Dear Ward 5 neighbors,
The work happening inside the Wilson building each day is important, but I know what often matters most is what’s happening in your own neighborhood—at your parks, schools, and recreation centers.
That’s why over the past few years, I’ve prioritized getting long overdue projects moving and kicking off new ones. Just two years ago, the Ft. Lincoln Campus Improvement Project was stalled due to insufficient funding. I was proud to get it fully funded, break ground on construction, and now the project is planning a topping out celebration on June 5. For more than a decade, neighbors rallied and advocated for the preservation of the Crummell School in Ivy City with a vision of it becoming a vibrant community center and park. Again, I worked to get the project fully funded, and construction is now underway. This summer, construction will start on two new parks I secured funding for in Riggs Park at South Dakota Ave and Riggs Rd NE and another in Carver-Langston at 19th and L St NE. This is in addition to resurfacing at the Turkey Thicket Splash Park and Playground in Brookland, renovations at Taft/Dwight-Mosley Field in Woodridge, and cutting the ribbon at the brand new Reservoir Park Recreation Center in Stronghold/Bloomingdale.
This week in the Committee on Facilities budget markup, I continued this work by advancing targeted investments for three additional projects in Ward 5. The first was an addition of $14 million for the Langdon Park Recreation Center modernization, along with legislative language in the Budget Support Act that will prevent DPR from moving forward on the project until it meets the community’s current asks around expanding access to recreation and maintaining current aspects of the park’s unique character. Currently, DPR’s proposal misses the mark by placing city-wide needs above local needs, and if we are going to make a once-in-a-generation investment in this modernization, we need to get it right. We also used the same kind of legislative language for the Harry Thomas Recreation Center modernization in Eckington, ensuring that DPR responds to the community’s asks in their design proposal. Finally, we secured $1 million to put the New York Ave Recreation Center in Truxton Circle on the map for future modernization.
There’s more work to do to ensure these provisions stay in the budget as things move to the full Council in June. I also know that there are more investments to secure in future years at key facilities across Ward 5—from Trinidad to North Michigan Park and beyond. Check out the video below as we celebrate our progress and keep fighting for the investments Ward 5 neighborhoods deserve.
