing by 13th & C Streets SE, and see for yourself.
Photo courtesy of TheBarneyCircular.com.
Nearly four years after neighbors rallied to turn a vacant lot owned by the DCHA into a community park and garden, twenty to thirty volunteers gathered to plant nine trees in the newly constructed space under the supervision of Casey Trees, a DC nonprofit dedicated to "restoring, enhancing and protecting" the canopy of the nation's capital.
The ribbon-cutting that was to follow was postponed due to weather until sometime in May or early June. But despite the drizzle, the event was an enormous success.
Once complete, the space will play host to a number of garden plots, a water feature, plenty of turf for enjoying the greenery and even a wall reserved for outdoor movie screenings. 13th Street Park & Garden, Inc., the 501(c)(3) that oversaw the lot's transformation, will also organize educational events to take place on the property throughout the year.
The story behind the project's success is one of collaboration and cooperation among a number of offices and organizations that is nothing short of inspiring (if a bit drawn out).
When residents approached the DCHA and Tommy Wells in 2007 with the idea to turn the property around, both rallied behind the idea of revitalizing the space. At the time, the lot played host to a single dumpster and a colony of mosquitos. The DCHA, which manages the Kentucky Courts retirement community immediately adjoining the space, saw particular value in the project. Upon receiving a formal proposal for the park's design prepared by a handful of volunteers on the basis of broader community input, the DCHA responded by allocating $250,000 to the project.
Initial construction began in 2008, but a funding gap soon developed, as prepping the lot for construction proved costlier than expected. Though progress stalled for a time, the DCHA partnered with 13th Street Park & Garden nonprofit in applying for a Stimulus grant through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In the fall of 2009, the project received an additional $650,000 investment from HUD. Not long thereafter, work on the property resumed, and today, the park stands nearly complete.
In the most recent phase of the project, Casey Trees donated nine trees to the development. This past Friday, representatives partnered with volunteers from around the neighborhood for the planting. In the process, residents got a sneak peek of the park and the reaction was undeniably enthusiastic.
Once construction wraps up, oversight and management of the space will formally pass from DCHA to 13th Street Park & Garden as per a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two parties.
With greater community engagement, a safer, more functional neighborhood and one less lot for the DCHA to manage, everybody wins.
So, once again, what does it look like when a group of neighbors, a non-profit or two, a couple of federal agencies and a handful of DC government offices partner effectively?
It looks like a walk in the park.
 | Ksenia Kaladiouk lives in Southeast DC, where she spends her time writing, sketching, running, taking photos, scheming and studying the flying trapeze. She is particularly interested in the history of urban development, education, the effects of space on the rise and fall of cultural and commercial institutions, and vice versa.   |
Comments
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by DCCT on Apr 26, 2011 3:28 pm • link • report
by this is why we're broke on Apr 26, 2011 3:38 pm • link • report
This city is in serious financial difficulties, and we are spending millions on a community garden? Think of the children!
[end sarcasm]
Park sounds really nice.
by greent on Apr 26, 2011 3:46 pm • link • report
From the looks of this interview, http://growninthecity.com/2011/03/5-questions-with-rich-lukas-starting-a-community-garden/, a big hang up was moving the dumpster while ensuring it was still handicap accessible. Beyond that, things cost money: water lines, masonry work, etc.
I think $1M is a small price to pay for converting a destitute corner lot into a beautiful, public space. I'm certainly biased being nearby, but I'd much rather see the money go to this than new SUVs or jobs for the mayor's sister's cousin.
by Mark on Apr 26, 2011 3:52 pm • link • report
DCHA already owned the land so you mean to tell me it cost a million dollars just to move a dumpster, lay some bricks, lights, water fountain, plant some grass (trees were free), and add a curb cut or whatever so wheel chairs can get to it?
For $1m, and no land cost, one can build a very big house. I think the city and the residents got duped and a contractor (as usual) laughed all the way to the bank.
