The decrepit RFK Stadium is not long for this world. D.C. is planning to raze the empty, 50-year-old building by 2021, though officials maintain that the move is not necessarily intended to clear the way for a new football stadium.

“By tearing down the underutilized, rusting stadium, we are sending another clear signal that it is time to revive the RFK Campus, which currently serves as the only national park dedicated to asphalt,” said John Falcicchio, the interim deputy mayor for planning and economic development, in a written statement that touted the possibility of “reimagining the RFK Campus as a vibrant neighborhood where we can build workforce and affordable housing, preserve green space, and add to our hospitality and entertainment options.”

The news, first reported by the Washington Post, comes as the District is trying to suss out the next steps for the 190 acres of property. The campus is owned by the federal government and leased to Events DC, the city’s sports and entertainment authority, under the condition that the land be used for a stadium, “recreational facilities, open spaces, or public outdoor recreation opportunities,” or similar public uses.

Events DC has put out a bid for contractors to bulldoze the stadium, says spokesperson Chinyere Hubbard, with proposals for “RFK Stadium Demolition Services” due on October 25. Currently, the stadium costs $2 million annually in maintenance and an additional $1.5 million for utilities, per Hubbard. “We have very limited activity there,” she says. “It just didn’t really make sense” to keep paying $3.5 million a year.

While D.C. has moved forward with plans to create playing fields on the property, the stadium itself has largely sat unused ever since D.C. United moved to its new home in Buzzard Point last summer. Previously, the Nationals spent some time there while waiting for the completion of the construction of its baseball stadium in Navy Yard. At the 58-year-old stadium’s outset, it served as the homefield for Washington’s football team until 1997, when the team moved to Maryland. (The team’s lease at FedEx Field in Landover expires in 2027.)

Mayor Muriel Bowser has called for the team’s return to the District, despite its name being a dictionary-defined slur. “The mayor has made it quite clear in the past that she wants the Washington football team home, period,” her spokesperson, LaToya Foster, said last summer. Alongside team owner Dan Snyder and Republicans on Capitol Hill and the White House, Bowser worked on an ultimately unsuccessful attempt to extend the city’s lease for the RFK campus and to allow the land’s usage to include commercial development.

The D.C. Council, however, is more divided on the issue of bringing football to RFK. Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who represents the neighborhoods around RFK, characterizes the plans to bulldoze the stadium as “welcome news.” (On Twitter, he was pithier, asking “Can I push the button?”)

“I think it’s great that it’s going to be coming down,” Allen tells DCist. “It’s also important that we make sure [a stadium] doesn’t come back up.” Last year, he launched a petition opposing a new football stadium on the site. He says that the waterfront property presents “an opportunity to address real city needs” like housing, jobs, and new green space, adding that District shouldn’t spend tax dollars to benefit Snyder, a billionaire. “I would rather see the city be smarter and invest in what we need,” Allen says.

Still, like most D.C. officials, the Ward 6 councilmember believes that the city should have control of the land.

In a separate attempt to wrest control of the property, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton introduced legislation that would allow the city to purchase the land from the federal government at fair market value. She has declined to say whether she believes a football stadium should go there.

Events DC CEO Gregory O’Dell told the Post that a new professional football stadium was one of three long-term options for the property, as well as green space or an indoor sports arena. Hubbard says that currently, Events DC is more focused on its short-term plans for the campus: a Robert F. Kennedy Memorial project and democracy center, a market hall, pedestrian bridges, and a sports entertainment complex.

However, the plans to raze the stadium are expected to happen regardless.

For those looking for a keepsake from RFK, Hubbard says that “there will be something to commemorate the building and to preserve the historic elements of the building,” but what, exactly, remains unclear: “We’re still working through that part.”

This story has been updated with comment from Charles Allen and Chinyere Hubbard.