A new recreation center that’s been years in the making opened Thursday in Northwest D.C.
Stead Park is the District’s first net zero rec center, meaning it’s designed to not have any negative impact on the environment.
The $15 million rec center, which was a gift to the District from the Stead family, has been in the works since 2017 and sits on P Street NW between Dupont Circle and Logan Circle.
“This was really a community-driven effort to make sure that Stead recreation center is really most responsive to what this neighborhood and what the city really needs, which is access to excellent, safe recreation space,” D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto said.
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Funding for Stead Park was supplemented by a half-million-dollar grant from community members, through the nonprofit group Friends of Stead Park.
Stead Park will have all the traditional amenities, such as basketball courts, a fitness center, a playground and a splash park.
Delano Hunter, director of the D.C. Department of General Services, told News4 the park has features that contribute to its goal of net zero, including a solar canopy and geothermal wells. All of the park’s energy will be produced on site.
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According to Hunter, the net zero park is just one part of the District’s overall goal of reducing the city’s carbon footprint. While Stead is the District’s first net zero rec center, it’s far from the D.C. government’s first net zero building. Hunter said that nearly seven D.C. public schools have achieved net zero status, and there are more projects currently in the planning stages with goals of achieving net zero.
“We want to be good stewards of the earth and of our environment,” Hunter said.
The Stead family has roots in D.C. dating to the 1800s. Robert Stead was a noted architect. The Lovejoy school on Capitol Hill is among his designs. When he died in 1943, he left money and land to the District for a park to be built in honor of his wife, Mary Force Stead. Stead Park was originally to be located in Southeast D.C. but was later moved to its current location in Northwest.
