Plans for an oasis of green space near the Washington Nationals’ new ballpark took shape Monday with a developer’s $4 million contribution to a pair of new parks.
Blocks from the Anacostia River in Near Southeast, the stadium is quickly rising, the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters is soon to open and a mountain of office and residential space is planned.
And amid the mass of glass and concrete construction, the quasi-public Anacostia Waterfront Corp. is assembling its village greens.
“As we rebuild this area, you’ve got to have green space, you’ve got to have open space,” Mayor Adrian Fenty said during a news conference at one end of the future Washington Canal Park. “If you’re going to have new families, they’ve got to have places to take their kids.”
Ben Jacobs, managing partner and founder of developer The JBG Cos., delivered $4 million toward to the construction of two parks: Canal and Diamond Teague. JBG is the firm behind the massive U.S. Department of Transportation project.
The $10 million Canal Park, of which D.C. will pay roughly $4.6 million after private and federal grants, will follow Second Street from M Street to I Street on the route of the extinct Washington Canal. Designed as a retreat for thousands of new office workers and homeowners expected to converge on Near Southeast, the park will include gardens, fountains, performance areas and public art, and will be designed to minimize storm-water discharge into the Anacostia.
Diamond Teague Park, to be built in multiple phases, will be the gateway to the riverfront from the stadium. Its namesake was a member of the Earth Conservation Corps who was shot to death Oct. 9, 2003, in Southeast.
The space could ultimately cost between $15 million and $20 million.
“We’re going to come down here in a year and this is going to be a totally different neighborhood,” Ward 6 D.C. Council Member Tommy Wells said.
