Though the closure of Walter Reed Army Medical Center has been placed on hold, the District of Columbia still wants to study what impact the closing or downsizing of the hospital and other military installations will have on the city’s economy.
The District was expected to lose at least 5,600 jobs with the closing of Walter Reed by 2011 as part of the Base Realignment and Closure process, but the signing of the Iraq war supplemental bill into law late last month prevents the shutdown until equivalent facilities are built at Bethesda Naval Medical Center or Fort Belvoir.
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who lobbied to keep Walter Reed open, told The Examiner that she does not foresee the Army’s flagship hospital closing anytime soon.
Still, the District is soliciting bids to study how the 113-acre Northwest Washington campus fits into the city’s economic picture, whether Walter Reed closes or not, said Anita Hairston, chief of staff for the D.C. Office of Planning.
“It’s not to fly in the face of any decisions made about Walter Reed,” Hairston said. “We want to understand how it fits into the District’s economic stream and the employment stream.”
The District is interested in developing parks and retail space along the Georgia Avenue boundary, Hairston said.
The Department of Defense, however, will determine how the property will be used. Two federal agencies already have applied to use portions of the site. The General Services Administration applied to build on 34 acres in the northeast corner of the site, and the State Department has requested to use up to 80 acres on the southern portion of the site.
Hairston said she hopes to have the study completed in the fall and recommendations made by the end of the year.
The District is still expected to lose about 830 jobsfrom the realignment of four other military institutions. Of those, 338 are expected to be lost at Bolling Air Force Base; 363 at the Naval District Washington, including the Navy Yard in Southeast; 12 at Potomac Annex at 23rd and E streets NW; and 92 jobs on leased space around the city.
