Halloween Treat Giveaway: A Fun Evening Of Music, Games, And A Costume Contest
October 29, 2021
6:00 pm-8:00 pm
Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center
501 Riggs Road NE
Free
Find other Halloween at DPR events around the city at https://dprhalloween2021.splashthat.com.
The DC Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) is back with a summer update regarding all of those surveys you took and meetings you attended for DPR’s master plan called Ready2Play. Be sure to provide input on DPR’s draft plans.
From DPR
Dear Washingtonians,
DPR has released a major update to the Ready2Play Master Plan, which will guide DPR development over the next 20 years. This update includes:
– A draft set of four goals with 13 strategies, and 85 specific actions to initiate the plan.
– A draft Equity Framework, a data analysis tool that will be used to develop the Ready2Play Capital Blueprint, which will guide our future capital budget requests over the duration of this plan. As part of this framework, we have released a draft Equity Statement that defines our commitment to equity through this plan and as an agency.
– Results from our Citywide Survey. These will include 1) a presentation of key findings and charts, 2) a data-heavy report presenting findings from each question, broken down by ward, and 3) the full, de-identified raw data received.
These products are the result of the tremendous feedback we received from all eight wards through in-person and virtual meetings, online engagement, and phone calls, as well as the nearly 3,000 responses to our Ready2Play Citywide Survey.
We are now seeking input to make sure we are on the right path. You can review materials and provide feedback online at www.ready2playdc.com. You can also send your thoughts, comments, and questions to ready2play@dc.gov or leave a voice message by calling (202) 282-2198. Our team will also be out across the city this summer, engaging residents at various events.
Thanks in advance for your continued participation in the Ready2PlayDC planning process. We look forward to your feedback.
From DC Department of Parks and Recreation
| DPR is currently hiring for various summer positions across multiple divisions and if you think you’re a good fit, we want to hear from you! Are you interested in joining our summer workforce as a lifeguard, camp counselor, food monitor, or program facilitator? Submit your resume today to request a spot at our in-person hiring fair. Qualified applicants will receive a formal invitation from the Office of Human Resources to interview on one of the following dates: |
| Saturday, May 8 Wednesday, May 19 |
| Location and time of interview will be provided in follow-up confirmation. Offers will be made on the spot to select applicants. Now’s your chance to join the team that makes fun happen across all 8 wards. Sign up today and let’s get #BacktoSummer. |
| Attend the Summer Hiring Fair |
The new Riggs-LaSalle community playground is now open in the 500 block of Nicholson Street NE. As noted in this post, this playground has been a long time coming. It really is a testament to working together as a community–former Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association (LRCA) president Barbara Rogers championed a new playground during her tenure. When I became president of LRCA after her, I picked up the ball and ran with it, writing several letters to the DC Council and Mayor Bowser to secure funding and organizing parents to advocate for a playground. Mayor Bowser and former Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd came through with the funding during the latter half of my tenure as LRCA president. And finally, once the project kicked off, so many neighbors and the newly established Friends of Riggs-LaSalle Rec wrote numerous letters in support of the playground along with a number of suggestions for improvements. Kudos to the community for making this happen.
See message from the DC Department of Parks & Recreation Project Manager Peter Nohrden dated April 30, 2021, below:
Dear Riggs LaSalle Playground Community,
On behalf of the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the DC Department of General Services (DGS), I am pleased to announce that the Riggs LaSalle Public Playground is now opened. The playground has passed the Playground Safety Inspection and is now ready for play. Please note that drinking fountains are still turned off due to COVID protocols, but we wanted to open the playground as soon as possible so that the community can enjoy it this weekend.
The renovations to the Riggs LaSalle Playground includes: a new 5-12 play area, a new 2-5 play area, swings, benches, a drinking fountain with a bottle filler, waste and recycling receptacles as well as new lighting and security cameras. There is also perimeter landscaping, which includes canopy trees that will one day provide great shade for the playground.
Enjoy!
