Potentially terrible news for local music fans: The Going Out Gurus are reporting that Fort Reno Park, the site of D.C.’s beloved outdoor summer concert series, has been closed indefinitely after United States Geological Survey satellite imaging reports found high levels of arsenic in the soil there. We’ve since heard from readers who said they saw the park service today in the process of putting a fence around the entire park to ensure no one enters it.

We had just been waiting to hear back from Fort Reno Summer Concert Series master of ceremonies, Amanda MacKaye, on her need to do some more fundraising this year to make sure all the planned concerts went off without a hitch. Amanda quickly emailed us to confirm that she first learned of the park’s closure from David Malitz at washingtonpost.com, and that she is at this very moment trying to get confirmation on whether the closure affects the area of the park where the stage is erected. We’ll update as soon as we hear back from her. In the meantime, the local music scene is holding its breath, and we’re wondering why this arsenic wasn’t discovered earlier, like when it was found down the street at AU in 2001.

Photo by Alan Cordova