Though nearing completion, the new Park at LeDroit’s opening has been delayed until late next next week. The city has identified drainage problems that the contractor will have to mitigate before the site is ready to open. The opening of the dog park section will also be delayed until the park opens.

Please remember to keep off the park grounds until the park is open.

The new Park at LeDroit is nearing completion, but the dog park section needs your help.

The District builds dog parks on the condition that community groups maintain and take responsibility for them. For our park, the Friends of Bloomingdale/LeDroit Park Dogs is the neighbor-initiated non-profit steward.

The group is hosting an information session and fundraiser on Sunday, May 8 from 4 pm to 6 pm at Bloomingdale’s Rustik Tavern at the intersection of Rhode Island Ave NW, T St NW, and 1st St NW.

Email bloomingdale.ledroitdoggroup@gmail.com with any questions you may have.

The Park at LeDroit is nearing completion. The tentative opening date is Monday, May 9.

Until then, be sure to keep your little ones out of the park since the equipment, though tempting even for 26-year-old bloggers, may not have been inspected for safety and suitability for public use.

Howard University will present details of its draft campus plan at Tuesday’s meeting of the LeDroit Park Civic Association. The university is required to submit a plan every ten years and the university is currently finishing its draft that it will submit to the Zoning Commission in the coming months. This is your chance to learn about the future of Slowe Hall and Diggs Hall, as well as future dorms on 4th Street and buildings along Georgia Avenue.

Tuesday, April 26 at 7pm in the basement of the Florida Avenue Baptist Church, 623 Florida Ave (enter on U street)

Also on the agenda:

• Park update— it’s nearly finished!
• Vote to support the liquor license application of Shaw’s Tavern
• Nominating committee for the coming civic association elections

All neighbors are encouraged to attend.

Howard University wants to add 1,300 beds on 4th Street, a new restaurant is coming to 6th St and Florida Avenue, the neighborhood watch seeks your input, and the conclusion of park construction are all agenda items at tonight’s Civic Association meeting.

The meeting is open to the public and all neighbors are encouraged to attend.

Tuesday, March 22 at 7 pm
Basement of the Florida Avenue Baptist Church
(enter on U Street)

The civic association will also take open comments from neighbors who wish bring up anything of neighborhood concern.

We reported earlier that the LeDroit Park Civic Association voted to request that the city christen our new park The Park at LeDroit.  In December our councilmember, Jim Graham (D – Ward 1), introduced a bill to make it official.  The bill went nowhere and since the council session ended just a few weeks later, the bill had to be reintroduced per council rules.

The Committee of the Whole will eventually hold a hearing and vote on the naming bill.  Since the name is not controversial we expect it to pass easily, especially since the name has the imprimatur of the LeDroit Park Civic Association.

We hope the bill passes in time for the park opening in April.

At Tuesday’s Civic Association meeting, residents voted on naming recommendations for the park being built on the site of the former Gage-Eckington School.  Only the DC Council has the authority to name parks, but we have it on good authority that the Council will strongly consider the Association’s recommendation.  The following three names received the most votes and will be recommended to the Council:

1. The Park at LeDroit
2. Gage-Eckington Park
3. Unity Park

The park is set to be complete early next year.

Park construction is underway, but when the park is ready in the coming months, what should we call it? The ultimate decision is up to the DC Council, but Councilmember Jim Graham (D – Ward 1) has assured us that the Council will strongly consider any three names that neighbors finally settle on.

You can submit your suggestions online. Anyone may submit names and you may submit as many as you like. The LeDroit Park Civic Association will gather the names and allow the public to vote for the names. The top three winners will be forwarded to the Council.

What would you like to call the park?

If we want to honor notable residents, here are a few famous figures from the neighborhood’s history:

• Walter Washington – 408 T Street – First elected mayor of DC.
• Paul Laurence Dunbar – 321 U Street – Notable poet.
• Mary Church Terrell – 326 T Street – Notable civil rights activist.
• Oscar De Priest – 419 U Street – First black Congressman elected since Reconstruction.

We have excluded Duke Ellington since he lived here for only one year and since he already has several civic works dedicated to him.  We also excluded living people since their histories are still being written.  We also left out Anna J. Cooper since she already has the circle park named after her.

One other deceased person who might merit distinction is Theresa Brown, who died in 2009.  Ms. Brown was instrumental in establishing the LeDroit Park Historic District and protecting the neighborhood’s unique architecture from the wrecking ball.  Without her, the neighborhood we know today may have been turned into parking lots.

Most parks operated by the Department of Parks and Recreation end their names with “Recreation Center”,  a suffix with as much charm as the tax code.  Perhaps Playground, Gardens, Park, or Field would set off our park from other projects.

What would you like to name the park?

Construction is still moving along at the park on the site of the former Gage-Eckington School. In addition to the dog park, playground equipment, picnic tables, and field, there are two more amenities on their way to the site: bike sharing and car sharing. DDOT’s assistance in integrating both car sharing spaces and its own Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) system is a good example of collaboration between different city agencies.

ZipCar is a subscription service that places cars throughout several cities worldwide and rents the cars to members by the hour. The rental fee includes the cost of gas and insurance and each car has a reserved “home” parking space to which it must be returned at the end of the reservation. These spaces are in public streets, public alleys and in private parking lots and garages.

We occasionally rent ZipCars when we need to haul heavy items or need to travel to transit-inaccessible destinations. This arrangement is far cheaper than owning a car and relieves us of the normal hassles of car ownership, e.g. parking, maintenance, washing, fuel costs, and insurance costs.

CaBi is another subscription service and is a joint venture between DDOT and Arlington County. CaBi bikes are parked at numerous racks throughout DC and Arlington and more are on the way. A member inserts his key into the bike dock and the bike unlocks. The member has 30 minutes to ride the bike for free before returning it to any dock in DC or Arlington.  CaBi is perfect for short one-way trips and we routinely use the CaBi station at Seventh and T Streets to commute to work downtown.  It’s also useful for occasional trips to Whole Foods or Dupont Circle, which are just minutes away by bike.

Both bike sharing and car sharing benefit residents who don’t even use the services. The existence of these services reduces the pressure to own a car and thus reduces the parking demand placed on our streets. For those who would live car-less regardless of these services, it provides us with two more mobility options located close to home.  Bike sharing and car sharing are welcome additions to the park site.

Photo: “Pick a Bike” by M. V. Jantzen

What were you doing on Sunday, August 29, 2010? If you were outside shortly after 1 pm, chances are Google Maps caught you on camera from a satellite.

Google recently updated its satellite imagery of the Washington area and the new photos illustrate just how much the region has changed. The most noticeable difference in LeDroit Park is the disappearance of the Gage-Eckington School and the establishment of the Common Good City Farm.

For a listing of other notable changes visible from the sky, have a look at our article at Greater Greater Washington.