October 22, 2008
City Unveils St. Elizabeths Plans
To follow up with those of you who reacted strongly to our photo gallery yesterday of the abandoned St. Elizabeths West Campus and the plans that are in the works to relocate the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard there, Mayor Adrian Fenty and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton held an impromptu press conference this morning to unveil the city's plans for its share of the nearly 200 acres of land in Southeast Washington, D.C. Wire reports.
The District is hoping to use the DHS development as a reason to install a mixed-use development that would include offices, restaurants and shops on the eastern half of the St. E's campus, which is owned and operated by the city. Officials described a town square-style center that could attract business from the new federal workers.
It's not totally clear where the funding for such a plan would come from, especially if Norton is counting on additional funds to be approved by a cash-strapped federal government. But the congresswoman is holding a public meeting at 5:30 p.m. tonight at the Petey Green Community Center, located at 2907 Martin Luther King Avenue SE, for nearby residents. Another public meeting, this one hosted by the city government, will apparently be held on Tuesday, so we'll update you with the details of that meeting when we get them.
Photo by Steve Goldenberg
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what they're showing over at dcmud for the east half of campus looks pretty neat. too bad it can't be replicated on the western side.
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By "Congresswoman" you must mean "Delegate"
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The blowup photo on the DCMUD site has the land adjacent listed as "Shitland". True, I'm sure they meant "Suitland" but funny anyway.
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omg, hillman, sure looks like it, doesn't it? i'm sure that's just a lower-case 'u', but i never thought about how transposing that one letter could do that...
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It's funny because it's true. I'll never call it "Suitland" again.
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Freudian Cartography Slip?
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Anyone else think its hilariously appropriate for the DHS to move in to St. E's?
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That "Shitland" thing is pretty tasteless.
They should replace it with "Here There Bee Monsters."
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sticks: no. i think it's creeping federal sprawl eating up a beautiful part of our city, and its history.
if something with the views of st. e's was in northwest, they'd never consider this. because it would be full of million dollar homes already...
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IMGoph:
That is condescending.
The Ward 8 business community, established political set and residents welcome the $3 billion of development, the 10 years of construction jobs -- of which many will go specifically to Ward 8 residents -- and mandated apprenticeship programs.
I appreciate your pie-in-the-sky wishes, but like the Navy Yard, this is a parcel of land that was always federal and the biggest mistake by the feds was letting it sit empty, blighting the community for so long. The DC plan is anchored by a federal agency as well.
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low expectations are condescending to me, ajop. just because it's always been federal land doesn't mean it has to continue being so. poplar point is a perfect example.
just because the area hasn't been invested in to it's potential doesn't mean it has a lower ceiling than other areas. it just means that it isn't appreciated to the level it should be.
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Poplar Point is a good example, but only happened to correct the structural imbalance.. Navy Yard is a good example of how high security federal agencies can work for a community.
Viability has to be considered... its like saying the Navy yard should be turned over to DC -- the fantastic buildings and waterfront location.. next to the biggest neighborhood transformation in the country... but it will never happen. DC depends on the feds and has to sacrifice.. but can also reap dividends.
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ajop, just out of curiosity do you work for a developer who has a lot of federal contracts? Or exclusive federal contracts? You sound so evangelical. It's ok, you can tell us. So are you getting paid for these comments? If not you should be!
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ajop: correct which structural imbalance? the one related to the city's funding? because that's still broken. that was/is a one-time trade. it still doesn't fix the fact that we can't tax commuters like other cities can.
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stmove: It would be fun to have a lot of federal contracts and watch the money flow downhill like water.. a golden lease for 30 years always renewed... my grandma did speak in tongues so maybe that is where the evangelical comes from.
img: true about the tax problem, but the land transer will definitely help. taxing MD and VA commuters would be rough going, better to find a way around it...
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I've always thought we should just have a reverse penis tax on anyone that can't prove city residence - the shorter the wee wee, the bigger the tax.
Same with ladies and breasts. But that's complicated I guess by old age droopage issues..... should that be a separate tax category?