The lower level of Malcolm X Park in Columbia Heights is now open to the public after almost three years of renovations. 

“A lot of the work we got done was around landscaping…putting new soil, building new turf, new trees, and plantings to make all of that area much nicer,” a spokesperson from the National Park Service says.

The work was originally supposed to be done by October/November of 2022, but the project ended up finishing around late January, the spokesperson says (although in our previous reporting the construction was only supposed to last until summer 2022).

Last year many trees were cut down, and bushes were removed from the lower level of the park. Now, the completed renovations include more accessible ramps, new landscaping, the replacement and repair of the signature decorative “exposed aggregate” or concrete on the walkways, and the addition of a tree-archway known as a “pleached allée.” 

The statues in the park have also been cleaned and fixed, like the Joan of Arc statue, whose sword has been stolen on multiple occasions, according to the NPS spokesperson.

But at the time of this writing, North America’s longest cascading fountain is still dry. Over the years, it has had issues flowing inconsistently and delays in repairs that were attributed to the fountain’s unique pipes. But continued delays in the fountain’s repair is also due to the age of the park. Modern fountains are typically built with vaults that are easily accessible to fix without cracking the concrete around it.

“This park was built more than 100 years ago,” says the spokesperson. “Unfortunately, if something goes wrong, and we have to do a major repair we’re going to have to jackhammer up a bunch of concrete to get to it.”

NPS hopes to restore the water feature in the spring.

This post has been updated to note that construction was originally anticipated to be done in the summer of 2022.