By Gene Lambey
Special to the AFRO
The Friends of Kingman Park’s (FOKP) RFK Task Force held a community meeting on Feb. 4. The RFK Task Force received community input and questions from local residents on what they wanted to see on the land for the new Commanders stadium and additional questions they wanted to ask and present to the Washington Commanders representatives ahead of the Feb. 20th meeting.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Kathyrn Rust
The meeting was held at St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church Imperial Room on 320 21st NE at 7 pm. Over 123 residents attended the meeting that evening.
Ward 7 Councilman Wendell Felder attended the community meeting as well, willing to engage and listen to the feedback from the Kingman Park residents and the surrounding wards. The AFRO had a chance to get a comment from him after the community meeting concluded.
“As more conversations are had from the District in terms of the future of RFK, it is good we have active communities such as Kingman Park who are taking the initiative already start the conversations with neighbors who will be directly impacted with the future of RFK,” said Councilman Felder. “I am excited about the future conversations and I look forward to working with my council colleagues, mayor and community members to figure out what is best for the site.”
ANC 7D-05 Commissioner Ebony Payne spoke after Councilman Felder, delivering her remarks. She encouraged the residents to have engaging conversations about this important topic of the demolition, construction process and the several scenarios around it.
“We had the Washington Commanders, their representatives, very eagerly reach out wanting to collaborate with the community. We know that we want to bring the community in and hear directly from you, and collect your feedback so that we’re going to be heard,” said Payne.
Payne restated that Feb. 20th is the day the public meeting will be held where the Washington Commanders representatives will be present along with Mayor Bowser and Councilman Felder.
“I can tell you from my conversations with the team and it’s going to be confirmed. I am actually very curious about, if what they gave me a few months ago is what they’ll bring on Feb. 20th,” said Payne. “They were looking at a 65,000 seat stadium with about 10 to 12,000 parking spaces, including two garages, one that has service parking lots. That’s the information I have.”
“That is not confirmed. Also I want to make it clear that the Mayor’s office has not reached any deal with the team and so –either way– when they show up on the 20th, it’s only in preliminary, it’s not formal information.”
Steve Lao, the new president of FOKP gave his remarks.
“I’m the new president for FOKP. I am really encouraged by the turnout tonight. I know that this is a very passionate topic so I don’t want to take too much time. Just ready to get the ball moving.”
The meeting began with an introduction from the Friends of Kingman Park Civic Association. Sarah Miller, a member on the board, opened the meeting. She presented the results from the 2023 fall survey, relaying what the Kingman Park community had said about the plans for the site and what people wanted.
She encouraged the attendees to write their questions on their notecard so they can be collected and reviewed by Mayor Bowser, Councilman Felder or the Washington Commanders reps for the Feb. 20th public meeting.
“We do want to provide a revenue neighbors and community members share their hopes for our neighborhood and our community and the RFK site, what they’re interested in seeing and what stories you might have.”
There was a large consensus from the Kingman Park and the River Terrace neighborhoods to not build a new stadium for the Commanders. It was a two to three vote opposing the construction of the Commanders stadium according to the community survey. The remaining votes were in favor of a park and nature complex, a sports and recreation center, another recreational space similar to The Fields, or more housing. The construction of the new stadium was the least voted.
According to residents of the Kingman Park community from the 2023 survey, the main concerns were parking, housing, increased traffic, increase in crime, littering and public drug use. There is also a concern about public urination, drunk driving, eminent domain, removing a historical site and having D.C. resident tax dollars used toward the construction of the building of the new stadium.
Miller had residents form small groups at tables with different topics regarding RFK. They were environmental issues, transportation, crime, recreation, finance and housing. The AFRO spent time at some of these discussions, recording the communities’ inputs.
At the environmental table, many residents were concerned about key issues surrounding RFK. The Kingman Park community wants a new environmental impact survey with current technology and standards as the last survey was over 30 years ago. This table had a copy of the old survey.
The community wants transparency from D.C. Council, the Mayor’s office and Events DC.
The community is worried about contaminants such as lead and mercury polluting the air. The residents want information on the construction and demolition process such as the staging and timeline from Events DC. They want to know whether or not the building material will be “zero-waste.” The community is concerned about the tree canopy as well and what the demolition may do to the surrounding flora and fauna. The last recorded concern was on the surface parking as it is permeable to flooding.
