St. Elizabeths West Campus Tour - Sign Up!

A couple days ago We Love DC had a great post about the uber-popular St. Elizabeths West Campus tours put on by the DC Preservation League.



The next tour is Saturday, June 18 from 10-11am. Sign up here!

These monthly tours fill up fast, so sign up today!

GSA Breaks ground on St. E's Campus!

This morning was the groundbreaking for the new consolidated headquarters of the Department of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard at the West Campus of St. Elizabeths in Ward 8. In attendance were Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Senator Liberman, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano, Mayor Adrian Fenty, Councilman Barry, and GSA Administrator Paul F. Prouty.

It was raining, but the boarded-up campus was alive with U.S.-manufactured government vehicles and the excitement that this. is. finally. being. built!


local and federal leadership breaks ground on Homeland Security campus


Senator Joseph Lieberman, I - Connecticut


Napolitano and Norton talk with the news media

Overall it was a great event. All the public officials spoke at the podium, each highlighting different benefits and challenges associated with bringing the mega-project to Ward 8:

• Lieberman connected DHS' history with that of the Roosevelt's Pentagon, and noted that this is the largest building project (aside from Eisenhower's highways, I assume) since the Pentagon.


• Napolitano was excited to have a consolidated headquarters - and expressed gratitude for how much simpler holding meetings and bringing connectivity and community to the Department will be.


• CM Barry highlighted the project's importance to Ward 8 and the neighborhoods immediately surrounding the new HQ. He called attention to the hardships associated with living and working in Ward 8, but, citing Psalm 30:5, said that "We could go on and on about the weeping. But this is the morning for Ward 8."

the first building - Coast Guard - viewed from the River

Exciting times. Ward 8 is on the rise.

*goodlinks: comin round the mountain

afternoon storefronts on the 2200 block of MLK Avenue

GSA Selects St. Elizabeths Team, Groundbreaking to Start via DCMUD
the General Services Administration has finally chosen the development team for the west campus of St. Elizabeths, soon to be the home of Homeland Security and the Coast Guard. Construction has been awarded to Clark Construction, with final design going to HOK. DCMUD reports that groundbreaking could be only weeks away, with actual construction commencing in the new year.

FIOS finally coming to Anacostia via press release
Verizon FIOS internet / cable / phone service is coming east of the river first. Groundbreaking on the new infrastructure will be September 1st at 10:30AM at 1600 19th Street, SE in Fairlawn. The Mayor and Councilwoman Cheh will be in attendence.

River. East. Art. via Fred Joiner's Weblog
Joiner counterpoints renewshaw.com's argument that displaced art galleries relocate to the 9th Street NW corridor, making the case instead that downtown Anacostia with its already awesome art scene or the H Street Corridor would make just as good or better locations.

www.anacostia-thewebseries.com (yes, this is real)
Anacostia: the Web Series debuts online on September 3rd. Tagline? "Every city should have neighbors like these..." From the looks of the promo video, this was not, in fact, filmed in the Anacostia neighborhood.

*goodlinks: the growing focus

the S. Capitol Street Bridge from Poplar Point

Consolidation for Homeland Security, Headaches for Preservationists, via New York Times
most in River East are excited about the upcoming move-in of 14,000 employees to our hood, but others still fear the campus' character will be lost

Alexander calls on all residents to protect the environment, by Greater Greater Washington
councilwoman Yvette Alexander (Ward 7) went on NPR's Kojo Nnamdi show to denounce the claims that the Anacostia bag bill is harmful to low-income residents: "No matter what your income ...it does not excuse you from being environmentally conscious and responsible."

Anacostia Streetcar Plan Runs Into Delays, via Washington Post
in an annoying but not-surprising twist, the Anacostia streetcar is now delayed until 2012. since we're delaying it, howabout running it up MLK to St. E's, then down Malcolm X to the maintenance facility?

DC Unwanted, via the Examiner
so I guess stadiums aren't the pay-anything-to-get-one economic revitalizers everyone used to clamor for. PG County has joined DC (remember Poplar Point?) in dropping plans for a new stadium-based development for MLS's most successful soccer franchise

St. E's West Campus Wins Final OK

it is incredible that these buildings, at once both beautiful and desperate, are so close to everything yet so unknown to most of the public

The National Capital Planning Commission gave final approval yesterday to the GSA's planned redevelopment of the St. Elizabeths West Campus (and part of the East Campus) as the consolidated headquarters for Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard.


because this is a Historic District, most of the buildings will be restored to a much better look

Although the move has been on everyone's radar for a while, the $3.4 billion headquarters project - which will be among the largest construction projects since the Pentagon and will carry the same security requirements - will be a game-changer for the Anacostia, Barry Farm, and Congress Heights neighborhoods.


the variety in the rooflines lends a whimsical and rural feel to the campus

Located just up MLK (what was once called Asylum Road) from the Anacostia Metro Station, the historic mental hospital campus is currently a boarded-up but very impressive reminder of the kind of distinction the institution once held. But it's also a sad place, and very eerie. A lot of people really suffered there.


the ghostly auditorium inside Hitchock Hall

Many of the discussions have centered on the redevelopment's effect on the historic nature of the place, with the National Park Service recently suggesting that the called-for changes pose the risk of de-designating the c. 1850s campus as a National Historic Landmark (Click Here for a PDF of the boundaries). Others fear the "loss" of the campus' prime views, and the missed opportunity for mixed-use development at the site. However, this has always been a closed campus, so we aren't really losing an asset we have always had. If you want views, move to the hills of Anacostia or Barry Farm, where you will be equally or even more impressed. Most of the buildings will stay and be preserved, but there will also be significant new construction, sensitively placed, on the site.


the gatehouse at MLK - straight out of lady and the tramp

For an area of the city that isn't well known to the region, this move will help highlight its potential. I don't expect all 14,000Homeland Security employees to grab lunch in Anacostia. I understand that it will be a very closed campus. But some will, and some will buy homes, and all will be forced to readjust their perceptions of River East. Proximity matters, and the areas surrounding the campus will most definitely benefit from its location within their midst.


on the main quad - MLK runs just behind these buildings

The redevelopment may also bring a new St. Elizabeths Metro station on the Green Line between Anacostia and Congress Heights. This is an exceptional idea that absolutely needs to happen. With a new intersection and highway access directly into the site from 295 planned as part of the project, it is necessary to also provide a transit option.


looking forward to seeing this with windows...

So, I'm pretty pumped that this continues to move forward. Next step, congressional funding. It has been a long time coming, and it will be a long time in the making. This isn't everyone's top choice for the land-use at St. E's, but it is a catalyst and presence that will certainly help legitimize the communities it lies at the heart of. In the end, the project will be a major player in the dramatic change of River East.


at the entrance to Hitchcock Hall

For more, see:

Planning Agency Approves Homeland Security Complex, Washington Post

Disaster for St. Elizabeths, a less-than-optimistic Op-Ed by the President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

NCPC approves St. E's plan, Washington Business Journal

Additionally, if you are interested in a tour of the West Campus, hosted by the DC Preservation League, please email your interest to rsvp[at]dcpreservation[dot]org.

photos by DG-rad