By David Kosub (Contributor)
Many neighbors might notice the construction for the new playground is nearing completion. I reached out to the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation for an update and here is what they said:
Thank you for your support of the new playground at Riggs Park. You have probably seen that we are in the finishing moments. We have to install the landscaping and various punch-list items in the coming weeks, but we anticipate opening the playground around the end of the month. I will let you know once we have a confirmed date.
So, that sounds like very good news. I’ll keep ya’ll posted when that “confirmed date” is known.
At last night’s ANC 4B public meeting, AARP presented on a plan for a “FitLot,” an outdoor fitness space, at Lamond Recreation Center (20 Tuckerman Street NE). View the presentation here.
AARP is sponsoring installation of one FitLot in every state, DC, Puerto, and the US Virgin Islands. AARP will cover the cost of installation as well as up to three years of instructor-led courses. The total value of the amenity is around $170,000.
AARP is waiting for a final agreement from DPR, but construction is anticipated to begin in May or June of this year. ANC Commissioner Geoff Bromaghim (4B07) will discuss this a bit more at a single member district meeting for that area, tentatively scheduled for April 7, 2021.
The District Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) sent out communication regarding next steps for Ready2Play, DPR’s master plan for parks and recreation in the city. If you have not participated in the process yet, there are still lots of opportunities to advocate for parks and rec in our neck of the woods. The deadline for the citywide survey has been extended again. Go ahead and let them know your wishlist for the rec center. Let them know you’d like a walking path in the neighborhood and a trail (and pother amenities) at Fort Circle Park at South Dakota Avenue and Galloway Street NE. Let them know you’d like community space on the District green in front of Food & Friends. Remind them that these items are part of the neighborhood’s area development plan so it should not come as a surprise that residents are mentioning these items.
DPR’s message below
—
Thank you to those who were able to join us at our Ward by Ward Ready2Play meetings. It was great meeting many of you and receiving your valuable feedback. We wanted to let you know that the notes, presentation slides, video recordings, and Q & A sheets of all questions received through the chat or breakout sessions from all 8 of our Ward meetings are now available and posted on our website: ready2playdc.com. For those who were unable to join, or those interested in reviewing the feedback from other wards across the city, we invite you to explore the content on these pages and leave any additional ideas or feedback using the tools provided.
We also wanted to highlight a number of ongoing ways to engage in the plan.
We have reopened the Ready2Play Citywide Survey until April 4th 2021. If you have not yet had a chance to complete it, you can do so here: ready2playdc.com/citywide-survey. We’ve also attached two digital survey flyers to this email (one in English, one in Spanish). If you are able and willing to help spread the word among your local networks and listservs, we would greatly appreciate it!
Ready2Play developed 8 Key Priorities as part of its SCORP planning process last summer. We have now launched individual pages for each of these priorities that provide more context and invite you to leave your feedback and suggestions on how you would like to see these priorities addressed. You can find these by scrolling down on our homepage, right below the section on ward by ward engagement.
For those who face technological challenges or lack regular access to technology, Ready2Play has also launched a new voicemail box number (202) 282-2198, which is available 24/7 for residents to share their thoughts, suggestions and priorities for the future of parks and recreation in the District. Suggestions received through this line will be integrated into our overall engagement analysis. If you are able, please help spread the word to others in your community who may benefit from this low-tech opportunity to engage.
Finally, feel free to reach out to us over email anytime at ready2play@dc.gov, or, if you prefer social media, tag us at @DCDPR and use #Ready2PlayDC and #DPRisListening.
Once again, thank you for your interest in Ready2Play. We look forward to continuing to engage with you in the months ahead.
A neighbor passed along photos of installation of the new playground at Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center (501 Riggs Road NE). The playground will be located on the Nicholson Street side of the rec. Looks like the playground equipment is on site. Benches, drinking fountain, surface, and plantings are still to come. This will be a nice treat for families to enjoy when the weather turns this spring.
