July 8, 2008
Dear Coalition Friends:
In yesterday's UPDATE I mentioned my essay, in the new book The National Mall: Rethinking Washington's Monumental Core, about the failure of the public consultation and review process to protect the Mall from overbuilding on the public open space.
Another case study may be in the making in coming days, weeks and months. The Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation is completing the arduous design review process for the memorial--including modifications to the statue of Dr. King recently in the news--soon to be under construction on the Tidal Basin near the FDR Memorial. In the meantime, the National Park Service has decided to enlarge the program to include a new bookstore. Originally, in 2006, the NPS proposed that the Memorial should include a small "ranger station and visitor information kiosk" to provide basic visitor services. NPS now says it requires new restrooms and a bookstore. The new structure would be 34’ x 85’ and 14’ tall (the size of a substantial suburban ranch house; the FDR Memorial bookstore nearby is 39' x 72'). It would be located on the recreational field across the street (West Basin Drive) from the approved 4-acre memorial site.
At its public meeting this Thursday, July 10th, 10 a.m. the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) will vote on the bookstore element--new paved plaza, the bookstore itself, new crosswalks, and so on. The NCPC staff has recommended approval. Find out more about the meeting and opportunities to testify at http://www.ncpc.gov. Or call 202-482-7200.
NPS's decision to add this new substantial structure occurred in the hiatus between public consultation meetings from 2006 and 2008, during which time NPS consulted with, and apparently won agreement from, the federal and DC plan review agencies. At a recent public consultation meeting, our Coalition raised concerns about the change in program, location, size, and adverse effects of the building on the Mall--and the lack of the required consultation meetings to give the public opportunity to comment before the government agencies came to their understanding. We were informed by one agency representative that the structure will not have an adverse effect on the Mall. No reason has yet been given for this opinion.
This is looking increasingly like the controversial Vietnam Veterans Memorial Visitor Center-- one of the case studies covered in my essay in the new book--which will be located across the street from the Wall. The National Park Service originally opposed that location; the site was mandated by Congress. But now, as co-sponsor of the project (as they are for every memorial and visitor center project proposed for NPS-managed lands, as provided in the Commemorative Works Act of 1986), NPS has been promoting this below-grade (but substantially open-air) visitor center even as it grew in size from 10,000 to 25,000 square feet in 2006 and then in 2007 to 34,000 square feet.
The federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has written about the public consultation process for the MLK Memorial, and its request that NPS provide more information about the project's evolution so the public can better understand and evaluate the potential adverse effects, in its Case Digest: Section 106 in Action for Spring 2008--http://www.achp.gov.
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