dcsculler
evenevan
Around 2005, and likely even earlier, DC identified the 11th Street Bridges, crossing the Anacostia River in SE Washington, DC, for replacement. The existing bridges (11th Street and Ofc. Welsh Memorial Bridge) built during the late 1960s were never built with sufficient connection to the local communities on either side of the river, nor were they adequately connected to Anacostia Freeway (DC-295) northbound. The City signed off on the Final Environmental Impact Study (EIS) in October 2007, which identified several alternatives for replacing the bridges and mitgating impacts to the surrounding community.
The Anacostia Community Boathouse, located between the two bridge spans, would surely be affected by any changes. Over the next two years the boathouse community, about 800-1,000 people, worked tirelessly to save the boathouse. The Anacostia Community Boathouse Association (ACBA) worked with the City to ensure that no matter the final design of the bridge that operations for 10 ACBA non-profit member organizations and hundreds of people, would not be adversely impacted. To the great relief of the boathouse, the City assured us in 2008 that the new bridge would not impact the existing boathouse facilities. We would relocate temporarily, but would return to the current facilities when the project as complete. While the boathouse (there are actually two buildings) is not much to look at, the buildings represent more than 15 years of grassroots effort to build a community rowing and paddling center on the Anacostia. The City’s promise was a short-lived. In mid-2009, the boathouse community learned that the final design for the bridges would mean the facilities would be torn down. The reasons make sense considering the huge costs involved and the considerable impact the bridge project will have on bridge traffic. The new design will consist of building 3 spans (1 for local traffic and 2 for freeway traffic) off-line from the existing spans. The new freeways spans will eventually stand right in the middle of what is now the Anacostia Community Boathouse.
To mitigate the impact to the boathouse, the City has been working with the boathouse leadership to relocate the boathouse community up river about 6/10ths of mile. The new location is the former Anacostia Marina site, which is incorrectly marked on Google Maps as being Seafarer’s Yacht Club. The good folks at Seafarer’s are located just a bit further down towards the end of M Street SE near the railway bridge.
I began this blog to chronicle the imminent changes to the Anacostia Community Boathouse and the immediate area near the Washington Navy Yard. I hope it will shed some light on a relatively unknown and forgotten portion of the city.
