(Washington, DC) – Mayor Bowser today broke ground on the Edgewood Recreation Center at 3rd Street and Evarts Street, NE. The Mayor was joined by Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, Department of General Services (DGS) Director Greer Gillis, DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) Director Keith Anderson, and members of the community.
“The new, renovated Edgewood Recreation Center is an example of what we can create when local government works hand-in-hand with the community to build facilities that meet the needs of our residents,” said Mayor Bowser. “State-of-the-art recreation centers like this one are just one more way we are building the healthiest, greenest, and most sustainable city in the world.”
The project includes demolishing the existing field house and constructing a new state-of-the-art recreation facility. The existing Edgewood Recreation Center, constructed as a field house in 1947, has outgrown the programmatic needs of the community. Today’s groundbreaking was the culmination of DGS and DPR working closely with the Edgewood community for more than a year, a process which included the Bowser Administration increasing the original funding for the project from $14.4 million to $18.4 million in order to fulfill the community’s request for a new gymnasium.
“We are excited about Edgewood Recreation Center because of the much needed resources it will bring to this community, especially some of its new features, which have never been seen in a recreation center in the District until now,” said DPR Director Keith Anderson.
As part of the modernization process, Edgewood Recreation Center will feature DPR’s first-ever rooftop urban farm and will also be the first facility to have a natural gas generator to keep the facility online during a power outage. In addition, the new 16,000 square-foot recreation center will feature:
- a full-size gymnasium;
- classrooms;
- locker, reading, and multi-purpose rooms;
- teen and tech lounges;
- a teaching kitchen;
- a fitness center;
- an outdoor playground; and
- a new community garden.
Enhancements to the Edgewood Recreation Center’s sports field will include natural grass with football and baseball overlays as well as a fitness trail around the field. During construction, DGS will continue to resurface the existing tennis and basketball courts.
“As the construction arm of the DC Government, we are particularly pleased to work on recreation centers because of the joy they bring to our neighborhoods,” said DGS Director Greer Gillis.
Today’s groundbreaking comes after a year of recreation center openings and groundbreakings. In 2017, the Bowser Administration broke ground on the Marvin Gaye Recreation Center (Ward 7) and the Palisades Recreation Center (Ward 3); celebrated a new Kenilworth Recreation and Pool (Ward 7); and opened three new tech lounges to engage teens and seniors at the Deanwood (Ward 7), Hillcrest (Ward 7), and Riggs-LaSalle (Ward 4) Recreation Centers.