Folks in Chevy Chase really outdid themselves this time.

[Anonymous]

Nice. On the facebook, listserve, and nextdoor the people who are most vocal about this have tried to deflect blame on kids, despite the fact that the vandal here used an inside joke that only a NIMBY could fully understand (icon for the Lorax... https://x.com/TheLoraxDC).

[Anonymous]

Oh boy. The Richy rich vs the even richer.

[Anonymous]

Head to the private school forum for more detail.

[Anonymous]

Gosh Maret--first the Jelleff corrupt deal and now this.

[Anonymous]

That area of Chevy Chase DC is not rich by Washington standards and there in likely lies the problem - “less privileged” white people striking out at those they believe are more privileged. These are the types who get angry the quickest and act badly because they had delusions of being at the top of the food chain at one time. Really sad to see when we all have much graver problems confronting this country.

Regardless, it’s obvious there are bitter people in the neighborhood who are just looking to pick a fight. Really sad, mean and frankly pathetic to deface the scoreboard like that.

[Anonymous]

can someone ELI5

[Anonymous]

Why is a tiny school in Woodley Park building a giant 5 acre sports complex in Chevy Chase?

[Anonymous]

I’m OOL, but from looking at the imagery on Google Maps, it looks like the construction of “Barrett Field” displaced a couple of trees at most. What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is a tiny school in Woodley Park building a giant 5 acre sports complex in Chevy Chase?

Long story, but Maret first paid to renovate Jelleff Field about 2010, and got rights to use the field after school for 10 years. The closer schools, namely Hardy, are unable to use it (broadly). That was at least a reasonable trade of field for cash, though many (including me) were against it at the time.

Then Maret renewed the lease for a piddling amount in 2020, and everyone realized that the deal is/was corrupt as heck. There was absolutely no reason to give them the field for basically free for another 10 years. But the city did!

Due to neighborhood pushback, and wanting a larger field (complex), Maret started renovating the closest field it could find that wasn't Jelleff. In theory, once their new facility is ready they have to give back Jelleff. But we'll see on that.

https://ggwash.org/view/73814/a-field-in-georgetown-forces-a-community-to-wrestle-with-the-impact-of-public-spaces-and-private-money

[Anonymous]

Or a less reasoned, but correct review

https://deadspin.com/the-legendary-public-rec-center-in-a-private-schools-po-1837648863/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is a tiny school in Woodley Park building a giant 5 acre sports complex in Chevy Chase?

Long story, but Maret first paid to renovate Jelleff Field about 2010, and got rights to use the field after school for 10 years. The closer schools, namely Hardy, are unable to use it (broadly). That was at least a reasonable trade of field for cash, though many (including me) were against it at the time.

Then Maret renewed the lease for a piddling amount in 2020, and everyone realized that the deal is/was corrupt as heck. There was absolutely no reason to give them the field for basically free for another 10 years. But the city did!

Due to neighborhood pushback, and wanting a larger field (complex), Maret started renovating the closest field it could find that wasn't Jelleff. In theory, once their new facility is ready they have to give back Jelleff. But we'll see on that.

https://ggwash.org/view/73814/a-field-in-georgetown-forces-a-community-to-wrestle-with-the-impact-of-public-spaces-and-private-money

Yes, and now that Maret finally was made to extricate its greedy private school claws from the Jelleff public field, DPR is putting in $25 million to renovate Jelleff (after having paid $20 million for the field itself). Compare that to the $700K Maret paid for 10 years of exclusive access during afterschool hours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is a tiny school in Woodley Park building a giant 5 acre sports complex in Chevy Chase?

Can someone tell me where in CCDC this is?

[Anonymous]

[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:That area of Chevy Chase DC is not rich by Washington standards and there in likely lies the problem - “less privileged” white people striking out at those they believe are more privileged. These are the types who get angry the quickest and act badly because they had delusions of being at the top of the food chain at one time. Really sad to see when we all have much graver problems confronting this country.

Regardless, it’s obvious there are bitter people in the neighborhood who are just looking to pick a fight. Really sad, mean and frankly pathetic to deface the scoreboard like that.

lol “the area isn’t rich.” Every house costs over a million. Maybe they aren’t the top 0.01% but they are rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m OOL, but from looking at the imagery on Google Maps, it looks like the construction of “Barrett Field” displaced a couple of trees at most. What am I missing?

Synthetic turf. Uprooting and replanting of 4 trees. Traffic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m OOL, but from looking at the imagery on Google Maps, it looks like the construction of “Barrett Field” displaced a couple of trees at most. What am I missing?

Synthetic turf. Uprooting and replanting of 4 trees. Traffic.

I managed to find some older imagery and realized that the changes are a lot more drastic than they initially appeared. I’m glad they’re finally giving up Jelleff (maybe), but I’d be pissed off if I lived in Chevy Chase and they tore up a bucolic neighborhood park to put in an ugly turf football field that is going to radiate heat like an ovulating sow during summer.