Photo by Justin Mathews

The 2011 Solar Decathlon — which had been uprooted from its regular National Mall location and heavily rumored to be taking place at National Harbor — won’t have to move too far, after all. According to a letter sent to sponsors of the event by the Department of Energy, the Decathlon will be taking place this fall in West Potomac Park, on the banks of the Potomac River and along the path between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials.

The letter states that “the event will be held on the peninsula just south of the new Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial which is between the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial and the Potomac River.” The event will take place in September or October, though exact dates have not yet been determined. Decathletes were reportedly informed this afternoon about the location decision.

A campaign for the event to remain in its original location had been gaining momentum; while it isn’t the space between the Capitol and the Washington Monument originally staked out for the event, one imagines that the teams participating would choose to showcase in West Potomac over National Harbor any day of the week. We’ve put a call in with the Department of Energy in order to flesh out some of the reasoning behind the decision, and will obviously update if and when we hear back.

UPDATE: Here’s the official announcement on the Decathlon’s blog.