WASHINGTON — Demolition began Monday at Buzzard Point where D.C. United will move into its new stadium in 2018, and with the stirring of dust come questions about the effort to keep jobs in the neighborhood and joy for fans who have waited for the city to invest in its team.
Donning a silver hard hat, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser climbed into a backhoe, and with a little instruction, began pulling down the empty structure standing on the lot where construction will eventually begin.
“We got the land. We’re going to start the horizontal. We’re going to turn over the site to the team to build a stadium and then we’ll be playing here real soon,” Bowser told a crowd of local leaders, team employees, media and fans.
There isn’t a lot to tear down at Buzzard Point, the stadium will be bordered by Fort McNair and the Anacostia River, but a few blocks north, residents in low-income housing are concerned about the impact on their neighborhood already in the shadow of Nationals Park.
Some of them stood outside the groundbreaking wearing disposable dust masks and holding signs that questioned the environmental impact the project will have on the area. Also at question is who will get the projected 1,000 construction and hospitality jobs coming to Ward 6.
“We have a commitment to making sure this project is not only set within a neighborhood environment, but also helps people in this immediate community and neighborhood get jobs,” said Brian Kenner, deputy mayor of planning and economic development.
A job posting for a jobs liaison is the city’s first step to ensuring those who live nearby are prioritized for the jobs generated by the project.
“This is going to be our way to make sure we are able to connect the thousands of jobs that are going to be created from this project with the local Ward 6 residents in particular,” Kenner said.
And to ensure fair wages, Bowser touted an agreement already reached between D.C., the team and the D.C. hotel workers union.
“[It’s] an agreement that will lead to hospitality jobs that put more D.C. residents on the pathway to the middle class,” Bowser said.
Meanwhile, those fans who will soon know the neighborhood well are relieved to finally see action on a new stadium. Two days after D.C. United fans celebrated the team’s 20th anniversary with a win, the construction equipment bearing the team logo signaled a new chapter.
“We’ve heard, what, four or five mayors tell us they would give us a stadium or help us get one and she got it done,” said soccer fan Cande Fudge.
Fudge has been a D.C. United season ticket holder for 20 years and part of a group the franchise calls the ’96ers.
Another ’96er Robert Plant said he’s pleased with the choice of Buzzard Point as the site, despite what will likely be a very busy Metro on the days both teams have games.
“I think it’s convenient for everybody to get here, probably better than RFK,” Plant said.
There is a bit of trepidation that the fan tradition of tailgating may not have the same space it did at the old site, but Plant said he’ll reserve his concern until he sees how the stadium is shaping up.
