WASHINGTON — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has sent a letter to the White House, asking President Donald Trump to hand over land currently controlled by the National Park Service to the city.
The sites the mayor requested are the property of RFK Stadium, Franklin Square Park in downtown Washington and the city’s three public golf courses.
“Let the District take over… our federal parks in D.C.,” Bowser declared in her State of the District address Thursday night.
“We can use public and private partnerships that will allow us to enliven Franklin, Hains Point, Rock Creek and Langston.”
The mayor stated in her letter that efforts to redevelop those properties have been slowed by the park service. She said transferring them to the city would allow for the sort of infrastructure investment that Trump has promised.
“We call on the president and the Congress to expand their view of RFK and embrace a mix of uses,” Bowser said in her address.
Bowser said she would like to build a new stadium at the RFK site, once home to the Washington Redskins.
“Not just a stadium,” she said, “But a more diverse plan that will ensure a vibrant future for more than 100 acres on the Anacostia River.”
The city also has significant plans for the other properties of interest.
“We want to take possession of those golf courses, invest and upgrade them and certainly use that as a focal point not only for our tourism industry, but also make them real anchors to the neighborhoods and communities that they are near,” said D.C. city administrator Rashad Young.
Young called Franklin Square Park a unique asset in downtown Washington.
“The opportunity here is to mix significant capital investment to activate that park so that it can be programmed, so that it could be a destination location.”
The mayor has met with Trump twice since his election and has pledged to find common ground on issues important to the city.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
