Hearst Playground story in Current

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There isn't room for a pool on the upper area so I wouldn't worry about that. An outdoor pool down below would be a great asset for the community.[/quote]

Make no mistake, any pool will immediately turn into a draw for visitors from all Wards. Just like the spray parks at Livingston and Lafayette.

Oh no, not the other wards! Thankfully ward three will do their best to make everyone, especially the brown people, feel unwelcome.

Ever noticed the enrollment at the Macomb playground program? You clearly don't know what your talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Make no mistake, any pool will immediately turn into a draw for visitors from all Wards. Just like the spray parks at Livingston and Lafayette.

Have you seen a map of the outdoor pools in DC?

http://app.dpr.dc.gov/dprmap/index.asp?group=5&query=AND{%277%27.EX.%27Outdoor%20Pool%27}

All of the other neighborhoods have outdoor pools already. Why would you assume people will be coming from far corners to this facility? And I haven't seen many beyond those in the community at the spraygrounds at Macomb, Turtle Park, Lafayette or Livingston.

I think this would be fantastic for the community.

I assume that people will come from elsewhere in the city to a nice, brand-new facility because that's what happens. Especially the nannies, but also parents. I assume this because this has been my observation while living in CCDC for the past 15 years.

And.... could you define "the community" ? what would say the boundaries of "the community" are, for example?

Immediate community would be Cathedral Heights, Cleveland Park and North Cleveland Park. But I meant community as in you know, the people who live in the city who would like to use an outdoor pool in a convenient manner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Make no mistake, any pool will immediately turn into a draw for visitors from all Wards. Just like the spray parks at Livingston and Lafayette.

Have you seen a map of the outdoor pools in DC?

http://app.dpr.dc.gov/dprmap/index.asp?group=5&query=AND{%277%27.EX.%27Outdoor%20Pool%27}

All of the other neighborhoods have outdoor pools already. Why would you assume people will be coming from far corners to this facility? And I haven't seen many beyond those in the community at the spraygrounds at Macomb, Turtle Park, Lafayette or Livingston.

I think this would be fantastic for the community.

I assume that people will come from elsewhere in the city to a nice, brand-new facility because that's what happens. Especially the nannies, but also parents. I assume this because this has been my observation while living in CCDC for the past 15 years.

And.... could you define "the community" ? what would say the boundaries of "the community" are, for example?

Except most of the rest of the city has new and clean pools, that is except Ward 3. If nannies and parents want to use a pool, terrific. If seniors want to use a pool, terrific. WTF is wrong with you? Or are you a sourpuss who lives across from Hearst and is going to fight this for your own selfishness?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Awesome news! We participated in some of the community surveys, and would LOVE an outdoor park in that space. And I think the "community" in this case is the community of residents of Washington DC, all of whom are entitled to use the city's pools. Easy bus access via H buses and the 96/X3/30 buses on Wisconsin.

I'd also like to see a dog park -- there are a ton of people who run their dogs off-leash in the park, and it's a nuisance, especially when they do it just at the same time kids are on their way to school. So it would be great to see a fenced-in safe area for dog-owners.

The only problem is where to put all of this new "program" without cutting the field in half and getting rid of the tennis courts. DPR plans to keep the tennis courts and getting rid of the field, which is heavily used by soccer teams, is a non-starter. Expansion toward Hearst School is disfavored by the school. Ideas, folks....

As for a dog park, there's a nearby city-run park (affectionately known as Dogpiss Hill) upstream of the playground at McLean Gardens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Make no mistake, any pool will immediately turn into a draw for visitors from all Wards. Just like the spray parks at Livingston and Lafayette.

Have you seen a map of the outdoor pools in DC?

http://app.dpr.dc.gov/dprmap/index.asp?group=5&query=AND{%277%27.EX.%27Outdoor%20Pool%27}

All of the other neighborhoods have outdoor pools already. Why would you assume people will be coming from far corners to this facility? And I haven't seen many beyond those in the community at the spraygrounds at Macomb, Turtle Park, Lafayette or Livingston.

I think this would be fantastic for the community.

I assume that people will come from elsewhere in the city to a nice, brand-new facility because that's what happens. Especially the nannies, but also parents. I assume this because this has been my observation while living in CCDC for the past 15 years.

And.... could you define "the community" ? what would say the boundaries of "the community" are, for example?

Except most of the rest of the city has new and clean pools, that is except Ward 3. If nannies and parents want to use a pool, terrific. If seniors want to use a pool, terrific. WTF is wrong with you? Or are you a sourpuss who lives across from Hearst and is going to fight this for your own selfishness?

Putting the pool where soon-to-be-dismantled the portable classroom building is seems like a no-brainer. The Hearst park shelter can be retrofitted for changing rooms and the school parking lot can be used by swimming families during non-school hours. A win-win.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Make no mistake, any pool will immediately turn into a draw for visitors from all Wards. Just like the spray parks at Livingston and Lafayette.

Have you seen a map of the outdoor pools in DC?

http://app.dpr.dc.gov/dprmap/index.asp?group=5&query=AND{%277%27.EX.%27Outdoor%20Pool%27}

All of the other neighborhoods have outdoor pools already. Why would you assume people will be coming from far corners to this facility? And I haven't seen many beyond those in the community at the spraygrounds at Macomb, Turtle Park, Lafayette or Livingston.

