. Construction is expected to take 12-14 months, so look for the park to open in Fall of 2011.
For those who haven't been following along, Canal Park will stretch from I to M streets SE along the two parts of Second Street--some people may know this location as the open field across from Subway and Five Guys, about three blocks northeast of
Nationals Park. The park has been designed to be a showcase of low-impact design and "green" features, including a sizeable stormwater management component. The southern block, across from the
US Department of Transportation headquarters, will have a large plaza, a "significant water feature" that will transform into an ice skating rink in winter, and a large two-level pavilion that will be home to a cafe and observation area. The middle block has a rain garden, a children's play area, a small performance stage, and an open lawn. The northern block, the "most pastoral of the three," will have an open lawn, and the slight grade of the block as it slopes upward toward I Street has allowed the designers to envision this as an informal amphitheater, for events like summer movie nights and whatnot. There is also a "linear rain garden" that runs along the eastern edge of the park's three blocks. (Note that K and L streets will still be open to traffic, though there will be well-marked crosswalks.)
[PS: And, yes, I absconded with one of the shovels. But it was donated, not stolen!]
Sneak Peek of the Almost-Open Yards Park
What a gorgeous morning. A morning perfect for taking photos. Perfect for taking photos along the Anacostia riverfront. At
a park that's less than two weeks from opening. And so here's
a gallery of Yards Park photos, with construction work still very much in evidence but with the site looking in pretty good shape. At more than 5.5 acres, there's a lot of park to photograph, so I left a lot of good shots on the cutting room floor, but hopefully this gallery will give you a good idea of what you'll see when the park has its
Grand Opening Weekend Sept. 10-12.
One other piece of news to pass along--I was told today that it's expected that work will begin on the
Boilermaker Shops rehab by the end of this year. As with the
Foundry Lofts (which is getting restarted now), work on that much-anticipated retail space will take a year or so. (If you need a Yards primer,
see my project page.)
Canal Park Groundbreaking Pushed Back One Day
Just a quick note that the
Canal Park groundbreaking scheduled for Monday, August 30, has been shifted to Tuesday, August 31--it's still at 10:45 am, and still with the mayor expected to be in attendance.
* Adding to their growing Flickr cache of historic photos, DDOT has posted 23 photos from the construction of the Southeast/Southwest Freeway. They're a bit grainy (they look like they may have gotten water-splattered at some point), but most of them are from the area along Virginia Avenue near 6th Street, SE, so you'll see the old Capper Apartment buildings at 5th and Virginia, along with the Ellen Wilson projects that were north of Virginia. When I get some spare moments, I will of course be grabbing some of these shots to add to my own Historic Photos page (thank you, Creative Commons license!). This is wonderful of DDOT to be posting photos from their archive, and I hope they keep them coming. And other DC agencies with their own photo archives should take note.
