DC honors pioneering African-American architect with street renaming

Paul Devrouax, the visionary African-American architect behind many landmark DC sites — including Nationals Park, the city convention center and the building that helped rejuvenate U Street NW — now has a street dedicated to his legacy.

Paul Devrouax Way runs between 7th and 9th streets NW on G Street, adjacent to the Pepco headquarters the late architect designed in 2002. With that project, his Devrouax+Purnell architectural practice made its mark as the first African-American-owned firm to design a building in downtown DC.

Also nearby is the newly dedicated street is Capital One Arena (originally known as the MCI Center and then Verizon Center), which Devrouax helped design in the late 1990s as the downtown home of the Washington Wizards and the Washington Capitals. The site was considered critical then for jump-starting the renewal of the Chinatown neighborhood.

Devrouax’s family, friends and admirers gathered at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery on Sept. 21 to celebrate the legacy of the architect, who died in 2010 at the age of 67.

Ward 4 DC Council member Brandon Todd noted that the Pepco site and other Devrouax achievements “stand as a testament of the incredible contributions that have and will be made by African-Americans in all fields.”

As principal of Devrouax+Purnell, Devrouax steered designs for the Frank D. Reeves Municipal Center, which opened at 14th and U streets NW in 1986, lighting a match for the area’s revitalization after years of decay following the 1968 riots that devastated parts of the District. Other landmark DC projects over the decades included the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, the Studio Theatre, the African American Civil War Memorial, and design refinements to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Todd and Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans introduced the Paul S. Devrouax, Jr. Way Designation Act in March 2017. The DC Council passed the bill unanimously, and Mayor Muriel Bowser signed it into law this past January.

Todd and Evans were joined at Friday’s event by DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and Ward 7 Council member Vincent Gray, as well as former Ward 1 Council member Frank Smith, who heads the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum. Bowser was scheduled to attend last week’s unveiling as well, but Brenda Devrouax, the architect’s widow, told the crowd the mayor couldn’t make it due to an emergency situation.

“My husband, Paul Devrouax, was an African-American architect whose quest was to leave his mark on the tapestry of our nation’s capital,” Brenda Devrouax said. “He worked without retreat to make this company, Devrouax+Purnell, a special force. His tenacity and hard work is now being recognized with this monumental honor. This will certainly give place and pride for our family, and it is my hope that it will serve as an inspiration to our young architects of color.”

Born in New Orleans, Paul Devrouax graduated with a degree in architecture from Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., in 1966. The architect first came to the DC area in the late 1960s as a sergeant in the Sixth Armored Calvary Regiment at Fort Meade in Maryland.

Devrouax teamed up with architect Marshall Purnell to establish their DC firm in 1978. Devrouax+Purnell was the first African-American firm to design a Fortune 500 headquarters — the Fannie Mae campus in McLean, Va. — and completed various international projects. In 2009, the team’s design submission was one of six finalists for the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Today, the firm has offices in downtown DC and Silver Spring, Md.

After Paul Devrouax passed away in 2010, his wife and daughter launched the Paul S. Devrouax Memorial Lecture series to provide a “forum for dialogue” and encourage young minds through teaching and mentoring. The nonprofit has hosted several local events, including a talk on “Architecture Meets Aquaponics” and a lecture by Melvin Mitchell, author of The Crisis of the African American-Architect: Conflicting Cultures for Architecture and (Black) Power.

Before helping to unveil the new street signs last Friday, Lesley Devrouax — the architect’s only child — told a story about how she came to appreciate her father’s impact on the architectural community.

“My dad was a humble man,” Lesley Devrouax said, “until he wasn’t. He would tell me, ‘You know, Les, I’m a star. I’m a star,’ and I’m like, ‘OK, can I borrow 20 bucks?’ … So fast-forward like 15 years and I’m in New York City with my friend … who introduced me to his friend who is an architect.”

When Lesley Devrouax offered to introduce the young architect to her father, she realized the weight of his legacy.

“So he gets all nervous and he’s sweating, and I’m like, ‘Just calm yourself, just collect yourself, man,’” she said. “And he said, ‘You don’t understand, this is a really big deal for me,’ and that’s when I realized that my father didn’t just belong to me. He belonged to the architectural community. He belonged to the city of Washington. He belonged to the city of New Orleans and the world.”