A rendering of the existing condition of RFK by architecture firm OMA.
With plans to demolish the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, local leaders have announced that the late politician will still have a place on the venue’s 190-acre campus in Northeast.
Events DC and Mayor Muriel Bowser announced today the launch of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial project to honor Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1968 (the stadium was renamed in his honor the following year).
Members of the Kennedy family and a new memorial committee are involved in the planning process of the monument, according to a release from Events DC—the city’s quasi-private sports and convention authority funded through hotel, food, and beverage taxes. They will work with Events DC to get people interested in supporting the “interactive” site and give approval for final plans.
“My grandfather lived his life every day in the service of others and it is our hope that this memorial will not only be a place of remembrance, but also for teaching and practicing the ideals that he fought for his whole life in public service,” said Maeve Kennedy McKean, in the release, adding that her family lives just eight blocks away from the campus. “Therefore we truly look forward to the revitalization and vibrancy of the future site.”
That future will begin once D.C. United players, who are having a new stadium built in Buzzard Point, kick their final goal at RFK in October.
Earlier this year, Events DC announced short-term plans featuring a sports and recreation complex that could have indoor soccer, basketball, go karts, zip-lines, paintball, trampolining, and batting cages. It also includes outdoor playing fields, pedestrian bridges, and a food hall that’s more than double the size of Union Market.
The long-term lease from the National Park Service requires the site be used for a stadium or “recreational facilities, open spaces, or public outdoor recreation opportunities,” or similar public uses for about another two decades.
The sports authority’s officials said they could make the new development a reality within two to five years, with the memorial as the anchor.
A previous version of this post said that D.C. United will play its last game at RFK in 2018, but they will actually kick their last goal in October 2017.
