Park View, D.C.

Columbia Heights Civic Plaza with new plants.

Within the last week, the Columbia Heights Civic Plaza has received new plantings for the second time since the spring. However, this effort to beautify the plaza is not welcomed by many. Those taking issue with the new plants aren’t necessarily against the plants, but rather that the efforts in June and now both occurred without any notice to the community and that converting the areas around the fountain from grass to flower beds have negatively impacted the usefulness of the plaza.

The negative impact of the plants on the plaza has been particularly felt by the weekly farmers market, which uses the entire plaza. More on a daily level, when the areas were grass people would sit on the area while watching children play in the fountain.

What is particularly disappointing is that members of the farmers market, community, ANC1A, and Department of Parks and Recreation all sat down to discuss how the plaza is managed and functions since the areas have become plant beds on August 10th. While there was an understanding that changing anything during the current season wouldn’t make sense, there seemed to also be an understanding that the plantings would need to be revisited as they have changed how the plaza functions. Despite this meeting, more plants have been added to the beds further impacting the usefulness of the area.

It seems that either DPR of the Department of General Services, or perhaps some other agency, didn’t get the message that their efforts to beautify the plaza are not all that welcomed, and have caused tensions and angry words between those using the plaza and those attempting to protect plants that were never intended to be part of the tightly designed space.

In short, someone in our government messed up, and is continuing to spend money and labor to entrench the error.
(Section of the former lawn terrace recently planted with new flowers.)