Mayor Vince Gray and Chuck Brown’s family show off a rendering of the future Chuck Brown Park. (Photo by Martin Austermuhle)
Mayor Vince Gray declared that today—and future August 22s—will be known in the District as Chuck Brown Day, a tribute to the late Godfather of Go-Go who died in May at 75.
Today would have been Brown’s 76th birthday, and in addition to the posthumous proclamation, Gray also announced at his biweekly press conference more plans for how D.C. plans to commemorate its musical icon.
Gray proposed naming a public park after Brown at the musician’s public memorial at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on May 31. The mayor later suggested a tract of Langdon Park not far from the old go-go clubs along Bladensburg Road NE where the genre saw its heyday. The section of the park bounded by 18th, 20th, Franklin and Hamlin streets NE will be renamed Chuck Brown Park, and today Gray’s office released an early rendering of what the memorial site might look like.
Langdon Park’s amphitheater and other facilities will be renovated, resulting in a new performance space with a stage featuring a statue or bust of Brown.
“We thought a memorial focused on performance venue would be a fitting tribute to Chuck, and this park is already a place where people from all backgrounds and all ages gather to enjoy the outdoors and music,” Gray said.
In introducing the sketches for the revamped park, Gray was joined behind the podium by Brown’s family.
For a short time, Chuck Brown Park wasn’t the only lasting memorial floated by a top D.C. official. Also during Brown’s memorial service, Kwame Brown, then still the chairman of the D.C. Council, one-upped Gray’s proposal by calling for the construction of a go-go hall of fame.
