Section 10-A1514. CH-2.4 RESERVATION 13/RFK STADIUM (HILL EAST WATERFRONT)

 

1514.1Public Reservation 13 lies on the eastern edge of the Hill East neighborhood on the west bank of the Anacostia River. For more than 150 years, the 67- acre site has been an isolated campus, separated from the neighborhood it adjoins and an obstacle between residents and the waterfront. Reservation 13 has contained public health facilities since 1846, when it became the location of the Washington Asylum—the city’s hospital for indigent patients. In later years, it housed a smallpox hospital, quarantine station, and crematory. Some of the site’s early buildings, such as Anne Archbold Hall, remain today. However, most of the buildings on the site were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s. The site became DC General Hospital in 1953. The DC Jail was built in 1976, replacing the old jail on the site that dated back to the 1870s. 1514.1

 

1514.2Reservation 13 presents itself today as a vast area of large, seemingly unrelated buildings associated only by their proximity and former use. Vast areas of the site are used for parking, and there are few areas where the natural beauty of the waterside setting can be appreciated. The site is not at all related to the lowscale row house neighborhood west of 19th Street, nor is it related to the nearby Metrorail station at Stadium-Armory. While the Departments of Health and Mental Health, the Medical Examiner, and the Court Supervisor and Offender Supervision Agency all utilize space on the site, many of the buildings are underutilized. DC General Hospital itself was closed in 2001. 1514.2

 

1514.3A Master Plan for Reservation 13 was completed in 2002 and later adopted by the City Council. It seeks to retain important civic uses, connect residential areas to the shoreline, and redevelop the site as an extension of the adjacent Hill East neighborhood. Since completion of the Plan, transfer of the site from federal to local ownership along with “pre-zoning” to reflect the uses envisioned by the Master Plan have both been initiated. As of early 2006, neither of these actions has been completed. 1514.3

 

1514.4The adopted Reservation 13 Master Plan retains the DC Jail and other institutional uses and identifies approximately 40 acres for redevelopment. New facilities for health care and recreation are envisioned, along with new housing, offices, retail, and institutional uses. Key urban design features include extension of the Capitol Hill street grid into the site, new parks, and new access to the waterfront, including a great meadow overlooking the shoreline. Other notable elements of the plan include the extension of Massachusetts Avenue to the Anacostia River and a village square at the Stadium-Armory Metrorail station. The preliminary development program identifies the potential for 800 new housing units and over 3 million square feet of non-residential space, roughly doubling the total square footage of buildings on the site. 1514.4

 

1514.5Immediately north of Reservation 13 lies the RFK Stadium complex. RFK Stadium was built in 1961 at a particularly prominent location along the east-west axis that includes the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument, and Lincoln Memorial. More than 100 acres of land around the stadium is used for surface parking and unimproved open space. The area is owned by the federal government and is currently under study by the National Capital Planning Commission. It was identified in the 1997 NCPC Legacy Plan as a possible location for major new memorials, recreation, and open space as well as possible private development. 1514.5

 

1514.6Policy CH-2.4.1: Redevelopment of Public Reservation 13

 

Redevelop Reservation 13 as a mixed use neighborhood that combines housing, office space, health care, civic, education, and recreational uses. Established uses such as the DC Correctional Facility should be retained. Health care and institutional uses on the site should be reorganized to accommodate infill uses, improve the site’s vitality and efficiency, and create an environment more conducive to pedestrian travel. 1514.6

 

1514.7Policy CH-2.4.2: Reservation 13 as an Extension of Hill East

 

Connect the established Hill East neighborhood to the Anacostia waterfront by extending Massachusetts Avenue and the Capitol Hill street grid through Reservation 13 to new shoreline parks and open spaces. Massachusetts Avenue should be designed as a grand boulevard in the tradition of the L’Enfant Plan, and should terminate in a dramatic overlook above the Anacostia River. 1514.7

 

1514.8Policy CH-2.4.3: Reservation 13 Parkland

 

Create new waterfront parklands and green spaces at Reservation 13, including a grand waterfront park, recreational trails along the waterfront, smaller neighborhood parks and open spaces within the site, and tree-lined pedestrian streets. 1514.8

 

1514.9Policy CH-2.4.4: Stadium-Armory Station

 

Capitalize on the Stadium-Armory Metrorail station in the design and development of Reservation 13. This should include development of a new neighborhood center near 19th and C Streets SE that serves the unmet needs of the nearby community, as well as the development of moderate to high density housing on the Reservation 13 site. 1514.9

 

1514.10Policy CH-2.4.5: Reservation 13 Building Heights

 

Achieve a gradual progression in building heights on Reservation 13, with the lowest heights along 19th Street SE to buffer the adjacent low-scale row house neighborhoods. Taller buildings should be located along the Massachusetts Avenue extension and on the portions of the site where visual impacts can be minimized by slope and topography. Buildings should be designed to maximize waterfront views and vistas, and minimize impacts on nearby residences. 1514.10

 

1514.11Policy CH-2.4.6: RFK Stadium Area

 

Encourage better use of the National Park Service lands around RFK Stadium, including park and trail improvements that connect Hill East to the Langston Golf Course and National Arboretum areas to the north. 1514.11

 

1514.12Action CH-2.4.A: Hill East/Reservation 13 Master Plan

 

Implement the Hill East/Reservation 13 Master Plan, including the Massachusetts Avenue extension and the creation of new waterfront parks. Upon transfer of the land from federal to District control, the site should be rezoned to achieve the Master Plan’s objectives. 1514.12

 

1514.13Action CH-2.4.B: RFK Stadium Planning

 

Work collaboratively with the National Capital Planning Commission and adjacent Hill East and Kingman Park communities in planning the area between Benning Road and Reservation 13, including RFK Stadium, and in implementing these plans after they are completed. 1514.13

 

notation

The provisions of Title 10, Part A of the DCMR accessible through this web interface are codification of the District Elements of the Comprehensive Plan for the National Capital. As such, they do not represent the organic provisions adopted by the Council of the District of Columbia. The official version of the District Elements only appears as a hard copy volume of Title 10, Part A published pursuant to section 9a of the District of Columbia Comprehensive Plan Act of 1994, effective April 10, 1984 (D.C. Law 5-76; D.C. Official Code § 1 -301.66)) . In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions accessible through this site and the provisions contained in the published version of Title 10, Part A, the provisions contained in the published version govern. A copy of the published District Elements is available www.planning.dc.gov.