The “Exorcist Steps” in Georgetown as seen from Prospect Street NW. (Photo courtesy of the D.C. Historic Preservation Office)

The so-called Exorcist Steps, the site of that demonic fall at the end of The Exorcist and a ton of huffing and puffing from folks trying to get up the 97 steps from M Street NW to Prospect Street, is the subject of an application for historical landmark status.

A group called the Prospect Street Citizens Association has filed an application with the Historic Preservation Review Board for the steps and the retaining wall next to it. Filed September 25, the application contains 37 pages of historical information about the site.

You can read the report below, but here’s the gist: The retaining wall and the steps next to it were built between 1894-1895 as part of the Capital Traction Company’s car barn and station that would house streetcars. It was rarely used but it’s still standing today, and, according to the application, required a “feat of engineering construction.” Because of the difference in elevation between M Street and Prospect Street NW, building the wall and the steps required more than 80,000 cubic yards of excavation. That excavation also found “rotten rock,” which meant the retaining wall required “construction of unusual strength.” Oh yeah, and then there’s The Exorcist, which filmed its climactic death scene at the steps.

The application also points out that the Exorcist Steps bear a plaque noting their role in film history.

“Our group has long been concerned with any ongoing development activity at 3601 M St., NW,” said Prospect Street Citizens Association board member Catherine Emmerson in an emailed statement. “Of the utmost importance is what could happen to the iconic Exorcist steps and the historic retaining wall next to them. So far, we have not felt that the various entities involved in reviewing any development have given a thorough and prudent review to these outstanding issues. It is our hope that raising awareness about these issues will preserve the Exorcist steps and the retaining wall for all to enjoy for decades to come. It’s too important a fixture in Georgetown to be rubber stamped by another development-friendly bureaucracy without weighing all the facts.”

A new condo building is in the works on an adjacent lot, the site of a now-closed Exxon station. The 21-unit, five-story building from D.C.-based developer Altus Realty Partners is set to open in late 2019, Urban Turf reported earlier this year. It’s worth noting that in Altus’ renderings, available on the company’s site, the retaining wall and the “Exorcist Steps” appear to remain in tact.

Meanwhile, that Exxon station was named in a 2016 study as a favorable spot for the long-ballyhooed gondola between Georgetown and Rosslyn to dock in the District. It’s not clear how the condo would affect plans for the gondola.

Andrew Huff, who was one of The Exorcist superfans who organized the commemoration of the steps in 2015, suspects the application for historical status has something to do with the condo development. (He says he was not involved in the process.) He’s just glad it means the steps might be protected.

“If I had my way, these steps would get every recognition known to man, woman, and child,” he says. “They should be on every historic roll, they should be recognized far and wide.”

The Historic Preservation Review Board is set to hear the case on November 15. If approved, the mayor would be required to approve any proposed demolition of or alteration to the steps or the retaining wall. But Huff says he hopes there aren’t any improvements made to the steps.

“[The steps] are this marriage of sorts between two things I love: my city and horror movies,” he says. “I wouldn’t do anything to them. They’re very foreboding.”