No matter how the D.C. government ultimately decides to develop Poplar Point, Anacostia Historical Society President Dianne Dale expects a sliver will be set aside for her long-planned memorial to Frederick Douglass, no matter how long it takes.
Five acres adjacent to the Anacostia Metro station, near Douglass’ Anacostia estate, constitute the preferred site for a $25 million national garden commemorative to the abolitionist, civil rights champion, U.S. Marshal and D.C. recorder of deeds.
Congress first devoted National Park Service land to the effort in 2000, giving Frederick Douglass Gardens Inc. seven years to get its project under way. With delays mounting — D.C. still doesn’t control the federally owned property — Rep. Danny Davis, D-Ill., introduced legislation last week extending the deadline to 2014.
“It has taken this long,” Dale said simply, “because it has taken this long.”
Talks between the District and the private sector to redevelop 130-acre Poplar Point are well under way. Whether those plans include a new soccer stadium for D.C. United, a massive mixed-use development, an entertainment district or acres of parkland is still to be determined.
Dale fears that historic Anacostia is “disappearing without a trace.”
“You can see the most beautiful sunsets from the Anacostia waterfront anywhere, and now they’re going to develop on the waterfront,” she said. “What’s that going to do to the views?”
The memorial and gardens, she said, will honor “the community that Frederick Douglass’ sons lived in with their families.”
The National Park Service will ultimately decide if Dale’s organization gets its coveted Poplar Point location, and then whether it gets five acres or only one. Where the District stands isn’t clear, as its request for developer interest made no mention of the Douglass memorial.
But the project won a critical vote of confidence in 2005 from a federal memorial advisory commission, and the Anacostia community has weighed in over the years to support it.
If Dale is trying to stave off Poplar Point development, however, she’s losing the battle. D.C. Council Member Kwame Brown, chairman of the economic development committee, last week expressed his support for a soccer stadium there, arguing it will spur revitalization like the Verizon Center did for Chinatown.
“I am going to support a soccer stadium that is part of any proposal that comes in,” Brown said.
