A Different Kind of Park Springs From the Drawing Board

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

Although Nationals Park is getting the lion's share of attention these days as Near Southeast's biggest development, the 42-acre site two blocks to the east known as the Yards is starting its transformation away from its former life as the barren walled-off Southeast Federal Center. And we're now getting our first peeks at early designs for the development's 5.8-acre park on the banks of the Anacostia River.

Designed by M. Paul Friedberg and Partners, the park will have "passive and active" recreation spaces, along with retail and entertainment offerings that Yards developer Forest City Washington believes will make it a lively year-round destination for residents and tourists in the daytime and at night. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission have approved these preliminary plans in the past month, with compliments for what the CFA called the site's "energetic design."

There will be a "great lawn" on the western portion of the site, situated south of a new Second Street SE, extending from Tingey Street. A large plaza with a fountain will be the entrance to the park at Third Street, leading to an overlook above a terraced lawn that steps down toward the riverfront and a boardwalk that will run along it. An existing notch in the waterline will be extended northward to create a shallow "canal basin" that will have an elaborate pedestrian bridge across it. At the eastern end will be a "river garden," designed to be a quieter, shadier and more lush area of greenery.

The boardwalks that will be built alongside 1,100 feet of the Anacostia River will be part of the city's Anacostia Riverwalk Trail, which will eventually run from Bladensburg to the Southwest Waterfront. A floating bridge will connect the park's western edge to the new Diamond Teague Park and the baseball stadium. The eastern end of the park sits south of the Navy Yard, and will hook up with the existing riverfront promenade where the decommissioned destroyer USS Barry is docked and open to the public. And, after the park at the Yards opens, visitors will finally be able to walk along the river by the Barry without having to first show identification at the Navy Yard's entrance gates.

Water Street and River Street, two new streets just to the north of the park, will be closed during large events to expand the park's available open space. They will also serve as the route for bicycling through the park, although bikers will be able to walk their bikes on the boardwalks.

The developer hopes to have the first phase of the park open in summer 2009. Later offerings will include the construction of piers and marinas and a number of retail buildings. The historic Lumber Shed at Third and Water streets will be renovated into a glass-enclosed pavilion. There will also eventually be a tall "vertical iconic element" erected on a pier at Third Street. Additional specifics on these later phases haven't been announced, although they will be subject to the same government reviews that the rest of the Yards' design has gone through.

The park's construction and associated infrastructure upgrade costs are estimated at $42 million and are being funded by the city through the sale of bonds that will be repaid via a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement.

As for the other initial projects at the Yards, work will begin soon on the renovations of two historic buildings, expected to be completed in 2009. The Boilermaker Shop at Third and Tingey streets will become a 46,000-square-foot retail building, and the brown-and-white Pattern Joiner Shop just to the south will become a 170-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail.

Temporary surface parking lots are under construction where development is not expected until after 2011. These lots will be used by Nationals season ticket holders at a cost of $15 to $35 per game.

When the entire project is completed, it's expected to include 2,800 residential units, 1.8 million square feet of office space and up to 400,000 square feet of retail space.

Jacqueline Dupree, a Post staff member, has been tracking the neighborhood's changes since 2003. For additional information and photos, go tohttp://JDLand.com.