The NoMa Parks Foundation has acquired a vacant lot across the street from Swampoodle Park, a dog park and children’s playground that opened in 2018, with aims of building a companion park.
Referred to as Swampoodle II, the lot, which is located at 1100 Third St. in Northeast, will eventually be an 8,400-square-foot park to complement the original Swampoodle Park.
The eventual permanent name will be decided through community input.
The NoMa Parks Foundation, which is part of the NoMa Business Improvement District, bought the lot from an affiliate of Douglas Development for $3.4 million.
“This parcel is the long lost twin sister to the adjacent, award-winning Swampoodle Park, which opened in 2018, and has become a neighborhood favorite for both people and pets,” said Robin-Eve Jasper, president of the NoMa Parks Foundation.
Swampoodle refers to the name of a flood-prone neighborhood in what is now called NoMa in the 19th century.
This is the fourth land acquisition by the NoMa Parks Foundation since the D.C. Council provided it with $50 million in 2014 to identify and acquire properties that could be converted to parks for the NoMa neighborhood.
The NoMa Parks Foundation and D.C. government formed a partnership in 2012 to address the lack of publicly accessible park spaces in the neighborhood. Since then, the Foundation has delivered four parks, with several other small sites coming.
While the Foundation acquires the parks with money it received from the D.C. government, the District itself owns and manages them.
“It is extremely rewarding to know that more green space will be coming to this area of NoMa that will help residents and visitors thrive,” said Keith Anderson, director of D.C.’s Department of General Services. “We are proud to be part of this public-private partnership with the NoMa Parks Foundation, the Department Parks and Recreation and the community.”
