The future of the RFK Stadium site will be discussed at a public forum Wednesday evening.
D.C. hired two firms to conduct a study on the best uses of public money to invest in the District’s current sports venues like Nationals Park and Capital One Arena and how to finance a new football stadium. The $400,000 contract was awarded to Jones Lang LaSalle — one of the largest real estate firms in the world — and the Robert Bobb Group. Bobb served as city administrator under Mayor Tony Williams and also served on Mayor Muriel Bowser’s mayoral transition team.
Bowser took part in the ceremonial removal of bleachers from RFK Stadium in December, when the plan was for the stadium to be torn down by the end of 2023. That’s not likely to happen as the National Park Service is still in the midst of an environmental assessment of the site before giving the District permission to take it down.
An NPS spokesperson said currently there doesn’t immediately appear to be an issue that would cause the NPS to not approve the demolition.
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Ebony Payne, advisory neighborhood commissioner for the community around RFK, has lived near the stadium her entire life.
“Well, it's been very quiet the past couple of decades, and I think the community has gotten used to that quietness,” she said.
“The community has definitely gotten used to the football team being gone, and so the potential to bring them back is probably the most significant change that we're facing in a generation,” Payne said.
She and a neighborhood group are hosting the forum with Bowser. The neighborhood group conducted a survey and heard from more than 2,000 residents near RFK.
“What we found — it's not a big surprise to most — but two-thirds of the community were heavily opposed to a new stadium,” Payne said. “But there was a lot of support for a parks and nature complex and a sports and recreation complex. So, I'm looking forward to hearing what Mayor Bowser has planned for those.”
Payne hopes the mayor listens to what she and her neighbors have to say tomorrow night
“We are fully engaged and want a seat at the table and want our voices to be heard, and I really believe that if the mayor embraces the community and what they want to see, that it will be a really positive result,” she said.
Wednesday’s public meeting starts at 7 p.m. at St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church at 320 21st St. NE.
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