I think this would be fantastic for the community.

I assume that people will come from elsewhere in the city to a nice, brand-new facility because that's what happens. Especially the nannies, but also parents. I assume this because this has been my observation while living in CCDC for the past 15 years.

And.... could you define "the community" ? what would say the boundaries of "the community" are, for example?

Immediate community would be Cathedral Heights, Cleveland Park and North Cleveland Park. But I meant community as in you know, the people who live in the city who would like to use an outdoor pool in a convenient manner.

Cleveland Park already has a community pool, at the Cleveland Park Club which is relatively inexpensive to join compared to most private pools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is one of the few full-sized fields around, and the tennis courts are heavily used. I don't see where the pool can go, unless these resources are thrown away. I agree that the upper portion is pretty tight, but is there anything else planned for where the temporary building is now? That could be "found space." The other question about a pool that is going to attract a lot of users is parking. The streets surrounding the park are parked full during the day and even on weekends the spots fill up with constant Stoddert soccer league games. I guess that the Hearst school parking lot could become the pool lot after school hours and in summer. There's no other spot on the parcel to add parking.

The pools around the city are only open during the summer. Usually there isn't school in session or Stoddert soccer taking place. As such, with the broad stretch of 37th Street, there really shouldn't be a parking issue. Plus, I would guess most of the heavy users will be the people who live in that immediate North Cleveland Park area. McLean Gardens has its own pool, as does Cleveland Park (Club).

More commonly known as Van Ness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A better spot for an ourdoor pool for Ward 3 might be in the vicinity of Wilson/Deal, which is very central, with good parking and near public transportation.

No empty land over there that isn't federal.

That's a problem that can be worked out. RFK and all the surrounding parking lots sit on federal land but DC owns them and leases the land.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is one of the few full-sized fields around, and the tennis courts are heavily used. I don't see where the pool can go, unless these resources are thrown away. I agree that the upper portion is pretty tight, but is there anything else planned for where the temporary building is now? That could be "found space." The other question about a pool that is going to attract a lot of users is parking. The streets surrounding the park are parked full during the day and even on weekends the spots fill up with constant Stoddert soccer league games. I guess that the Hearst school parking lot could become the pool lot after school hours and in summer. There's no other spot on the parcel to add parking.

The pools around the city are only open during the summer. Usually there isn't school in session or Stoddert soccer taking place. As such, with the broad stretch of 37th Street, there really shouldn't be a parking issue. Plus, I would guess most of the heavy users will be the people who live in that immediate North Cleveland Park area. McLean Gardens has its own pool, as does Cleveland Park (Club).

And when school is out for the summer, there must be 25-30 parking spaces in the Hearst School lot for the taking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is one of the few full-sized fields around, and the tennis courts are heavily used. I don't see where the pool can go, unless these resources are thrown away. I agree that the upper portion is pretty tight, but is there anything else planned for where the temporary building is now? That could be "found space." The other question about a pool that is going to attract a lot of users is parking. The streets surrounding the park are parked full during the day and even on weekends the spots fill up with constant Stoddert soccer league games. I guess that the Hearst school parking lot could become the pool lot after school hours and in summer. There's no other spot on the parcel to add parking.

The pools around the city are only open during the summer. Usually there isn't school in session or Stoddert soccer taking place. As such, with the broad stretch of 37th Street, there really shouldn't be a parking issue. Plus, I would guess most of the heavy users will be the people who live in that immediate North Cleveland Park area. McLean Gardens has its own pool, as does Cleveland Park (Club).

BTW, the "broad stretch" of 37th St. is likely to be reconfigured by DDOT (narrowed in places, speed bumps, curb extensions, raised crosswalks more parking restrictions), as part of the planning process to address the traffic from both Hearst and the expanded Sidwell campus. So don't assume that all of those parking spots will necessarily remain.

[Anonymous]

On weekends, the new Hearst School plaza and steps are becoming quite the skateboard park.

[Anonymous]

I'm so excited about this - Ward 3 needs an outdoor pool! I think we're the only ward without one. You can't just join the Cleveland Park club - if you join to swim and you're not in their very small boundary, there are very limited swimming hours. They reserve all of the regular hours for their "real" club members. Yay for a public pool and I welcome all wards to use this pool!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
BTW, the "broad stretch" of 37th St. is likely to be reconfigured by DDOT (narrowed in places, speed bumps, curb extensions, raised crosswalks more parking restrictions), as part of the planning process to address the traffic from both Hearst and the expanded Sidwell campus. So don't assume that all of those parking spots will necessarily remain.

I thought Sidwell was taking most of their pick-up/drop-off traffic off 37th Street all together, thus removing the need to major alterations to 37th Street? Even so, speed humps wouldn't remove parking spots, and if there were narrowing, it could be where fire hydrants are already located.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:



Cleveland Park already has a community pool, at the Cleveland Park Club which is relatively inexpensive to join compared to most private pools.

The boundary for those who can join that pool and club is very small and exclusive. This is a public pool that would be open to the rest of us riff-raff.

[Anonymous]

I don't think putting an outdoor pool where the trailer is now -- which is essentially within the boundaries of the school -- is a viable idea. Plus there are already plans for that space.

I did not know there was a dog park nearby! I wish that folks would take their dogs there.

Are there plans out there yet? How much of the soccer field would this really eat up? (I guess this depends on the size of the pool?)