Thanks to neighbor Gavin for passing along information from DPR’s kickoff meeting for improvements to the playground at Lamond Rec, held on December 1, 2025.
Join the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the DC Department of General Services (DGS) for a community meeting to discuss improvements coming to the playground at Lamond Recreation Center.
Meeting Details:
Date: Monday, December 1, 2025
Location: Online via Zoom
Time: 6:00 PM- 7:30 PM
Individuals needing special accommodations, please contact Rasheed Jibreel at rasheed.jibreel@dc.gov or by telephone at (202)-341-0158.
Gather at Michigan Park Playground (1203 Wynton Place NE) at 10:30 am for ride to Lost Generation Brewery and enjoy food from Silver and Sons Barbecue food truck.
It’s time for the annual Blanket or Treat. Whats Blanket or Treat? It’s like trunk or treat, but neighbors sit on blankets in the park instead of car trunks and hand out candy. Feel free to come earlier or stay later. Don’t forget your costumes!
On Sunday, October 26th from 4:30 to 6:30pm, the Lamond Community Action Group will host a Halloween Parade starting at Milligan Point (Sligo Mill Rd & Rittenhouse) and ending at 60 Sheridan St NE. The parade will be followed by a potluck in the driveway between 56-60 Sheridan St NE. If you plan to participate or bring something for the potluck, or donate gift cards for the costume contest, email lcagdc@gmail.com with what you plan to bring.
October 31, 2025
From CM Lewis George newsletter:
On Friday, October 31st from 6 to 9pm, Riggs-LaSalle Rec Center (501 Riggs Rd NE) will host a night of frights and delights featuring a haunted house and family-friendly movie. RSVP here.
It’s time for the annual Blanket or Treat. Whats Blanket or Treat? It’s like trunk or treat, but neighbors sit on blankets in the park instead of car trunks and hand out candy. Feel free to come earlier or stay later. Don’t forget your costumes!
From the Office of Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker
Join Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker for a night out at the ballgame as the Washington Nationals take on the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday, September 16, 2025 at 6:45 p.m. The office has a limited number of free tickets for Ward 5 residents, so reserve yours now by visiting ward5.us/gonats!
At a community meeting on August 26, 2025, DC Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) and Department of General Services (DGS) presented an updated concept plan for the Riggs & South Dakota Park that will be located on the southwest corner of Riggs Road & South Dakota Avenue NE in Riggs Park.
Instead of a straight path through the row of mature trees, there will be a plaza area on the corner of the green space at Riggs & South Dakota. The plaza will be buffered by plantings of evergreen shrubs. Two benches sit in front of the shrubbery to orient the gaze to the existing mature trees and open green space and a planting bed of native plants. The addition of two trees on the western and eastern edge of the plaza will eventually provide shade for the plaza. There will be two solar powered lights, waste/recycling receptacles, bike racks, and a park sign. Right now the design-build team is planning for brushed concrete for the plaza.
Public Art
The team requested ideas for community-driven public art. Most people seemed supportive of some type of vertical sculpture as opposed to something like a ground mural. Some ideas included having a more playable/interactive artistic element reminiscent of the LOVE sculpture in Philadelphia but perhaps spelling out “Riggs” or something to that effect.
The team suggested that the community come to a consensus about themes/inspiration for the art piece and have that incorporated into the design now because the money is available rather than waiting. Seems like something The Parks Main Street, Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association, and the ANCs can work together on.
Other Ideas
Residents requested a water fountain with bottle filler along with a spigot. The team stated they will need to determine whether there are already water pipes underneath the space. If there are not, building out infrastructure for water would be cost prohibitive.
The team asked about interest in a community garden club for the native plants but residents pointed out that without a water source, it would be difficult for residents to maintain plantings. Residents have asked for a hose bib from the very beginning. We know that the city will not do a good job of maintaining the planting areas given that the city does not do a good job of even mowing the grass on regular basis. So we really want to make sure that anything planted will be able to be maintained.
Commissioner Bocoum asked about having a sign directing people to walk their bikes through the plaza area.
The team stressed again that this is what the budget of $337,000 will support. Residents can certainly work down the line to request more tree plantings and work with the DC Council on funding for additional elements for the space.
Timeline
The new park should be substantially completed by the end of summer 2026.
Join the DC Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) for the Jazz in the Park series Thursday August 28, 6pm-8pm, at North Michigan Park Rec. Bring a chair or blanket and enjoy live music with neighbors.
Please join the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the DC Department of General Services (DGS) for a community meeting to discuss the initial designs for improvements to the triangle park at the intersection of Riggs Road & South Dakota Avenue NE.