DPR Ready2Play Ward 5 Virtual Meeting
Monday, February 8, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm RSVP
Monday, February 8, is your opportunity to discuss the particular parks and rec centers in Ward 5 that you would like to see prioritized for future capital improvements and to share your ideas on the types of recreational programming, park design, and priorities you would like to see addressed in the Ready2Play plan. The District Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) will share findings from its recent Ready2Play Citywide Survey and senior staff from DPR will be on hand to hear suggestions. This is our chance to let DPR know that we would like to see collaboration with National Park Service to get a trail at Fort Circle Park at South Dakota Avenue and Galloway Street NE. This is also our chance to let DPR know that we would like to see the green space in front of Food & Friends on the southwest corner of South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road NE preserved for community recreation space. We have the ability to work with stakeholders and developers to develop a vision for both spaces.
ALSO, DPR is reopening the citywide survey in order to get more input from more residents. So, if you missed filling it out the first time around, now is your chance to tell DC officials your ideas for parks and recreation centers in the District. Go ahead and let DC officials know you’d like to see a trail and other context-respectful amenities at Fort Circle Park. Let them know that you’d like to see the green space in front of Food & Friends programmed for community space such as an art park or history park or any number of things. Remind them that these requests are outlined in the neighborhood’s area development plan. Want to see more amenities in Riggs Park, such as tennis courts, or a pool, or a skate park? Let DPR know. Complete the survey at https://ready2playdc.com/citywide-survey by March 1, 2021.
DPR Ready2Play Ward 4 Virtual Meeting
Thursday, February 4, 6:30 pm-8:00 pm RSVP
This Thursday, February 4, is your opportunity to discuss the particular parks and rec centers in Ward 4 that you would like to see prioritized for future capital improvements and to share your ideas on the types of recreational programming, park design, and priorities you would like to see addressed in the Ready2Play plan. The District Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) will share findings from its recent Ready2Play Citywide Survey and senior staff from DPR will be on hand to hear suggestions. So if you want to see more improvements at Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center, now’s your chance to share with DPR.
ALSO, DPR is reopening the citywide survey in order to get more input from more residents. So, if you missed filling it out the first time around, now is your chance to tell DC officials your ideas for parks and recreation centers in the District. Go ahead and let DC officials know you’d like to see a trail and other context-respectful amenities at Fort Circle Park. Let them know that you’d like to see the green space in front of Food & Friends programmed for community space such as an art park or history park or any number of things. Remind them that these requests are outlined in the neighborhood’s area development plan. Complete the survey at https://ready2playdc.com/citywide-survey by March 1, 2021.
Remember all of those Ready2Play surveys you completed giving the District Department of Parks & Recreation (DPR) all of your great ideas about improving parks and recreation centers for DPR’s new parks and recreation master plan? DPR is moving to the next phase of the process by holding meetings in each ward. The meeting for parks and recreation centers in Ward 4 will be on February 4 at 6:30 pm (register here). The meeting for parks and recreation centers in Ward 5 will be on February 8 at 6:30 pm (register here). More information from DPR below.
The Ready2Play planning team at DPR is excited to announce the next phase of our engagement process – a series of upcoming virtual meetings that will be ward-specific. These meetings will focus on the parks and recreational needs, desires, and opportunities within each ward. This is your opportunity to discuss the particular parks and rec centers in your ward that you would like to see prioritized for future capital improvements and to share your ideas on the types of recreational programming, park design, and priorities you’d like to see addressed in the plan. We will share findings from our recent Ready2Play Citywide Survey and senior staff from DPR will be on hand to hear your suggestions. You can find the links to all of the meetings on our website, or RSVP directly to the meeting or meetings you plan to attend below. Once you RSVP, you will receive a calendar invite with all of the appropriate meeting information. The content for each of these meetings will focus on the particular ward for that meeting. Meetings are listed by ward, not chronologically.
Can’t make a meeting, but have questions or comments about parks and recreation in your ward or neighborhood? Email ready2play@dc.gov.
By David Kosub (Contributor)
According to the December 11, 2020, issue of the DC Register, the District’s Department of General Services submitted a reprogramming request on December 2, 2020 to move $500,000 to the District’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). The Register notes the request is needed to complete critical Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvements to the DPR Turkey Thicket and Riggs LaSalle Recreation Centers. The Council has a fourteen day review period for the request, unless they file a Notice of disapproval, extending the clock to 30 days.
