A rendering of the proposed car barn at Spingarn High School.

Despite loud protests from some Ward 5 residents, Mayor Vince Gray has no plans to back away from a proposed streetcar maintenance and training facility that will be located on the campus of Spingarn High School alone Benning Road NE.

In a letter to Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) on August 15, Gray called the site “ideal,” and added that it faced the fewest obstacles of nine sites that were considered for the facility, which will service cars used for the inaugural H Street NE line. The car barn is needed before the H Street NE line can run; the city has granted a $50 million design-and-build contract for it.

“The site adjacent to Spingarn High School remains the best option for the District because it is owned by the District government, the site is conducive to providing a training program for DC Public Schools, and the site’s proximity to the streetcar line is cost-effective. The site also meets the District’s long-term vision for the DC Streetcar infrastructure investment and will help serve the overall East-West line,” he wrote.

After hearing howls of complaints from some Ward 5 residents that the streetcar facility would mar the school’s campus and endanger students, in July McDuffie wrote Gray and asked that he consider possible alternatives, including the RFK parking lot or the Hopscotch Bridge. McDuffie was backed a few weeks later by the Committee of 100 for the Federal City, which said it opposed the Spingarn location because the 15,000-square-foot facility would destroy the site’s integrity.

Gray said the alternatives would be too expensive—the Hop Scotch Bridge site would add $15 million to the estimated $50 million price tag for the facility—or aren’t properly zoned for a car barn. Additionally, he wrote, the Spingarn location could provide up to 35 jobs for Ward 5 residents. In his letter, Gray also said that it’s likely that every ward in the city will get a car barn by the time the full 37-mile streetcar network is built out.

“It’s also important to note that the CBTC at the Spingarn campus will not be the only car barn in the District of Columbia. As the DC Streetcar system grows, the need for additional car barns will also grow. In order to support the proposed 37-mile, 8-line system, DDOT estimates an eventual need for more than 130 streetcars. Space to house and maintain those cars will be required. As this time, it is estimated that a total of 7 to 10 car barns will be needed. As they were when the District ran a streetcar system in the past, these facilities will be located throughout the city. As the system builds out, the size of each facility, based on available locations, will determine the final number of car barns in the District. It is not outside the realm of possibility that each Ward will house at least one car barn in the future,” wrote Gray.

It’s no coincidence that Gray included mention of other car barns in his letter—some of the loudest complaints have come from Ward 5 residents who claim that they’re seen as a dumping ground, and that such a car barn would never be envisioned for the likes of Georgetown. In fact, Gray hints, Georgetown may well get a car barn too.

In related news, the Washington Business Journal reports that D.C. has ordered a third streetcar from an Oregon-based manufacturer that is already building two streetcars to add to the two the city already has. There are concerns as to whether the company can meet the city’s tight deadline, though—while it has promised delivery by August 2013, it is facing delays on existing orders.

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