Yeah, it's nice that it got built. But at what cost... (while the city is broke)?
by this is why we're broke on Apr 26, 2011 4:07 pm • link • report
I think you are looking at this all wrong. The city made out like a bandit on the deal.
Based on the article, it costs the city $250K, while the other $650K came from the stimulus. DC got much more for it's investment than you're acknowledging. (You could argue that fed dollars are also taxpayers dollars, but your focus on the city being broke is your bigger consideration.)
Three cheers for Tommy, DCHA, et al for getting a million dollar park for a quarter of the cost.
Mark
by Mark on Apr 26, 2011 4:16 pm • link • report
So, in this instance, DC received a great deal from the tax-paying residents of other states.
While the virtues of Obama's Stimulus are another debate entirely, this should be seen as a win for DC.
Sorry Sheboygan . . .
by To Hill and Back on Apr 26, 2011 4:18 pm • link • report
When a city wastes the federal government's money, or its own, it does not "make out like a bandit." It wastes taxpayer dollars. That is not something to be proud of.
I dont think I need to point out, but I will, that it's not just the city which is broke. Our whole country is broke. And, it's in no small part due to absurdly wasteful government overspending.
That the govmt builds parks is great. That the govmt builds parks which may as well be paved with gold is obscene.
by this is why we're broke on Apr 26, 2011 4:21 pm • link • report
"Somewhat broke"? Aren't we ~$200m in the hole? That's a lot broke.
That we managed to filch the money from the rest of the country isn't something to be proud of either. I find it a rather myopic approach to "community development," that you're happy to screw your neighboring states' taxpayers.
By the way, the source of the money is a straw man. No one has addressed my fundamental point which is: regardless of where the money came from, a million dollars is too expensive for a little park like this!
If we pay a more reasonable price, we should be able to get 4 (or 10!) nice little parks set up like this across the city.
by this is why we're broke on Apr 26, 2011 4:30 pm • link • report
Infrastructure and community-building spending by the federal government has an almost inconsequential impact on the federal deficit. The problem is all in the entitlements.
In actuality, it likely helps our fiscal situation in the long-term. It's spending like this that stimulates the economy (>income tax) and increase property values (>property taxes for the city). The government was mobilized, by private citizens, to provide a public good that would have been nearly impossible otherwise.
by Mark on Apr 26, 2011 4:33 pm • link • report
"For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."
$1 million for construction is the price of doing business these days; just like we spend millions on political races; billions on entitlments; and trillions on borrowing to finance all of the things Americans want today but would prefer to defer til tomorrow.
Sad but true. Be sure to bring a soap box to the park!
by To Hill And Back on Apr 26, 2011 4:40 pm • link • report
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thank goodness there are people in the world like the neighbors at 13th & C SE, and in the agencies and non-profits to achieve this success and embody Emerson's definition of success. Your attitute seems very meager and bereft.
Congratulations Hill East!
by Tina on Apr 26, 2011 5:03 pm • link • report
Yay, they got a park. Boo, it cost a million bucks.
Your Emerson quote is very dreamy, but the reality is citizen empowerment would go a lot further if we demanded our money's worth and ended the complacency that allows such wasteful spending.
This is what happens in Washington. People completely lose track of the value of money.
Dont get me wrong: This park is good and wouldn't have happened if the residents hadn't made it happen. Yay for them. I'm just saying whoever got this contract had a golden deal and it happens again and again and again all over this city (and many others). That should not be a "cost of doing business." As a result, this is one of many reasons we're broke.
by this is why we're broke on Apr 26, 2011 5:25 pm • link • report
by MJ on Apr 26, 2011 5:36 pm • link • report
No, it isn't. We are broke because we spent billions bailing out companies, airlines and banks for their malfeasance. We are broke because we spend billions on 2 unneccessary wars, which have lasted for almost 10 years.
"This is what happens in Washington. People completely lose track of the value of money."