Here’s hoping the Council does not have any issues with our rec center receiving these funds to make ADA enhancements. Write your Councilmember if you support the reprogramming request too!
The Smithsonian National Zoo in partnership with Pepco is taking Zoo Lights on the road. The Zoolights Express truck featuring “Panda Claws” and light displays will visit each ward on a Friday or Saturday between November 27 and December 19. The Ward 5 tour will be on December 11 starting at the corner of South Dakota Avenue and Riggs Road NE at 6:00 pm.
The ZooLights Express truck will visit one Washington, D.C., ward on the following Friday and Saturday nights from 6-8 p.m.
h/t Gavin Baker
The quarterly National Park service meeting with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton’s office originally scheduled for December 2, 2020, is postponed until first quarter 2021. In the interim, inquiries about NPS issues may be sent to Norton.Casework@mail.house.gov.
On October 14, 2020, DC’s Department of Parks & Recreation and the Department of General Services shared the final design for the new Riggs-LaSalle Playground that will be located on the Nicholson Street NE side of the Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center. View the presentation here.
The playground will be ADA accessible with play structures for the 2 to 5 year old age group and for the 5 to 12 year old age group. New shade trees, low maintenance landscaping, and a four foot decorative fence will be installed.
We discussed the preliminary design in this blog post. A few updates from the preliminary design:
DPR will not create a direct walkway between the existing splash pad and the new playground as requested because they do not want children with wet slippery feet running onto the playground and potentially hurting themselves. As for security, DPR noted the agency will work with DGS to ensure that the playground is adequately maintained and safe.
The project will break ground in the next couple of weeks, with completion anticipated late 2020/early 2021. For questions, contact the project manager Peter Nohrden at peter.nohrden@dc.gov. The project website is https://dgs.dc.gov/riggs-lasalle.
Images from presentation
By David Kosub (Contributor)
Warranted or not, the subject of crime regularly seems to come up when discussing Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center. This was definitely a point of debate amongst neighbors at the October 2020 meeting of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association as part of the discussion on the new playground. If you need to come up to speed on the new project, please read a detailed description here and my comments provided to the DC Department of Parks and Recreation. And, mark your calendars for October 14 for the next community meeting on the project.
I personally feel safe in Riggs Park and have no fear about taking my family to the current playground. From my viewpoint, detractors of the playground like to say that the vast majority of crime—especially violent crime—that happens in Riggs Park centers around the recreation center. But, these are always anecdotes, and we all know that the plural of anecdotes is not data.
So, let’s actually look at some crime statistics pulled from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Crime Map to better understand the issue. In this post, I will show data provided when searching for all reported crimes within 1,000 feet from the Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center over the past eight years. Note, data for 2020 are as of Wednesday, October 7, 2020. Also, keep in mind when looking at the data, that these numbers may or may not be directly linked to anything going on at the rec center, but specifically within a 1,000 foot radius.
Table 1 below shows the bigger picture of property crime and violent crime since 2012. No surprise, but property crimes outnumbered violent crimes each year. During this time, the total number of crimes trended up, peaked in 2017, then came down since then.
| Year | Property | Violent | Grand Total |
| 2012 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| 2013 | 33 | 6 | 39 |
| 2014 | 37 | 12 | 49 |
| 2015 | 38 | 18 | 56 |
| 2016 | 42 | 9 | 51 |
| 2017 | 45 | 14 | 59 |
| 2018 | 37 | 6 | 43 |
| 2019 | 26 | 7 | 33 |
| 2020 | 18 | 2 | 20 |
Table 2 shows a breakdown of property crimes reported near the rec center. These include burglary, motor vehicle theft, theft from auto, and other types of theft. Theft from automobiles is definitely a problem near the rec center, but this is an issue citywide, not unique to Riggs Park. MPD raises this issue quite often at community meetings. Here is your PSA for the day, stop leaving valuables in your car already!
