After more than a year of uncertainty for Dupont Underground, the nonprofit art organization has renewed its lease with the city, securing eight more years in its subterranean space in the heart of Dupont Circle.

“I am so delighted that this happened for everyone,” says Robert Meins, who left his post as CEO in October 2020 and now serves as CEO emeritus. “It was a long, hard fought battle, but with a brilliant outcome.”

In Nov. 2019, Meins announced that the popular arts space could be closing, revealing that he and other board members had been unsuccessfully trying to negotiate a lease extension with the city. At the time, senior-level officials in the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development had told members that the lease, set to expire in April 2020, would not be renewed. D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and former Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans then called on DMPED to renew Dupont Underground’s lease for 10 years, and forgive a payment of $150,000 dollars that the non-profit still owed the city.

By Oct. 2020, negotiations were still ongoing, but with renewed optimism. Dupont Underground continued running as a holdover tenant in the space, and Meins told DCist at the time that the organization was still in “active discussion” with DMPED regarding a lease extension. Plus, the organization had received financial lifelines through donations, and COVID-19 relief measures like the Paycheck Protection Program and Small Business Association’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program.

Meins says that since October, the organization has been working out the details of the lease with the city, and Paige Smith, the organization’s press director, says the agreement was finalized on March 4.

The $150,000 outstanding payment has been “resolved” in the lease renewal, but Meins could not disclose the details of the negotiating terms. A spokesperson for DMPED also did not disclose the details of the agreement, but wrote in an emailed statement that the terms agreed to include “a commitment on [Dupont Undergrounds’] part to make capital improvements in the amount of their outstanding rent.”

“Effectively, what happened since October was simply the working out of the details,” Meins says. “It was clear in October that things would be signed, it just needed to be worked out.”

The agreement extends the organization’s lease nine years past its expiration in spring 2020, meaning Dupont Underground is safe for eight more years.

Since the pandemic hit, the venue hosted several exhibits and events — including one in October featuring photography from the summer’s protests against racial inequality after George Floyd’s killing. Now, the venue is preparing for a new exhibit in the wake of the debate over D.C. statehood, Architecture & The Question of Democracy. Opening to the public on April 9, the exhibit will focus on architecture’s influence on public space as places for democratic engagement.

“Dupont Underground was founded on the idea that transforming an abandoned streetcar station into a cultural platform for the city would be a small step in the ongoing construction of a fully democratic city,” reads a press release announcing the exhibit, which will run through May 23. “The District of Columbia, however, exists in a state of exception without the fundamental right of its citizens for full representation in Congress.”

For Meins, the venue’s security well into the future is not only good news for the organization, but the city and artists it serves — especially after a year of pandemic closures has stifled D.C.’s arts scene.

“It’s a minor miracle,” Meins says. “The fact that we’ve been able to stay open has been a lifeline for a lot of the artists who use Dupont Underground, and I only see that getting better as more and more people are vaccinated.”

This post has been updated with additional information and comment, and to correct that Dupont Underground hosted several events during the pandemic.