At a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Joy Evans Therapeutic Recreation Center in Southeast D.C. on Tuesday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said Congress’ surprising addition to its temporary spending bill to transfer control of the RFK Stadium site to D.C. from the federal government was stunning.
Bowser said there was initial frustration when language effecting the transfer was eliminated from a continuing resolution to keep the federal government open.
“We worked very hard in the (continuing resolution) process and negotiated what we thought was good for D.C., good for the federal government and good for the region,” she said. “And so when we knew that we weren’t going to get back in the CR, we had to find a pathway to get to the floor.”
And they found that pathway to get the Senate to consider a separate piece of legislation called the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act. It was introduced by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and passed without debate late Friday.
“We never gave up,” Bowser said. “We focused on how can we get back in the CR, and if that wasn’t going to happen, what were the available routes.”
The measure is waiting for President Joe Biden’s signature to be signed into law.
When that is done, the path will be clear for the city to make plans to develop the 177-acre site in Northeast. The mayor does not know when the president will sign it into law, but she said she is ready to start planning now for a sprawling development — to include residential and commercial buildings, plus a new stadium.
Bowser said she wants to use that prospect to entice the owners of the Washington Commanders to relocate to the RFK Stadium site.
While attending Sunday’s game between the Commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles, Bowser said she spoke with members of Washington’s ownership group.
“We made it very clear to them that we want the team to come home,” she said.
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