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Only days away from the D.C. Council鈥檚 final vote on the $3.7 billion RFK redevelopment project, some of the Washington Commanders鈥� possible future neighbors made their voices heard at a meetup at Kingman Park on Sunday.
The event was organized by the RFK Future Task Force and attended by residents who live near RFK Stadium, which is undergoing structural demolition.
Those who attended played yard games, ate snacks and wrote postcards to the Commanders for what they do and don’t want to see at the site if the stadium deal gets finalized.
鈥淭he North Parking lot is practically my front yard,鈥� Patrick Bahn said jokingly.
Living in Ward 5 since 2011, Bahn said he believes Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. Council have a unique opportunity to build “a stadium and a community for a generation.”
鈥淥r they can just build something that 30 years from now, everyone’s just glad to be tearing down,鈥� he said.
Bahn hopes the Commanders look to Capital One Arena and Nationals Park as a blueprint.
鈥淭hey built a great set of live, work, play, entities and enterprises right around it,鈥� said Bahn.
However, Meredith Holmgren of the Kingman Park Not Kingman Parking Campaign said neighbors don’t want “something that is replicating mistakes of the past.鈥�
Holmgren, who has called D.C. home for the last dozen years, said an overemphasis on vehicle traffic and pollution was one of the issues from the past.
Last week, Holmgren met with officials from the Commanders and said the meeting went well. While there is mutual interest in improving the area, Holmgren said the team still needs to work on parking.
Like Holmgren, Alexis Pazmino, who is a member of the RFK Future Task Force, which is part of Friends of the Kingman Park civic association, wants the focus to be more on Metro and less on parking garages.
鈥淜ingman Park is a heat island,鈥� said Pazmino. 鈥淲e have less green space and less tree canopy than surrounding areas.鈥�
Pazmino said the worst-case scenario would be that the tree canopy would be encroached upon with parking garages and concrete, which could cause the area to warm up 10 degrees warmer than nearby Lincoln Park.
Yet, Pazmino, who also attended last week鈥檚 meeting with the Commanders, remains hopeful.
“They seem very open,” said Pazmino. “So we look forward to more dialogue with them.”
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