| Year | Burglary | Motor vehicle theft | Theft from auto | Theft/other |
| 2012 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 |
| 2013 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 7 |
| 2014 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 13 |
| 2015 | 4 | 7 | 15 | 12 |
| 2016 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 8 |
| 2017 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 19 |
| 2018 | 1 | 3 | 27 | 6 |
| 2019 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 7 |
| 2020 | 1 | 2 | 11 | 4 |
And, what about for violent crimes, such as assault with a deadly weapon, homicide, robbery, and Sexual abuse? Below are the numbers for your review in Table 3.
| Year | Assault w/dangerous weapon | Homicide | Robbery | Sex abuse |
| 2012 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2013 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 2014 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 2015 | 12 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 2016 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 2017 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 2018 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2019 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
Finally, when looking at the method used during some of the crimes, Table 4 below shows the data for guns, knifes, and other methods. I’m not sure what all is encompassed in “other” here from MPD, and probably do not want to know…
| Year | Gun | Knife | Other | Grand Total |
| 2012 | 1 | 8 | 9 | |
| 2013 | 2 | 37 | 39 | |
| 2014 | 4 | 2 | 43 | 49 |
| 2015 | 9 | 47 | 56 | |
| 2016 | 7 | 2 | 42 | 51 |
| 2017 | 6 | 1 | 52 | 59 |
| 2018 | 4 | 1 | 38 | 43 |
| 2019 | 5 | 1 | 27 | 33 |
| 2020 | 2 | 18 | 20 |
Overall, reported crimes appear to be trending downward in recent years near the rec center. This is also the case for Riggs Park as a whole (see this 2019 post for a decade’s worth of data). To me, this is something to commend and build upon. Moreover, the crime data do not justify to me a reason to fight a new playground coming to our neighborhood that will benefit families and children alike. That being said, one crime is too many of course. I am pleased to hear of residents taking action, providing crime-reduction plans, and working towards engaging folks in our community (yes, that is an overt plug for Tischa Cockrell running for ANC4B).
Riggs LaSalle Playground – Final Design and Project Kick-Off
October 14, 2020
6:30 pm-7:30 pm
Meeting Information
Join via webex:
https://dcnet.webex.com/dcnet/j.php?MTID=m86e48f16f1013714af9a13ba87ec9519
More ways to join
Join by phone
202-860-2110 United States Toll (Washington D.C.)
Attendee access code 360 353 07
By David Kosub
Below is what I shared with the Department of Parks and Recreation regarding my comments on the new playground proposed for the Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center. I encourage other community members to directly share their feedback with Peter.Nohrden@dc.gov. Feel free and share your thoughts in the comments section too.
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Good day Mr. Nohrden,
Thank you for meeting with members of the larger Lamond-Riggs community on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, to discuss the plans for the new playground located at Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center. I appreciated hearing about the plans under consideration and your willingness to encompass feedback from the community. As noted in the Upper Northeast element of the District’s Comprehensive Plan, “…much of Upper Northeast is starved for public parkland. More active recreational areas, playgrounds, athletic fields, and traditional neighborhood parks are needed.” So, this community discussion and project are welcomed.
I support the new playground project. Anything that gets our kids and families outside, playing in the fresh air, the better in my opinion. As requested during the meeting, please find below some additional thoughts for consideration.
· Link the new playground with the existing splash park and other amenities in the existing play space. A safe passage between the two sites will be a vast improvement to ensure children and families do not need to dodge vehicles in the parking lot just because they want to play.
· Install as much native landscaping as possible, with minimal sod grass, at the site, including markers indicating what plant species are present. This could make for a great learning tool informing the community about the flora all around them. More information about the landscaping plan in future meetings would be appreciated.
· Clearly display the hours of operation for the playground on a visually appealing sign
· Prefer the swing set over the zipline as it would allow more opportunities for children to play
· Ensure the design of the new playground is one that is aesthetically pleasing and blends into the natural environment and neighborhood whenever and wherever possible. This could include choosing earth tone colors, public art, using building materials which are more environmentally friendly and long-lasting, as well as removal of unsightly existing structures and tall chain-linked fencing.
