Recent Presentation of Kennedy Center/Foggy Bottom Improvement and Connection Plans

By Frank Leone

We have reported on the ongoing efforts to connect the Kennedy Center to the city and improve the highway wasteland in the area of 27th Street. The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) hired design firm Perkins- Eastman to prepare a concept of a plan for the area. The District Architecture Center hosted a panel, Rock Creek Park, the Kennedy Center and the National Mall: The Possibilities of Connection and Repairing, on October 9, 2024. The panel featured Matthew Bell and Christian Calleri of Perkins-Eastman, Thomas Luebke, Secretary of the U.S. Commission on Fine Arts, and Elizabeth Miller, NCPC Project Director.

Detail of Perkins-Eastman image of the completed project plan showing new buildings in the 27th St. area (upper right).

Mr. Bell, the main speaker, stated that the spaghetti maze of highway construction was a mistake and needed to be fixed to connect the Kennedy Center and the mall and improve the neighborhood. Another NCPC goal is to unify the local and monumental core and create new areas for museums and monuments, as the Mall area is running out of space. 

The concept, which the authors admitted needed additional refinement, would deck over the Potomac Freeway, connecting the Kennedy Center to E Street. To the south, it would realign the entrance to Theodore Roosevelt Bridge and create a traffic circle. To the north, the Freeway would resurface onto Virginia Avenue at a new Juarez Circle. The freeway ramps in the 27th Street area would be removed – and replaced with high-rise housing that would generate tax revenue, although Bell allowed that it could be a recreational area. 

Perkins-Eastman plan of the current site, showing existing road network, pedestrian/bike pathways, parks/green spaces

Perkins-Eastman plan of the site after plan implementation showing existing road network, pedestrian/bike pathways, parks/green spaces

No formal traffic study has been prepared, but the concept likely will result in reduced and slower traffic (which some consider a benefit). There was some discussion of modification of uses of the Rock Creek Parkway, e.g., making it pedestrian/bike only on weekends, but it was clear that closing the parkway is unlikely for traffic and historical reasons. The presentation included successful highway removal projects, see, e.g., Center for New Urbanism, Highways to Boulevards program.

There can be no argument that the Kennedy Center’s “porcupine-like” isolation and the impassible 27th Street area should be addressed. Foggy Bottom and West End residents may be concerned about the potential loss of the 26th Street Park, the erection of large buildings blocking the potential river view, and the reconnection of I Street promoting increased traffic in the Historic District. Their concept also assumes the redevelopment of Columbia Plaza. It does not appear to address the lower K Street entrance to Georgetown, and the lack of pedestrian and bike connectivity between the West End, the Watergate, the Georgetown waterfront and the Foggy Bottom metro station. Land ownership in the areas mentioned contribute to the complexity of the project. But there will be plenty of time to work out these issues. The NCPC is continuing to build support and interest in the project, but it is far from shovel-ready.