Artwalk lights and benches

With the tree planting completed the next major upgrade to the 2nd and Mass park in tentatively slated for the fall. The plan from DPR is to transplant the lighting, benches, bike racks and trash cans from the Art Walk when development of the Old Convention Center site begins.




I counted over 20 lights surrounding the Art Walk on the South and North ends.

Tree Planting Photos

Great turnout at today's Casey Trees planting event for the park at 2nd and Mass. Roughly 68 volunteers participated including a brief visit from Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells.

Volunteers came from many sources including large groups from Price Waterhouse Coopers, Congress for the New Urbanism, the MVT CID Clean Team, AIPAC, DPR, Tommy Wells staff, and neighboring residential buildings. With direction from Casey Trees staff and Citizen Foresters the volunteers planted 34 trees and removed several Forsythia bushes.




I teamed up with a Citizen Forester from Burtonsville and Sarah Moulton, the community planner from DPR who designed the park's new concept, to plant two Ginkgos along Mass Ave. We had a couple of good chuckles about the new soon to debut Amy Poehler NBC sitcom called Parks and Recreation as we found a bone in the dirt.

Water for the trees was run from a fire hydrant on 2nd Street to fill the 25 gallon ooze tubes. The water source at the park should be functional within the next month. The next upgrade for the park, after the water supply, should occur in the fall with benches, trash cans and lighting will be transplanted from the Art walk to this park. The availability of these materials is dependent on the redevelopment of the Old Convention Center site moving forward.

Updated Design for 2nd and Mass Park

Last night a meeting to discuss improvements to DPR Park 1089 at the confluence of 2nd, Mass and H Street was held. Attendees included residents from the Sonata and Madrigal Lofts, two officers of the Mount Vernon Square Neighborhood Association, MVT CID executive director Bill McLeod, Daniel Conner from Tommy Wells office, several organizers from Casey Trees, and a representative the Department of Park and Recreations (DPR).

The focus of the meeting was to unveil the new DPR design for the park and details for the Casey Trees sponsored community planting on Friday, March 27th (sign up).

Click to enlarge; rendering from Dept of Park & Recs (DPR)

The most significant change from the July 2008 Design was the change in tree species. The plan no longer calls for transplanting the River Birches from the Art Walk as those trees would require irrigation. The new landscaping plan focuses on "weed trees" like Ginkgos and Chinese Elms.

Phase I - Spring 2009

• Casey Trees will plant 34 new trees with volunteers from community and Price Waterhouse Coopers
  
• Two existing Japanese pines and one Golden Rain tree will remain
  
• Forsythia surrounding the Golden Rain tree will be removed.
  
• Seasonal flower bed will be planted (May?)

Phase II - Fall 2009

• Pavement will be repaired
  
• Benches, bike racks and trash cans will be relocated from Art Walk
  
• Art Walk lighting planned to be relocated, but needs to be cut down from towering 25" parking lot scale to a pedestrian scale.

Phase III - TBD

• Louis Dreyfus Property Group, the I-395 Air Rights developer, has expressed interest in contributing funds to enhance focal point of park (fountain, statue, etc...)

Please consider volunteering for the Casey Trees community planting on March 27th.

2nd and Mass Park Meeting

This Thursday a meeting to reveal DPR's updated design for the 2nd and Mass park and for Casey Trees to share logistics of the March 27th tree planting.

From MVT CID executive director Bill McLeod:

Interested in Mount Vernon Triangle's largest park -- the Triangle Park (DPR Park 1089)? Come to a community meeting to learn about the new design for the park, as designed by the Department of Parks & Recreation.

The meeting will be held at Second Baptist Church (816 3rd Street NW) -- on February 26 at 6:00 p.m until 7:00 p.m. The tree planting is scheduled for March 27 starting at 8:00 a.m.

The below rendering was presented by DPR's Sarah Moulton at the July 2008 meeting for this park.

Rendering from Dept of Park & Recs (DPR)

Casey Trees is still accepting registrations for the tree planting on Friday March 27th.

Click image to visit Casey Trees calendar entry

Park Improvements at 2nd and Mass (update)

UPDATE (11/21/2008 3:30pm) - MVT Bill says copies of the volunteer commitment letters have been left at the lobby desks of the Madrigal and Sonata buildings. 12 signatures are needed by Tuesday the 25th.

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I've got an update from DPR and the MVT CID on the proposed improvements for the park at 2nd, Mass and H Streets.

Jul 2008 Rendering from Dept or Park & Recs (DPR)

The MVT CID will be submitting a proposal to Casey Trees this month to donate and plant both large and small trees in the park, as well as some native groundcovers underneath the trees. If the proposal is approved by Casey Trees, planting will happen in the spring. ***** The CID needs two community members to pledge a commitment for each of the six trees, contact MVTBill@downtowndc.org to help. ***** The commitment is minimal as the CID will be adding the watering responsibilities to the Clean Team if funding for irrigation cannot be secured.

