Outdoor classrooms, other enhancements slated for Kingman Island parkland

Despite extensive collaboration and support among DC officials for the improvement and restoration of Kingman Island in the Anacostia River, some advocates worry that the District’s budget for the construction projects may not cover the initiative’s programmatic goals.

Mayor Muriel Bowser, DC Council members, and nonprofit organizations say they hope to better serve adjacent neighborhoods as well as residents citywide with the planned enhancements to the educational, environmental, and recreational opportunities available on the man-made island near RFK Memorial Stadium. Work on the project — which includes construction of outdoor classrooms, a ranger station, and improved pathways and rest areas — is slated to start next March and wind up by September 2021, according to city budget documents.

In the early 1900s, concern about shallow waters prompted Congress to instruct the Army Corps of Engineers to carve out part of the Anacostia River and create a dam structure to restore water flows. In 1918, lawmakers designated the new land as part of a national park to be known as Anacostia Park. In 1999, oversight of Kingman and Heritage Islands was transferred to the DC government, with the site now managed by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

Proponents see 2018 as a particularly opportune time to focus energy on Kingman Island’s restoration. Not only is this the 100th anniversary of Kingman Island, but it also marks the bicentennial of the birth of Frederick Douglass, known as the “Lion of the Anacostia.” Additionally, with the DC Water and Sewer Authority’s opening of a 7-mile-long tunnel in March, officials expect to avoid millions of gallons of wastewater and combined sewer overflows into the Anacostia.

In view of the major historical significance as well as ongoing development along the river’s edge, the DC Council this week officially voted to designate 2018 as the “Year of the Anacostia.” The council resolution came at the behest of Doug Siglin, executive director of the Anacostia Waterfront Trust, a nonprofit organization that advocates for the protection, preservation, and improvement of the Anacostia River.

In January, the council held a public hearing on the Year of the Anacostia resolution. That same month, Mayor Bowser announced a $4.7 million investment for infrastructure improvements on Kingman Island — a project that originated with the multi-agency 2016 Kingman and Heritage Island Planning and Feasibility Study Act, which outlined construction plans for the island and their expected cost. The mayor’s allocation won DC Council approval last month as part of the 2019 budget.

Siglin called the investment a breakthrough success in support of the Anacostia River and local communities, but he said he still wants the Bowser administration and DC Council to allocate or reprogram additional funding for programmatic development on the island.

“We haven’t been successful in getting a program fund,” he said. “We have had a good victory because the council is going to begin to fund the capital infrastructure, but we need to keep the heat on to get the programmatic funding, too,” Siglin said  “It’s hard to do one without the other. You don’t want to build the physical infrastructure and not have anybody use it. On the other hand, you can’t do a whole lot of programming if you don’t have a place.”

For two years Siglin and other nonprofit leaders have urged the Bowser administration and the DC Council to set up a grant program to help organizations fund programmatic efforts on the island. “Many of our organizations have been implementing events and education programs for years and could quickly ramp up were funding to be made available,” the leaders wrote in an October 2017 letter signed by 63 organizations. Siglin made the same case in January when he testified before the DC Council. But the budget proposed by the mayor in April did not include funding for the grant initiative, and the council did not add money to establish the program.

“The expectation was there would be a competitive grant program set up for organizations to apply for additional funds to support their programmatic activities for kids and adults along the waterfront,” Siglin added. “There are several organizations that do that, but all of them are underfunded.”

Ward 6 Council member Charles Allen, who shepherded the “Year of the Anacostia” resolution, said the new restoration investment and construction is a game-changer for the community, especially children and students. Though Kingman Island is accessible by foot, there is limited practical infrastructure — such as bathrooms and rest stops — to support young visitors. Securing the $4.7 million investment for Kingman Island restoration was the priority though details on the allocation of funding might change over the lifetime of the project.

“It is difficult to take a classroom of elementary students out to the island for more than an hour when you don’t have a restroom,” Allen said. “It’s those types of facilities that make the island able to handle that educational component that we want it to have. The most important part is to have the funding in the budget and then be able to work forward with spending dollars on all the different needs.”

The first phase of the project will include construction of pathways, three outdoor classrooms, and a Kingman Island Ranger Station, with a projected price of $2.5 million, as included and adopted in the Fiscal Year 2019 Proposed Budget and Financial Plan, according to Erik Salmi, communications director for Allen. The second part of the project, expected to cost $2.1 million, will cover the construction of additional pathways, a canopy walk and viewing tower, a resting area, and two more outdoor classrooms.

Since 2008, the Baltimore-based nonprofit Living Classrooms Foundation has had a contract with the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development to provide DC students with experiential and hands-on environmental education programs on Kingman Island. In addition, Living Classrooms has overseen restoration of foliage and natural habitats on the island using funds from the DC Department of Transportation and the DC Department of Energy & Environment.

“Between 2,000 and 3,000 kids come to Kingman Island each year,” said Lee Cain, director of the Kingman Island program for Living Classrooms. He has talked extensively with community stakeholders and organizations involved in Kingman Island as well as officials at the DC Department of Energy & Environment and DC Department of Transportation throughout development of the construction plans.

Cain described the plans as an asset to the island that will increase equity and opportunities for communities across DC. “We just need basic amenities for the park. A welcome center, nature center, floating lab classroom [and] small pavilion are all things I am looking forward to,” he said.

Cain said he hopes that city officials will opt to continue the programming contract with Living Classrooms after the construction. “Living Classrooms is a great organization to manage the operations of programming there, but it’s not entirely up to us,” Cain said.

“Kingman Island is a perfect nexus for the things that we do as an organization — to increase equity among neighborhoods, especially neighborhoods in transition; to help people find paths to employment in fields related to Kingman Island; and to help young people really feel like it’s their island.”