See a live feed of the RFK demolition site online.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser vowed to consider community feedback as plans for a possible new Commanders stadium are crafted, but wouldn’t commit to avoid using public money for the project during a two-hour community meeting at Eastern High School on Thursday night.
Several hundred people attended the forum, during which Bowser detailed the city’s vision for developing the old RFK Stadium site. It included an NFL stadium and franchise as an anchor, a Sportsplex and affordable housing.
But some community members told Bowser they’re critical of such a project, fearing it would create traffic challenges and have a negative impact on the city’s other athletes who use parks and facilities to socialize and play sports.
The meeting comes over a month after former President Joe Biden signed into law legislation that gave D.C. control of the old stadium site. It passed in the Senate after 1 a.m. on Dec. 21. Now, the city has control of over 170 acres of land, which Bowser vowed to develop with or without the Commanders playing on it.
“We have great neighborhoods, great transportation and we can invite the world to our city, but the fact is, until we have a modern stadium, we will not be able to host events that the world is used to,” Bowser said. “Including the World Cup, including a Super Bowl, and yes, Beyonce and Taylor Swift.”
Bowser described the land acquisition as a crucial step needed to begin redeveloping the site. Events D.C. said demolition of what’s left of the old stadium could take up to 22 months.
The plan, Bowser said, calls for parking garages, a Sportsplex, retail and housing. About 30% of the land has to be used for parks and other open spaces.
The next step, Bowser said, is luring an anchor, which she is hoping will be the Commanders and a new stadium facility. However, the franchise would have to agree to relocate.
“We haven’t always been able to say we have the right partner in the Washington football team, but that’s changed,” Bowser said. “We think that the football team has choices and has choices in the region, but you’ve heard me say it many times, we have the best site, hands down.”
Bowser pointed to the impact Nationals Park has had on the Navy Yard community in detailing the benefits of a possible new NFL stadium.
But some residents were still reluctant to support the idea. When someone asked whether Bowser would commit to not offering a subsidy, she said no, suggesting public funds may be included in the project.
Others spoke out about the possible environmental impact and worried that residential streets would be flooded with sports fans looking for somewhere to park.
Local pole vaulter and skateboard groups expressed concerns about what may happen to the facilities they’re currently using. Bowser invited the groups to “sit down with us, I want to understand your needs.”
Some attendees wondered whether the city’s profit expectations are realistic and whether it would be possible to include a new grocery store in the development.
Ward 7 Council member Wendell Felder, meanwhile, said regardless of what’s developed at the old RFK Stadium site, “my firm belief is that Ward 7 needs an anchor to drive economic development throughout the ward and to create revenue to fund more programs like housing, education programs for our seniors and even meet our infrastructure needs.”
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