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DC Preservation League Joins Coalition to Protect West Potomac Park
Today, the DC Preservation League joined a coalition of advocacy, conservation, and historic preservation organizations, and an individual Washington, DC resident to save West Potomac Park.
In the complaint, the National Parks Conservation Association, DCPL, National Mall Coalition, Olmsted Network, the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, The Cultural Landscape Foundation, and resident Steve Longenecker are seeking to stop the Trump-Vance administration’s unlawful attempt to remake West Potomac Park, national park land that belongs to all Americans. The coalition is represented in the matter by Democracy Forward Foundation.
In the lawsuit, the groups argue that the National Garden of American Heroes violates the Administrative Procedure Act based on non-compliance with, among other laws, the Commemorative Works Act, National Historic Preservation Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and National Park Service Organic Act.
West Potomac Park has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the East and West Potomac Parks Historic District since 1973 for its association with the City Beautiful Movement and its cultural landscape.
The park sits on the National Mall and is home to some of its most prominent sites, including the Korean War Veterans Memorial, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. Nestled alongside these monuments and the Potomac River, the park’s open fields provide a scenic landscape for recreation and reflection, and serve as a recreational haven for thousands of D.C. residents and visitors. In 1897, Congress mandated that the land “be forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people.” More than a century later, on any given day, the park might be hosting friendly games of softball, soccer, ultimate frisbee, kickball, or rugby, and offering runners, walkers, bicyclists, and others an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors.
West Potomac Park, a part of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, has been targeted, however, for an unlawful transformation. With no regard for the site’s historic and recreational features, President Trump has characterized West Potomac Park as “a totally BARREN field of Prime Waterfront Real Estate,” and announced that his administration would convert the park into a so-called sculpture garden he is calling the “National Garden of American Heroes” as part of the upcoming celebrations around the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The proposed changes to the park include the introduction of 250 statues – each at least eight feet tall – to go along with reflecting pools and plazas as well as dining facilities and an amphitheater. One of the president’s top fundraisers has reportedly begun soliciting donations, sharing renderings that illustrate how the garden complex will replace the current idyllic landscape in West Potomac Park.
The case is National Parks Conservation Association et al. v. Burgum et al. and the legal team at Democracy Forward working on the matter includes Michael Torcello, Anne Swift, Catherine Carroll, and Robin Thurston.
Read the full press release here.
Read the complaint filed today here.
Read more about the East and West Potomac Parks Historic District
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