DPR's proposed plan also involved salvaging materials from the Art Walk at the Old Convention Center site. These materials include benches, bike racks, trash cans and lights. The timeline for securing these materials depends on Hines Archstone staying on track for their redevelopment of the Old Convention Center site.

Lastly, DDOT is still set to provide grant money for moving the hardscape pieces from ArtWalk park, as well as fixing up the concrete, coping and the central circular wall. DPR is still looking for funding to pay for light installation and possibly irrigation for the site.

Park Improvements at 2nd and Mass (update)

Brief update from DPR's Sarah Moulton on the proposed improvements for the park at 2nd and Mass:

"Just wanted to provide everyone with a quick update on the 2nd and H Street Park grant application. I’ve just been told by DDOT that there is an application review meeting this week, and they should be making a final decision on which proposals will receive funding by the end of the month. I will let you know what happens as soon as I hear any news. Please feel free to pass this along to others who may be interested in the future of the park!"

Park Improvements at 2nd and Mass (proposed)

Last night a meeting to discuss the park at the confluence of 2nd, Mass and H Street was held. Attendees included, but not limited to, residents from the Sonata, a representative from the office building at 251 H Street, our MVT CID executive director Bill McLeod, president of the MVSNA Cary Silverman, Thor Nelson from the Office of Planning and Sarah Moulton from the Department of Park and Recreations.

The park is presently an under utilized eyesore. The heavy traffic surrounding the park isolates it. Homeless sleep in the park with one often camped inside the center ring of bushes. There was also talk of a recent illegal BBQ (by homeless?) at the park. The park is not well maintained, safe or inviting.

Funding is not presently available to perform a major overhaul of the park. Long term this could be negotiated with the developer seeking air rights over I-395 but improvements are needed in the short term. The Office of Planning (OP) has identified a transportation funds grant program that could provide the modest funding needed for small scale improvements including critical irrigation. With this intersection being one of the busiest in the city it qualifies and has the visibility to increase likelihood to receive the grant. However the grant will require that ongoing park maintenance is secured. If this comes together the improvements could begin as soon as October.

Rendering from Dept or Park & Recs (DPR)

The Department of Parks and Recs (DPR) has developed a set of design guidelines for the site. These cite the short term objectives for the park to be primarily beautification of the space and creation of a marker for the surrounding neighborhoods and the immediate area on Massachusetts Ave. DPR has also identified materials and plants that could be relocated from the Art Walk at the Old Convention Center site to keep costs down.

From the Draft document distributed by DPR:

Short Term Scenario Implementations Guidance:

• Provide a minimal, but bold planting pallet to be both low maintenance and highly visible to passing motorists.
  
• Focus tree planting on streets edges and in areas with significant soil depth.
  
• Install focal artwork or monument to create a sense of place and draw for the area.
  
• Provide benches and other seating to allow lunchtime gathering and passive use of the park
  
• Preserve existing pavement areas and repair where needed
  
• Implement "quick fix" pedestrian safety measures like: new cross walk painting, adding parking lanes to Mass Avenue next to park

Discussion turned more towards the homeless impact on the park. The Central Union Mission is opening a 150 bed shelter at the Gales School within a year just a block from the park. DPR's position is that parks are an amenity for everyone including the homeless. It should be designed to be safe and engage all people.

Cary Silverman expanded upon his previous point of the Gales School shelter opening and pointed out that the isolation of the park is appealing to the homeless. He suggested the space needs a draw to bring surrounding residents across the busy streets to the park. There is no design for a prominent draw in the short term plans. An expenditure of a fountain or statue could be taken on longer term. A Sonata owner chimed in with the benefits of the park embracing dog owners. Dogs owners want green space to walk their pets and most presently walk to the Building Museum. She suggested the added benefit to the community that dogs tend to discourage vagrancy"scare people who know they are where they shouldn't be." I don't think she's suggesting anyone shouldn't be at the park. But people shouldn't be camping in the bushes . McLeod made note of this as he said "durable grass".

Lastly, an important message was put forth that this park would NOT be THE PARK for the Triangle. Both DPR and the MVT CID want a larger more central green space less isolated by heavy traffic. There are some alternative that are being studied regarding this but they were not shared in the meeting. One possibility I have previously seen in the Mount Vernon Triangle Transportation and Public Realm Design Project suggests a park along a new extension of 3rd Street built out over I-395.

Note: Cary Silverman has also covered the meeting on his blog. Cary is spearheading a "Friend of the (name TBD) Park" effort.