March 2, 2010
Dear Coalition Friends,
This Thursday, the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) will review the National Park Service "National Mall Plan" and Draft Environmental Impact Statement. There will be a presentation by NCPC staff followed by public comments. Learn more at http://www.ncpc.gov/home.asp
If you wish to testify at the meeting, you must call NCPC by noon on March 3rd to sign up: 202-482-7200.
When: Thursday, March 4th, 12:50 p.m.
Where: 401 9th Street NW, North Lobby, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20004
Historians, preservationists, architects, and all who cherish this symbolic landscape and public open space should be paying attention and participating in the public comment process now. The deadline for written comments on the Plan is March 18th. To learn more about the Mall Plan and contact information, read our December 28th, 2009 update.
The following are some of the Plan concepts, a few questions we'd like to see answered, and a concluding note to our readers.
-- The goal of the NPS "National Mall Plan" is to improve maintenance and management of portions of the Mall under NPS jurisdiction, but not the Capitol, Smithsonian museums, National Gallery of Art, and other institutions on the Mall. How can any viable "National Mall Plan" not take into account the interests and planning efforts of the other institutions on the Mall? What more accurate and appropriate name should be given to this "Plan"?
-- The Plan proposes improvements to turf grass, tree management, and visitor services, but also changes and additions including: paving the gravel walkways flanking the elm trees; banning public activities in the under-tree areas; constructing numerous new restroom and food facilities on the open space; and adding two new visitor center structures, one at the foot of the Capitol and the other as part of a new multi-purpose facility on the Washington Monument grounds. How much could new paved surfaces and construction be minimized if NPS plans were coordinated with the Smithsonian and others, for example by locating visitor centers and restrooms in or near existing buildings?
-- At the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool (which NPS is now designing as part of a Congressionally-funded stimulus project), NPS proposes adding two new 14-foot paved pathways along the length of the Reflecting Pool where pedestrians have worn down the grass, and constructing a new 40 x 60 foot water pumping/filtration structure south of the Pool to treat Potomac River intake into the Pool. What about sustainable alternatives such as re-seeding and better managing the turf grass, or using permeable surfaces instead of adding new hard paving? Or recycling the Pool's water?
-- Because the "National Mall Plan" is only a "concept" document, and not a master plan, there are no actual plans or drawings. The "Plan" does not include a landscape restoration plan, sustainability program, or other scientific studies or general design principles to guide coherent, unified Mall-wide design improvements. Instead, development of plans and designs will be done by NPS at the next stage of planning, when monies become available and NPS hires contractors to carry out designs. Why, after 3 years in development, does the Plan not include a transportation plan, a sustainability plan, a landscape plan so the public knows what the NPS has in mind and can comment intelligently? Without those plans and guidelines, what direction will NPS give its contractors? Aren't we putting the cart before the horse by leaving what should be critical public decision making now to NPS and its contractors at some future date?
-- The NCPC continues to promote the National Park Service Mall Plan, together with its own recently released Framework Plan for areas surrounding the Mall, as constituting the new, long-range vision for the Mall. But how can any vision not take into account the other institutions on the Mall which bring such a large portion of the visitors to the Mall area; not include Mall-wide design and sustainability principles and guidelines; not address the Mall's long-range future as an ever-evolving civic stage and symbol of American democracy?
Would NCPC take a different view of the National Park Service Mall Plan if, like the Park Service, the Architect of the Capitol, Smithsonian, National Gallery, and USDA also had a seat at the NCPC table?
Dear Readers, we understand how complicated and arcane this situation seems to be. The question of who makes decisions on the future of the National Mall, and how they make those decisions, lies at the heart of why the Mall has become as dysfunctional as it has. Jurisdictional planning by our federal agencies only for their turf, and guided only by agency interests, does not -- and cannot -- create a vision for the future. One of the key problems is the lack of transparency and effective public participation in the planning process.
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