DC's Most Endangered Places

McMillan Reservoir photos by Christopher Leary.

From the online Washington Business Journal

Preservation group names endangered D.C. sites
Tim Mazzucca, Staff Reporter

Some of Washington's most desirable sites for redevelopment are also some of the most historic, according to the D.C. Preservation League. The group has released its ninth annual list of the city's most endangered places -- 13 sites where development may destroy historic landmarks of architecture and culture.

This year's list includes St. Elizabeths Hospital, Mount Vernon Triangle, Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library and the South Capitol Street corridor. Today, St. Elizabeths is being surveyed as the home for the U.S. Coast Guard; Mount Vernon Triangle has seven projects slated to break ground this year; and the Anacostia Waterfront Corp. held another public meeting May 25 to show residents what will be developing along the main street while a new baseball stadium is built.

The Preservation League says there's no immediate threat to the 33-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. Library at 901 F St. NW, but the league is afraid the D.C. government might sell the building before it could get a landmark designation.

Also making the list was the National Capital Revitalization Corp.'s McMillan Reservoir Sand Filtration site near North Capitol and M streets NW. It also made the list in 2000 when the D.C. Office of Planning last tried to sell the land.

Other endangered places included on the list this year are:

• Anacostia Historic District, near the Frederick Douglass Home in Southeast;
• Battleground National Cemetery, at 6625 Georgia Ave. NW;
• The interior of the Franklin School, at 13th and K streets NW;
• Holt House, near the National Zoo off Adams Mill Road;
• A causeway at 3100 Macomb St. NW [Tregaron];
• Open space within the National Mall [For more information, see the National Coalition to Save Our Mall website];
• Uline Arena, at 1140 Third St. NW; and
• Western Union Telegraph Co. Building, at 4623 41st St. NW.
___________
For the DCPL page, click here. Each of the places on the list has a full-page writeup.