Awaiting a New Home, School Buses Hold Back Canal Park

Some residents worry that D.C. isn't moving fast enough to relocate city school buses from the Canal Park site so that the park development can be completed by the spring. (By Jacqueline Dupree -- The Washington Post)

Ballpark and Beyond is from Jacqueline Dupree's blog on development in Near Southeast Washington, an area between Capitol Hill and the Anacostia River that is being transformed by the construction of the Nationals baseball stadium.

I've been told that Friday was the day that staff members at the slowly dissolving Anacostia Waterfront Corporation (AWC) found out whether they and their jobs are being moved to the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED).

Residents are asking how this transfer affects AWC projects in Near Southeast, and Washington Canal Park always seems to be at the top of that list. Although the commotion has subsided over whether zoning changes had suddenly paved the way for ballpark parking on the Canal Park site (no, they didn't), those interested in the park are starting to be concerned that the city may not be moving with enough speed to relocate the public school buses currently using the site so that the park can be built by its planned completion in the spring.

A few weeks ago, DMPED representatives told the D.C. Council's Committee on Economic Development that negotiations to relocate the buses were continuing, and that no deal had been struck.

Now word is out that the District is working to create a new citywide school bus parking lot in Prince George's County, and there's speculation that the Canal Park buses will not be moved until that lot is ready.

Residents are once again contacting council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) and other officials, hoping that pressure from local leaders could persuade the city to find a temporary location for the Canal Park buses while waiting for the Prince George's County site to come together, so that the park development could move forward.

Ducks Want to Land on T Street

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It's not the water-taxi pier at the foot of First Street that baseball fans have been waiting for, but an amphibious boat tour company called Ride the Ducks has applied for a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to build a 180-foot boat ramp on the east end of T Street SW, near Buzzards Point.

There's a public comment period until Aug. 27, so if this is something you're interested in, read the very detailed public notice at http://www.nab.usace.army.mil for more information and instructions on where to forward your input.

This isn't the DC Ducks company that has been operating around the Washington area for a number of years. Ride the Ducks currently runs tours in six cities, including Baltimore.

Jacqueline Dupree, a Post staff member and Ward 6 resident, has been tracking changes in the area since 2003. For updates and links to documents and sites mentioned here, go tohttp://www.jdland.com/dc.