· Ensure all playground materials are not toxic and hazardous (i.e. avoiding lead based materials and poured-in-place rubber surfaces)
· Establish a relationship with the nearby school and recreation center to enhance the environmental quality, accessibility, maintenance, appearance, usefulness, and “park-like” character of the site above what currently exists (see Policy 4.1.3 of the Parks and Open Space element of the District’s Comprehensive Plan)
For your reference, the desire and need for a new playground has been a topic of interest in the community for many years. I personally have heard the issue raised at various community meetings, directly to city officials (go to 42 minutes in the recording of this LRCA meeting with Mayor Bowser in February 2018), and while chatting with neighbors. Moreover, the 2009 Small Area Development plan for our neighborhood called for more active recreation, such as playgrounds or trails. Though that specific recommendation was to work with the U.S. National Park Service, it is quite applicable for working with the District’s Department of Parks and Recreation too. As a testament to the community’s interest, below is a sampling of what was shared on our public neighborhood listserv in support of the new playground:
* * * * *
Again, I appreciate your willingness to work with the Riggs Park community on this project to ensure we have the best playground possible that meets the community’s needs. To paraphrase from the 2004 Play D.C. master plan,
Our legacy of parks provides an extraordinary foundation and we owe it not only to our predecessors, but to our current and future residents to capitalize on and fully realize our rich heritage. We must continually invest in, and improve our existing parks and recreation centers citywide to provide quality and equity of service…we must strengthen the connections between parks and neighborhoods, and residents and their communities.
I encourage the Department of Parks and Recreation to send updates on this project, including future meeting announcements, directly to the neighborhood list serv to ensure as many residents are made aware as possible. Emails may be sent to lamond-riggs-community@googlegroups.com. I’m also willing to forward messages directly to the group on your behalf.
Thank you
David Kosub
On August 19, 2020, the DC Department of Parks & Recreation and Department of General Services held an initial community meeting about a new playground that will be built at Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center. The rec center is located at 501 Riggs Road NE at the corner of Nicholson Street NE. The playground would be built on the Nicholson Street side of the rec.
The project website is https://dgs.dc.gov/riggs-lasalle. The presentation has not been placed on the website just yet, but a resident kindly passed along screenshots that I have placed below. (Update: The presentation is now on the project website at https://dgs.dc.gov/riggs-lasalle). If you have an interest in this project, please send comments to the project manager Peter Nohrden at peter.nohrden@dc.gov. Officials hope to start construction in fall 2020 with completion anticipated late 2020/early 2021. They have asked that people send comments in the next two weeks, so please send comments as soon as possible.
I suggest that people take pictures of things at other playgrounds that they really like and send that with their comments. This new playground will be limited by space and budget. The footprint they are working with is only 5,000 square feet, so there is not a ton of space for a vast array of playground equipment. The budget is only $550,000. The rec would really need (and could benefit from) a full redesign and layout to really have a larger, cohesive play space, and that is just not going to happen at this point.
Features of the proposed playground
A few suggestions raised during the community meeting
Some initial comments from residents who attended the meeting:
A few concerns & a little background
One of the big concerns that came up even before the meeting and one that has existed with the existing playground is safety. I mentioned in this post that the community worked for several years to get the existing playground opened back up to the community. It was finally reopened in June/July 2019. I did not go into all of the drama of getting that playground reopened.
The existing playground had been closed to the public for at least 8 years that I know of, but I am pretty sure it was closed for a longer period of time. The official reason we were given for its closure to the public was that it belonged to the school next door, LaSalle-Backus Education Campus. I served as president of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association (LRCA) from June 2017 to June 2019. We held a public meeting in February 2018 with members of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Cabinet. I asked parents to attend that meeting to ask the mayor about opening the playground to the public. In response to questions, the mayor stated that it should be open and that she did not know why it was closed. We let DC officials know that we were pretty sure the playground belonged to DPR not DCPS. [Note: At the same time, we were also working to get funding for a new playground because there was not a playground open to the public in the neighborhood at all. We did get a commitment for funding.]
