For many a convention and conference, what’s on the inside has mattered at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. But Events DC., which oversees and manages the behemoth 2.3 million square foot site, is attempting to make the outside just as important.

More than two years after announcing exterior upgrades, construction is finally set to begin later this year on more retail space, upgraded landscaping, improved lightning, and a rooftop terrace, Events DC announced at a public meeting on Thursday. These “streetscape” improvements are expected to be completed by mid-2021. A phase two will include better wayfare signage, public art installations, and working with WMATA on a new Metro entrance. The hope is to have those completed by the end of 2021. Events DC will pay for the changes out of its budget, though was unable to provide a total cost amount.

“People, when they go to cities [for conferences], they want authenticity,” says Events DC President and CEO Gregory O’Dell, “In this convention and entertainment district, we wanted to provide that D.C. experience.” Events DC is the District’s sports and entertainment authority. The semi-private organization is funded through the city’s hotel and restaurant tax and revenue from several city properties, including the convention center.

It was only in 2003 when the Washington Convention Center opened to great fanfare, replacing a not very beloved early 1980s 800,000 square foot structure only a block away. In 2007, the convention center was re-named after D.C.’s first home rule mayor, Walter E. Washington. Since then, the neighborhood in which it lies, the southern border of Shaw, has changed considerably. Up went towering glitzy apartment complexes, fancy wine bars, and high-end menswear, a shift that has led to the displacement of lower income populations.

Events DC hopes that this updating of the convention center’s exterior will better match the neighborhood today. On the 9th Street side of the building, the plan is to add seven small retail “kiosks” that will, according to Events DC, provide opportunities for local businesses. There will be increased landscaping, including plantings of D.C. native plants black-eyed susans and coneflowers, and better bench seating.

A rooftop terrace will be added, with an entrance on 9th Street “Anybody [will] be able to take their lunch up there to the rooftop terrace and enjoy it,” says O’Dell. “It will be for residents just as much as visitors.” The terrace will have permanent public restrooms.

The members of the public who spoke at Thursday’s meeting were nearly unanimous in favor of the exterior upgrades. However, they expressed some concerns about the changes given what they perceived as an increase in people experiencing homelessness in the area, and worries about crime in various forms and neighborhood safety.

ANC6E01 Commissioner Alexander Pardo said he was worried people might avail themselves of the public restrooms for drug use and sex work. “The point is to have an enjoyable space for both residents and visitors,” said Pardo, “So, I am concerned about the level of security that will be needed, especially for the rooftop.”

Events DC representatives said that the facelift is, in part, a way to help alleviate safety issues. For instance, improved lighting along 9th Street, at the Mount Vernon entrance, and in the M Street Tunnel. Speakers at Thursday’s public meeting expressed hope that the change would lead to increased security.

In terms of ongoing construction’s impact on traffic and pedestrian access, O’Dell says there will be some but they will be working around the convention center’s calendar to ensure limited impact on both what’s going on inside and who lives around it. “It is 2.3 million square feet of large buildings sitting in a neighborhood,” says O’Dell, “We want this streetscape [project], the retail, the artwork to draw people to this building.”

The second phase of construction will include improved wayfare signage and the installation of public art. The M Street Tunnel will get art boxes as well as a “site specific hanging urban art installation” in between the convention center’s facades on L Street. There will also be some sort of installation near the stairs to the rooftop terrace. While O’Dell says it’s still early in the process of terms of picking the specific artists and work, he says they’ll be considering artists who are both local and world-renowned.

Previously:
Photos: New Retail Offerings, Exterior Upgrades Planned For Convention Center