Then this is a problem for the residents in the 50 states that vote for such people that cannot manage money. This is not DC's problem: we don't elect these people.
by greent on Apr 26, 2011 5:48 pm • link • report
by Eric Sibley on Apr 26, 2011 6:02 pm • link • report
by Canaan on Apr 26, 2011 6:55 pm • link • report
The problem is, once you turn a parcel into a park, it becomes so popular that nobody wants it turned into a building. And, long-term, a mixed-use building would probably be more suitable for Florida and Q.
by Malcolm K. on Apr 26, 2011 9:49 pm • link • report
I would have rather seen them sell the lot to a developer who could build 3 houses there. With that revenue and the other money invested they could have done the same thing to some of the triangle parks in the area, or with the city-owned basketball court next to Peter Bug's. No one plays on it, it looks awful and it would've made just as good of a garden. They could have also tried to buy the land in front of IGU for a dog park, or a lot of other things.
And the District would have 3 tax paying families (6 if they included basement units) to boot.
But that's all in the past and I still think this is better than what it used to be like.
by David C on Apr 26, 2011 11:23 pm • link • report
Maybe it actually costs that much to put down dirt, bricks, and grass. I have a hard time believing that though. Considering all the other things $1mil can buy you, this seems like a pretty bad deal.
by jared on Apr 27, 2011 8:16 am • link • report
You're right, I dont know exactly how much it costs to do this sort of thing. But, as I said in my first post, I know if you exclude land costs, you can build a very big house for a million dollars, and this park seems way less complicated than a house.
by this is why we're broke on Apr 27, 2011 10:07 am • link • report
I would bet prepping the site in general (tearing out what was there) and building the ADA ramp for the building next to it pushed the cost up.
by MLD on Apr 27, 2011 10:34 am • link • report
If the roof of the Lincoln Memorial caves in, it'll be a small price to pay to demonstrate our fiscal rectitude.
Oh, some will argue that the "reason why we're broke" is the historically massive recession driving government revenues into the dirt, coupled with the massive Bush tax breaks to "give back the surplus", with a tiny sprinkling of ARRA, and that the only reason we've got projected deficits going into the future is massive growth in health care spending.
But we know it's all about this rampant sprucing up of public spaces.
by oboe on Apr 27, 2011 11:01 am • link • report
A dog park for whom, David C? A dog park for whom?
by oboe on Apr 27, 2011 11:03 am • link • report
All dog parks are built for one group only - people who moved here after you did and don't know what it used to be like. And they go there to do things you don't enjoy.
As to why we're broke. We're broke because there was a recession and when times were good, instead of saving the surplus, we frittered it away on tax cuts and penny-whistles. I would hug a politician who said "Let's save this money for times when things are not as good as they are now, because despite our best efforts we know that we'll have another recession within a decade." And when I was done hugging him, I would have his wallet in my hand. That's how I roll.
by David C on Apr 27, 2011 11:30 am • link • report
by Dan Maceda on Apr 27, 2011 12:26 pm • link • report
I'm just glad we've finally managed to elect someone to the Council who walks like me and talks like me. The doctors at the Institute said that would be incredibly unlikely.
by oboe on Apr 27, 2011 2:04 pm • link • report
by Tina on Apr 27, 2011 2:30 pm • link • report
Worse, a plump, crypto-homophobic, middle-aged, ex-public utility executive!
Where is that large autombile?!? This is not my beautiful house! How did I get here!?!
:)
by oboe on Apr 27, 2011 2:41 pm • link • report
by Cordo on Apr 27, 2011 5:16 pm • link • report
If the park is utilized by a variety of people, throughout the day, for a range of activities, as is envisioned, then this space is a priceless addition to the community and its future.
by Angela on Apr 28, 2011 12:23 pm • link • report
I met the architect, and her work was pro-bono. As for the $1M, how much highway does that buy again? Maybe 100 feet? At least kids will be able to play safely here and everyday people will be able to take a break for at least a peaceful moment.
Anyway, a lot of people worked very hard to change their corner of the world and they should be commended. Corner by corner, lot by lot, we can change our collective lot. Thank you GGW for the article.
by EriK Kugler on Apr 28, 2011 3:49 pm • link • report
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