Capitol Hill Restoration Society • Washington, DC

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A Plan Emerges for The Hill Town Square

The Town Square Plan prepared by Oehme, van Sweden & Associates envisions the West Plaza as an open Town Square that features a covered pavilion and arbor, a fountain, and an oasis-like ribbon of canopy trees. The East Plaza becomes a “Garden in the City” with a potential memorial sculpture and recreational spaces. The two Plazas are tied together by the use of special paving, planting, and seating. The proposed design anticipates: raised planters for seating under canopy trees, a covered pavilion and arbor visually referring to Eastern Market and providing shelter for periodic markets on the Plaza, specialty vendors and musicians, a fountain to add visual and auditory interest, directional kiosks, movable furniture, brick and concrete paving, segmented benches for alternative seating, an iron fence in the center of Pennsylvania Avenue to discourage pedestrians from crossing in mid-block, a relocated bus shelter and re-timing of traffic lights to encourage use of the crosswalks.

President’s Column
March 2008 CHRS News

by Dick Wolf

CHRS has long been known as the guardian of the Hill’s residential character. But we have also been a strong advocate of a vibrant business community: we were instrumental in saving Eastern Market and are helping to restore it; we produced 12 business directories starting in the late 1960s before there were any Hill business associations; we promoted businesses appropriate to our community by championing numerous adjustments to the zoning code. Now we are engaged in two more initiatives that will strengthen business opportunities and at the same time create a dynamic central business district for Capitol Hill.

As long ago as 1974, CHRS supported the Eastern Market Metro Plaza as a central feature of the Hill. We saw it as the link between Eastern Market locale and Barracks Row. With the revitalization of Barracks Row as DC’s “First Main Street,” the need to redesign the plaza became imperative. Several years ago CHRS and CHAMPS commissioned a design concept for the Plaza using Capitol Hill’s internationally famous landscape design firm, Oehme, van Sweden, & Associates, Inc. That effort produced a plan for a Capitol Hill Town Square. But until ownership of the Plaza parcels transferred to the District from the U.S. Park Service, there were severe constraints on the use of the property.

That transfer occurred last year and using Congressional funds specifically designated for the purpose of planning and building this important feature, Barracks Row has contracted with a team comprised of Amy Weinstein, architect-planner; the aforementioned design firm of Oehme, van Sweden, & Associates; as well as a transportation consultant and an urban tree expert to engage in a comprehensive 15-month planning process for what we are now calling the Hill Town Square Project. Our plan has received the enthusiastic endorsement from a number of DC government agencies. An advisory committee of Hill community organization representatives and relevant Federal and local officials will be formed to assist in refining the plan. Members of the community will participate through community forums.

Equally important and — tied in some ways to the Town Square work — is planning for the re-use of the Hine Junior School site, now that the school will be closed. When the decision to close Hine was made some 18 months ago, CHRS called for a plan based on demolition of the current structure. CHRS subsequently employed Amy Weinstein to draw up a concept for use of the site. That plan has been shown to a number of community representatives who have expressed support for the concept. It has also been shown to various DC officials who see it as a starting point for a community planning process. As noted on page one of this newsletter, the CHRS board recently adopted a resolution calling for a set of principles to guide the planning process. They reflect the Weinstein concept.

These are complex undertakings. Getting the right shape and uses for the very center of the Hill’s most important area is critical. As we move forward, we will keep our members informed of what is being proposed and what forums the community can use to air their ideas. This is another example of CHRS helping to make the Hill a “model urban community.” Sound residential communities, good schools, and successful business areas are all part of continuing to enhance what one newspaper called a “jewel box” of a neighborhood.