The Park View Recreation Center has started a small garden for the community youth. With all the community gardens in the area, I’m pleased to see that the Rec Center has installed some raised beds for the children. They are located between the fences on the Princeton Place side of the property.
The raised beds of the youth garden.
Here’s an event that will help break in the newly renovated Park View Recreation Center. This Saturday, March 30, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. the Park View Kids Zone will have a moon bounce, snow cones, face painting, relay games, kickball, tug of war, and and egg hunt for the kids. They will also have a spades, uno, and dominos area set up for the older folks and a 3 on 3 basketball tournament happening for high school teens & adults, male and females are welcome to play! Teams need to register by 2 p.m. on Saturday at the sign up table! There will also be food and drinks for everyone! The entire neighborhood is invited to come out!
The days schedule will be as followed:
I’ve been looking for a good photo of the old Park View Playground for a while now, and finally I’ve found one. While the scan below isn’t the best, at least I now know of another image I need a good scan of (future goal).
The photo dates to August 26, 1938, and shows the playground from the school. Princeton Place is in the background. This photo was taken a mere six years after the field house was built and wading pool installed. It also shows swings along Warder Street, teeter totters along Princeton to the east of the field house, and I believe a tennis court to the west of the field house.
(Image: Star Collection, D.C. Public Library, (c) Washington Post)
At a meeting last night held at the Park View Recreation Center, DGS employee Jackie Stanley along with other DPR staff provided details on additional renovations headed for the main building. The upgrades will be far short of a new building, but until that is possible they will improve the building in the following areas. The plan is to give the building a facelift with upgrades to the flooring, cabinetry, paint, lighting in the bathrooms, and remove the upper (second floor) mezzanine area. The walls between the front area and the craft room will also be removed — opening up the space.
Additional interior improvements include new lighting and security & audio visual equipment. On the outside of the building the signage is to be replaced. Significantly, the raised planters in front of the building will be removed and replaced with grade level landscape areas.
In addition to the newly described work, a few items yet undone during the field renovations were also listed as coming and not forgotten. They were chiefly the metal ridges for the top of the wall at Princeton Place and Warder Street, the interpretive history sign, and the message board for the front of the building. In fact, DPR already has the message board. They’ve been waiting to install it pending the removal of the raised planters.
The work has a budget of about $400,000 and will begin in about three weeks (after the November elections). Once work begins, the main building will be closed for about eight weeks.
Plan of coming renovations showing areas where demo will occur.
Some of those enjoying the cook out at Raymond
Not one to be daunted by the renovations at the Park View Recreation Center that have closed the park, Angela Strange and her Park View Kids Zone held their annual cook out and Easter Egg hunt at the Raymond Recreation Center this year. Assisting her were the Young Professionals auxiliary of the Greater Washington Urban League.
After the cook out, both the children and adults enjoyed a few games of tug of war before the Easter egg hunt began. I was happy to see a few of the oldest kids actually scooping up eggs and then turning them over to the youngest kids that weren’t able to fill their bags as easily as many of the elementary-aged kids could.
After the egg hunt, the day rounded out with a game of kick ball.
Children gathering before the start of the egg hunt
Start of the project, removing the tree at the tot lot
After many, many false starts, twists, and turns, the renovation and redesign of the open spaces at the Park View Recreation Center has finally begun. The current project was initially proposed in the late summer of 2009 and is only now moving forward. While there were many reasons for the on-again, off-again planning of this project, for many who live in the community it was seen as yet one more broken promise with little to no real intent to actually accomplish anything at Park View.
Fortunately, there were those in the community that were not willing to let this project fade into oblivion and kept the ball rolling by consistently working with Councilmember Graham and DPR Director Aguirre.
Below are some images of the work in progress, which started this week. You can also read more about the project and see the plan by going here.
Tot lot nearly dismantled
Removal of basketball court
Excavating the former athletic field
Here’s a great opportunity to Jr. and Sr. High School students that have an interest in art. The 31st Annual Congressional Art Competition call for entries has just gone out. The competition is open to all D.C. school students in Grades 8-12 and the deadline is April 25, 2012.
If you have a talented son or daughter, or know of someone that does, this is an excellent opportunity to have their work shown and exhibited, win awards and prizes, or even get a scholarship.
According to Eleanor Holmes Norton, in her capacity as Honorary Chair of the competition in the District of Columbia, the winning artwork will hang for one year in the U.S. Capitol in a national exhibit of winning artwork from the congressional district of every member of the House of Representatives.
To get a full copy of the application form and read additional details, just click here. House Member Norton’s full letter is below:
Readers may recall that Leland Melvin, NASA’s associate administrator for education and a former space shuttle astronaut, presented a space shuttle tile to the Bruce Monroe at Park View School on February 27, 2012. I was finally able to get some photographs of the event and am sharing them here.
Leland Melvin presenting Space Shuttle tile to the Bruce-Monroe @ Park View School (NASA photo)
Leland Melvin with children from the school (NASA Photo)
I’ve been informed that the children from the Park View Kids Zone will be out and about caroling tonight (12/22). According to the organizer — Angela Strange — they will start about 7 p.m.
The plan is to begin on the east side of the 3500 block of Ward Street and travel down to the 600 block of Otis Place. From there they will travel north on Park Place to the 600 block of Princeton Place, head north on Warder to the 600 block of Quebec Place and end on Rock Creek Church Road around 8:30 or 9 p.m.
If you are home and hear the carolers, consider opening your doors and giving them an audience. Of course, I understand you are also welcome to join them.
Here’s an opportunity to volunteer and help area children and families have a happier holiday. The third annual Park View Kids Zone’s Santa’s Workshop. Full details follow:
Join Park View Kids Zone for our third annual Santa’s Workshop this Saturday December 10th and Saturday December 17th at Bruce Monroe at Park View from 1:00pm to 3:00pm. All Park View neighbors of all ages are welcome to come! We will have holiday crafts, lots of holiday food and each child will get to “shop” in Santa’s Workshop! Each year we set up a free store for the kids to shop for a present for their parents and we gift wrap it as if they were at a nice department store. We want the kids to have the opportunity to give a gift to their family at Christmas. It will be a fun day for all and a great time to celebrate the Holiday’s with some of your youngest neighbors.
We are in need of donations for this event. We need gift items for our parent store. These items do not have to be new! We are looking for small items such as picture frames, necklaces, earrings, unused small bath items (like from a hotel), household accessories, kitchen gadgets, tie’s, purses, note cards, etc. We could use gift wrap, bags, tape, ribbon, bows and tissue paper as well.
We need some neighbors to commit to one or both of the days to help us with food and drinks. Christmas cookies, veggie and fruit trays, chips, finger sandwiches or wraps, chex mix, nuts, candies, hot coco, juice boxes, Christmas paper plates, napkins, plastic silverware and cups are all items we need to pull this off on the 10th and the 17th. Maybe you have some grandma’s who would be thrilled to bake up some holiday goodies for the kids? If you would like to help with this fun program or would like more information please contact Mrs. Angela at Ang.Strange @ Gmail.Com or 615-496-0834. Happy Holidays Park View!!
"The territory comprising Park View extends from Gresham Street north to Rock Creek Church Road, and from Georgia Avenue to the Soldiers' Home grounds, including the triangle bounded by Park Road, Georgia Avenue, and New Hampshire Avenue" (from Directory and History of Park View, 1921.)
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