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Have you walked past the old convention center site between 9th & 11th and H St & NY Ave lately? Here is a picture from the walkway which follows a shadow of 10th St through the parking lot. A DCist comment tells us that the walkway is part of an art installation which is detailed in an issue of Urban Land Institute. We’d excerpt the article, but it is a pay-only e-zine, so we’ll pass.
One notable piece of this not-yet-complete art installation is: astroturf! All of that green stuff in the picture is not grass. We thought PG Montgomery County was the only DC area location to use astroturf, but that is no longer the case.
According to the 2005 NCPC Annual Report, here are all of the juicy details:
- The design features––landscaping, banners, artwork,
a rain garden, and pedestrian pathways––create a
visually appealing location that enhances the
streetscape, provides amenities for pedestrians, and
creates a destination for public events. The 10th
Street Art Corridor, featuring artwork supported on
steel columns, benches, and a path paved with
recycled glass, would provide the primary pedestrian
access through the area.
The site will function as a parking lot, offering shortterm
parking for up to 1,000 vehicles, including tour
buses. It also will serve as a location for festivals,
markets, and special events. The temporary use is
approved for no more than five years.
As part of the 1995 Memorandum of Agreement for the
MCI Center, in which NCPC played a major role, it is
expected that 10th and I Streets will reopen to vehicles
when permanent plans for the site are finalized.
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Comments
Anon: I agree that this installation looks a too nice to be torn down in less than 5 years! Maybe that’s the idea – make it so good that when 5 years are up, the community outcry will keep the installation intact?
I work for a PR firm in town, one of our clients is the D.C. Public Library. Last I heard they are planning to either move the MLK library to the old convetion center site (should be interesting now that a brand spankin’ new parking lot is there)or the MLK library would be completely renovated. Judging from the parking lot I think they may go with the latter.
You may have your MD countines wrong. I don’t know if PG County has any astroturf, but Silver Spring has SoftLawn.
Downtown Silver Spring where the SoftLawn is happens to be in Montgomery County, not PG.
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GPliving: that first picture is almost surreal! It looks like it was shot inside a video game.
I think the “grass” is actually a new generation of astroturf that Silver Spring used for its “village green” (see article here).
As much as I’m glad the old site isn’t just one big parking lot, the whole thing seems awfully permanent for land that’s supposed to have some usable purpose in the not-too-distant future.