The discussion on crime and noise consisted of complaints from around the Kingman Park community. Some of these included complaints about loitering and noise after 10pm, requesting more policing in the area, illegal vending and dumping trash and zoning laws.
A discussion on recreation from the community included several inputs from local skaters that use Maloof Skate Park which is located directly across from the old site. Several residents who attended this discussion shared that they want The Fields to stay, residents want a roller skating rink on the new campus, a place for seniors to walk and exercise, concerned that a sports complex will be delayed, and concerns for DC Vault, where high school students competed in pole vaulting, will stay, be removed or be accommodated to fit on the future campus of the RFK stadium.
The AFRO spoke to several residents after the conclusion of the RFK Task Force meeting, sharing their thoughts and opinions about the meeting.
Jeremy Stinen, a skateboarding instructor for ten years at Maloof Park, gave his thoughts about RFK and the impact it will have on the skating community.
“I attended this meeting, advocating for the skate park, to make sure that the people planning this know the skateboarders that it is very important to us. Skateboarding is supported and permitted to exist in Washington D.C. Our perspective is this; Maloof Skate Park is the only skate park that serves Ward 6 and 7.”
“It is the only skate park that serves northeast D.C. and southeast D.C. as well. It’s the only place where kids east of the river can come to skate. We have no guarantee that the skate park is included in the plans for redevelopment. The city has a track record of destroying skate parks,” said Stinen.”We used to have one at Garfield Park but the city tore that down and never built anything there.”
“We are very concerned that there will not be a replacement skate park or that any replacement skate park will be built to the bare minimum specifications and will not be built to high specifications,” said Stinen. “It is very important that skateboarders are a part of the design process on every step and a quality construction firm is chosen. We are not convinced the city is going to do that. We need some guarantee that our skate park will either rehabilitated or another skate park that is constructed will be equal or greater value.”
One resident named Paul gave his thoughts to the AFRO on his concerns about RFK and its effects on the community.
“I moved in the beginning of last year. It was great to join this community discussion. It was my first time attending this meeting and to hear from community members who’ve lived here a lot longer than I have about their hopes and their concerns about the environmental impact with the Commanders moving back to RFK and what it could have on the site,” said Paul.
“A lot of the conversation that we had focused on people’s concerns about either removing or damaging the environment the tree canopy unleashing lead that might be in the site and that might impact the wildlife in the Anacostia, Kingman Island, and Heritage Island.”
Lastly Paul added that he complained about the rat infestation that is present within the Kingman Park neighborhood. Paul received information from neighbors that the rat infestation may have been an effect of COVID and development on C Street NE. He is concerned that if the new stadium is constructed and games happen, then the rat infestation will intensify because of the waste build-up.
A long-time resident of Kingman Park, Barbara D. Morgan gave her thoughts on the meeting.
“It was a very productive meeting and I look forward to coming back to participating and getting more young people so they can tell what they like to see.”
Another long-time resident of Kingman Park, Karen Ann-Carr gave her thoughts as well on the meeting.
“It was really wonderful, very productive. It was good to hear all the different viewpoints; pro and con. I’m glad I came.”
Lisa White, the former ANC Commissioner of Kingman Park, one of the founders of the FOKP, and a resident of over 20 years, gave her thoughts on the meeting to the AFRO.
“I am very concerned about the state of the stadium. I think we need to make sure we, Kingman Park, have a seat at the table and how it could possibly impact if the stadium comes. I think this meeting was good because we’ve heard from people that’s for and against this project or possible stadium. We just want to make sure that the community is considered in all aspects of the possibility.”
The last anonymous resident gave her statement to the AFRO on the meeting and her main concern for eminent domain.
“I’m concerned about eminent domain and we need to start hearing something from this city about whether homes are going to be taken for billionaires.”
The Commanders’ 2024/2025 season with the second round pick from the NFL Draft, quarterback Jayden Dainels, ended at the NFC Championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles. They lost 23-55, however, this team’s future being in D.C. is currently being decided.
The next public meeting where Mayor Bowser and the reps for the Washington Commanders will be present will be on Feb. 20th at St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church’s Imperial Room at 320 21 Street NE at 7pm.
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