There was a scramble with DPR, DGS, and DCPS doing research, and they eventually determined that the playground actually belonged to DPR and that the school had first right of use. The school would have exclusive use during school hours, and the school would be responsible for cleaning and maintenance of the playground during school hours. During non-school hours and on the weekends, the playground would be open to the public and DGS would be responsible for cleaning and maintenance. In order to open the playground to the public, DGS had to install an ADA ramp and a second entrance. So all of that was done and the playground was reopened to the public last summer.
Unofficially, many residents believe the playground was closed for so long because of safety reasons. I spoke with MPD officers who stated that they thought the playground was in a poor location, basically sitting in a valley behind a tall chain link fence, making it difficult for officers patrolling to see the playground from Riggs Road. DPR officials have said the same. Likewise, the playground could not be seen by officers patrolling on Nicholson Street because the playground sits behind the rec center. The playground was built years before the rec center. When the rec center was built, it was constructed with its back side facing the playground. That layout made it difficult for rec center staff to monitor the playground. As part of the reopening, DGS installed cameras on the back side of the building.
But really the issue is that the playground has been around for decades, so it was there during the crack epidemic. All sorts of things took place on the playground and kids were returning to school finding things they should not be finding on a playground. There are hot blocks in the neighborhood. Over time, the area around the rec became one of the hot spots. One would think people would not do antisocial, anti-community things around an elementary school and community recreation center that community residents lobbied to have built, but here we are.
So now the current president of LRCA, Rodney Foxworth, is objecting to a new playground on the pretense of public safety concerns and that “the community” was not notified. Public safety is a legitimate concern, but it is also a concern that exists regardless of whether this new playground gets built, as I noted above. The new playground would face Nicholson Street and would be visible from the street. DPR reached out to the ANC commissioner for that area ANC Commissioner LaRoya Huff (4B09) to do a site visit and talk about plans for the playground. Ms. Huff is also a current officer on the board of the LRCA. She is also a staffer for Ward 4 Councilmember Brandon Todd.
I will go ahead and say it. One of the frustrating things about this conversation for me is that the loudest voices citing public safety concerns and problems with “process” are the ones who love to talk about how long they have lived in the neighborhood and they love to behave in an unwelcome manner to anyone who was not raised in the neighborhood or who moved into the neighborhood in the last 10 years. The people engaging in anti-community behavior near the rec are not strangers. They are people that long-time residents know. They grew up here. They are friends and relatives of long-time neighbors.
This notion that we should not have anything in this neighborhood because it will just get messed up is a hopelessness and fiction that I just cannot abide. Yes, we need to have a plan in place for making sure the playground stays clean and the equipment is not destroyed. That plan should already be in place for the existing playground. Yes, we should be realistic about the fact that prior to COVID-19, certain people liked to congregate in front of the rec and on the side of the building out of view of the cameras and engage in anti-community behavior. We should also tell the truth that they were permitted to do so. We do not actually have to just shrug and say welp when we see our own neighbors using a community space in ways making it difficult for that space to be used for its intended use, but that is what has been happening. We do not actually have to just shrug and say welp when long-time neighbors know the people responsible for the few shootings that have happened near the rec.
Last summer a few residents (not the loudest voices) and a DC government employee started a program working with some of the youth who would hang out at the rec, and that program was very promising. That is the type of work that we should be championing and expanding. There is a new Friends of Riggs-LaSalle Rec that is in the process of standing up. Once that organization is fully stood up, hopefully it will be an avenue to support this community space. Bottom line, I hope that as neighbors we actually do the work and work together to have the community we want.
Remember to send any comments about the proposed playground to Peter Nohrden at peter.nohrden@dc.gov.
Riggs-LaSalle Recreation Center Playground Community Meeting
August 19, 2020
6:00 pm-7:00 pm
Hosted by DC Department of Parks & Recreation and
Department of General Services
Join via webex
https://dcnet.webex.com/dcnet/j.php?MTID=mb76d0d2b3f3d31d92fb183b30edee2f3
Join by phone
650-479-3208 Call-in toll number (US/Canada)
202-860-2110 United States Toll (Washington D.C.)
Attendee access code 360 353 07
Next Stop...Riggs Park 