Your attendance is greatly appreciated!
Meeting details:
Date: Tuesday, August 26, 2025
Time: 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: Lamond Riggs Neighborhood Library – 5401 South Dakota Ave NE, Washington, DC 20011
Individuals needing special accommodations, please contact Rasheed Jibreel at rasheed.jibreel@dc.gov or by telephone at (202)-341-0158.
Additional websites for the Riggs and South Dakota Triangle Park project.
Join the DC Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) for the Jazz in the Park series Tuesday July 22, 6pm-8pm, at Riggs-LaSalle Rec. Bring a chair or blanket and enjoy live music with neighbors.
Join DC Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) & MPD for Late Night Hype at Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center featuring carnival-style event with food, music, games, dancing, and more. Registration required to enter.
Initial Riggs & South Dakota Park concept plan presented by DPR
On May 20, 2025, DC’s Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) with their design-build contractor presented an initial concept design for the planned Riggs & South Dakota Park at the southeast southwest corner of Riggs Road & South Dakota Avenue NE.
The simple design consists of a 6-foot path between the row of trees where the slip lane used to be with four nodes of seating along the path. They presented a few different options for the path as well as for seating. They said more of an artsy walkway driven by the community could also be an option. There will be trash and recycling receptacles placed somewhere on the site.
Pathway optionsArtistic walkwaySeating options
The team acknowledged receiving more robust concept renderings produced as part of a collaboration between the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association and EYA (EYA concept renderings). The team said they are starting with a simple walkway because people cut through the space as a shortcut to get from South Dakota to Riggs. They also said the extensive tree root system from the large mature trees on the site limits where they can excavate and build.
The design is underwhelming and it probably has more to do with the budget than anything else. The budget for the 1.5-acre site is only $337,000, the same amount as the 0.14-acre 19th & L Street NE site that will be transformed into a playground in Trinidad Carver-Langston. Even the examples of previously developed park spaces included in the presentation were of park spaces much smaller in size.
By way of contrast, the similarly sized 1.8 acre Cobb Park that DPR is developing in Mount Vernon Triangle neighborhood has a budget of $2 million. The concept plan for that park space is more robust.
Give Feedback
It is not too late to submit written testimony to ask for more funding. Submit testimony to the Council Committee on Facilities chaired by Ward 4 Councilmember Janeese Lewis George by 5:30 pm on June 19, 2025.
Residents can also share feedback on the design with DPR outreach specialist Rasheed Jibreel at rasheed.jibreel@dc.gov.
I shared what I heard from residents at the meeting. We know a playground cannot go in this space. A dog park is supposed to be part of the second phase of Art Place at Fort Totten (unclear when that will get built). So at a minimum, it would be great for this park space to have the following:
A winding path so that people can wander or get their steps in if they so choose. I don’t think it is advisable to have a cobblestone for the winding path.
Curvy planting bed areas on the corner of the park space at South Dakota & Riggs so that that area can be used for native planting and a “Riggs Park” neighborhood sign.
A few other curvy planting bed areas scattered around the perimeter of the park site to help control storm runoff (particularly on the downgrade portion near the sidewalk on South Dakota Avenue) and provide some visual interest.
Design/planting for the treebox spaces surrounding the park space given that District government does not maintain those tree box spaces well at all.
A water fountain to fill bottles.
A water source with a hose bib so that residents can help take care of the plantings.
Black Washington globe lights in the park for lighting.
I know people have talked about public art, but that can probably be dealt with later depending on what people are thinking about.
I also think DPR’s process and communication could be a bit better. I think this project has suffered in part because of a change in project managers mid-stream and in part because of a lack of communication between DPR, DDOT, and the DC Council. For a while now, for whatever reason, the right hand did not know what the left hand was doing. Also, DPR was not able to have a site walkthrough with the community because of rain. DPR did not put out a survey to get input and had just one initial meeting with residents on September 24, 2024, at the Lamond-Riggs Library before taking months to then present this pretty underwhelming concept plan on May 20, 2025.
DPR is in the process of refining plans now. It is worth taking some time to share feedback with DPR and to let the council know that $337,000 for 1.5 acres is simply not enough.
Please join the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the DC Department of General Services (DGS) for a community meeting to discuss the purposed improvements to the triangle park located at the intersection of Riggs Road NE & South Dakota Avenue NE.
Your attendance is greatly appreciated!
Meeting details:
Date: Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Time: 6:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Location: Lamond Riggs Neighborhood Library- 5401 South Dakota Ave NE, Washington, DC 20011
Additional websites for the Riggs and South Dakota Triangle Park project.
Next Stop...Riggs Park 