Petworth lost a playground managed by the National Park Service

by Kelly Whittier

As one au pair put it, “We have nowhere else to go.”

Other childcare workers readily agreed as the young kids in their care, most under the age of five, played with donated toys in an otherwise empty pocket park just north of Grant Circle in Petworth.

For nearly three decades, the site had hosted a small wooden playground that served as a lifeline for nannies, daycare providers and parents of small children who aren’t quite ready for the more substantial neighborhood playgrounds designed for older, bigger kids.

The playground north of Grant Circle, between Webster and the Circle (Google Maps)

Its removal by the National Park Service, with no immediate plan to replace it, is a source of deep frustration for ANC 4C Commissioner Brittany Kademian, who represents Single Member District 4C05.

“It became a beloved neighborhood space and was the only Petworth playground geared towards young toddlers,” said Commissioner Kademian. Also a parent, she has been working to identify a viable path forward to fully replacing the playground, an effort complicated by the fact that the federal National Park Service (NPS) owns the site.

Back in the 90s, WMATA donated the playground to the community as a sort of peace offering during the disruptive construction of the Green Line extension. While WMATA may have donated the playground and installed the surrounding fence, it neglected to allocate funding for continuing repair and maintenance needs. The wooden structure degraded over time and was determined to be structurally unsafe by NPS during a site visit with Councilmember Janeese Lewis George last December. The agency didn’t have the resources to repair it, so the playground was subsequently wrapped in caution tape and then removed by NPS in January.

On a sad note, we learned from NPS that they plan on removing the Grant Circle playground equipment in the very near future. There is not an immediate plan for a replacement and NPS estimates it’ll cost between $800,000-$1.1 million to replace! @petworthdcnews pic.twitter.com/JHCBu7solW
— Zach Israel (@ZachBIsrael) December 17, 2022

“There had been some thought that we could fix it and stabilize it, but it was clear that [the structure] had to go. We knew people would keep using it if it was there and it was only a matter of when would someone get hurt,” said Rock Creek Park Deputy Superintendent Brian Joyner.

Deputy Superintendent Joyner, who is also a Petworth neighbor, also asked his team to investigate what it might take to replace the playground.

When accounting for the potential cost of a new play space that complies with current playground safety regulations (which, in addition to design and installation costs, could include the installation of new surface material and fencing), the estimated expense could easily total well above $800,000.

“We’ve been told a number that seems ridiculously high in many ways. But if all the regulations for a modern, safe playground are necessary then that’s how much it costs – mid six or seven figures to do all the work for a relatively small space,” he said. “The process is ongoing and maybe the best outcome is to transfer the space to the city. I’m open to looking at multiple options and one that winds up benefiting everyone.”

ANC 4C05 Commissioner Brittany Kademian at the playground, or what remains of it.

Meanwhile, Commissioner Kademian is taking action. First, she tapped fellow parents and local Buy Nothing Group members to donate spare toys to the otherwise-empty pocket park. After weeks of identifying bureaucratic hurdles and practical challenges to restoring the space, she is now launching an A NC 4C Playground Committee to organize parents and community members around two time-sensitive goals:

Seek Federal Funding - Submit a Community Project Funding request to Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton to rebuild the Grant Circle Playground. Formerly known as earmarking, this application process will kick off the effort to secure federal funding for the playground’s replacement in the FY24 budget. (Targeting submission by mid-March).
Find a Local Alternative Site - Identify a District-owned pocket park in or around ANC 4C to serve as a viable alternative for a new toddler playground. After conducting community outreach to the surrounding area and building support, Commissioner Kademian would ideally work with ANC 4C to submit a formal budget request to Councilmember Lewis George for the funding. (Targeting submission in April).

The 4C Playground Committee is open to all Petworth neighbors, not just parents. One early ally in this work is Councilmember Lewis George and her office, who have already helped press NPS to fill in the turf holes left behind from the playground’s removal.

Google Street View of the park north of Grant Circle, before it was demolished by National Park Service.

"Although small in size, the Grant Circle playground served many families and helped address a real need in the neighborhood… My office will continue to support our ANC commissioners and neighbors in finding a solution here, whether that’s a new playground at this site or a new site — or improved access to other existing playgrounds," said Councilmember Lewis George, who also flagged the need for playground funding for the site in her budget letter to Mayor Bowser.

As for Commissioner Kademian, “I’m going to figure out the best way to move forward. I’ll keep fighting this fight.”

If you want to get involved, you can join the A NC 4C Playground Committee.

Bonus Grant Circle History: This isn’t the first time children have been displaced from Grant Circle Park. In 1922, The Evening Star reported that the land within Grant Circle would be converted into a park space in order to prevent the neighborhood children from playing baseball at the site.