DC Builds: The Anacostia Waterfront

January 17, 2004 - June 6, 2004

Like many other urban rivers across America, the Anacostia has long been viewed as a resource to exploit—a harbor, a venue for industry, and a receptacle for the accumulated detritus of human habitation. By the 20th century, it had become a place to ignore or avoid, with much of its edge blocked by highways and many adjacent neighborhoods fallen into poverty.

In contrast to this record of harsh use, however, the Anacostia originally was envisioned as an attractive natural feature helping to shape the nation’s capital, equal to, if not more important than, its sister river, the Potomac. Its green banks were valued as park land. The hills on its eastern shore afforded splendid views of the city’s monumental buildings. It seemed a place of promise for the freed slaves, workers, and immigrants who settled nearby.

Now, this significant element of the regional landscape is poised for an environmental and urban renaissance. DC Builds: The Anacostia Waterfront tells the river’s complex story: its ecology, its life as a working river and built environment, and current efforts to restore it as a place of beauty and civic potential. It also is a story of a new approach to urbanism for the 21st century, with this “rediscovered river” serving as a catalyst for the city’s growth and renewal.

A RIVER SYSTEM

View of the Capitol building from the banks of the Anacostia River.

Courtesy of the Anacostia Watershed Society

The Regional Watershed
The Anacostia River is part of a larger system of rivers and streams known as a watershed, beginning in Maryland and covering more than 170 square miles. Two of these major streams meet at Bladensburg, Maryland to form the Anacostia River. The river flows south to the border of the District of Columbia, passing through the city for nearly seven miles before it joins the Potomac River. These waters eventually flow into the Chesapeake Bay.

How to Make a River Sick
Several primary factors have led to the ecological decline of the Anacostia. The removal of vast numbers of trees from along the river and its tributaries, for agricultural and development purposes, has led to significant erosion, increased storm water runoff and sedimentation in the river itself. Like most urban rivers, it also suffers from “non-point source” pollution— trash dropped on the street, oil from cars dripped on parking lots and roads, chemicals used on lawns, and fertilizers from farms, all of which are washed into streams and rivers when it rains. One additional problem that Washington shares with several other cities is an outdated sewer system, which mixes storm water and untreated sewage during heavy rains, and deposits them in the Anacostia. Decades of industrial uses along the shore have also washed tons of toxic chemicals into the river.

Healing the River
Over the past two decades, numerous institutions and individuals have demonstrated a growing interest in cleaning up the Anacostia. Such an effort is complicated, however, by the substantial cost of creating new, more environmentally-friendly infrastructure, and by the myriad causes of non-point source pollution. Grassroots initiatives—trash clean-ups, canoe classes, boat tours—have helped to focus public attention on the river’s health. Significant public investments are also planned to address the outfall from the combined sewage and storm water system. Both the public and private sectors are taking steps to restore wetlands and promote techniques to capture and clean runoff water. Industrial uses have been curtailed and existing ones, like the Navy Yard, are cleaning up their sites and incorporating storm water controls and filters.

A RIVER AS RESOURCE

View of third street SE in Washington, D.C.

District of Columbia Housing Authority, Office of Archives. Courtesy the District of Columbia Office of Planning

Serving the City
The Anacostia River has played a significant, and often unsung, role in the city’s economy and social history, and in national defense,. It has offered shelter and places of leisure to the capital’s citizens, especially African-Americans, whose access to housing and park facilities was limited by segregation for much of the city’s history. It also served as an early industrial base for the city. But the river and those who lived and worked near its shores quickly became vulnerable to the consequences of its heavy use. Actions that exploited the river—dumping sewage, erecting noxious industries, building roads and highways that blocked access—served to diminish not only the natural life of the river itself, but also the quality of life in surrounding communities.

Engineering the River
In 1898, the Army Corps of Engineers determined that action was needed to maintain access to the Navy Yard, assure the river as a navigable waterway for commerce, and remove unsanitary conditions caused by the threat of malaria and the dumping of sewage in the tidal flats. These mitigation efforts would continue throughout much of the 20th century, drastically changing the shape of the Anacostia and providing the city with much-needed new parkland. While this ongoing project did much to change the condition of the river and its waterfront, it did not offer a comprehensive plan for turning the watershed into a true civic asset.

A RIVER REDISCOVERED

Proposed Riverwalk in Southeast Washington, D.C.

Rendering by Michael McCann; courtesy of the District of Columbia Office of Planning

Rediscovering the Anacostia River: The Anacostia Waterfront Initiative (AWI)
Growth pressure within the District of Columbia is pushing development eastward from the traditional business center, and the land along the Anacostia has, therefore, become economically attractive to developers and planners. Based on this growing demand and a desire to revitalize undervalued resources, the District government has recently completed the Anacostia Waterfront Framework Plan, that maps out a vision for the river creating 20,000 new residential units, 5 million square feet of office space, thousands of new jobs, and 25 sites for museums and memorials. It is unique in its breadth and in the commitment to its implementation shared by local citizens, civic groups, the business community, and some 18 federal agencies that also control land along the river. The initiative takes advantage of the trend towards urban living, commitments for infrastructure improvements, the opportunity to capitalize on needed repairs to major bridges and roads, and the development activity already under way in the area. The AWI is a major component of the District government’s broader effort to attract businesses and residents to a rejuvenated Washington.

 

Rediscovering Riverfronts: An Urban Trend

Rendering of the South Capitol St. Bridge in SE Washington, D.C.

© Michael McCann

The Anacostia’s renewal is part of a growing trend across the country to capitalize on once abandoned or abused riverfronts. In diverse cities planners, business interests, governments, and residents are working together to “re-vision” their rivers. This trend is reinforced by successful examples, both historic and recent, in places like Boston, Providence, and San Francisco. Open space as a growth framework, river reclamation, improved access, and targeted reinvestment are among the elements found in these successful examples, which are informing the revitalization efforts in Washington, D.C.

Sponsors

This exhibition is made possible by the Government of the District of Columbia and the Summit Fund of Washington. Additional funding provided by The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, PEPCO Holdings Inc., and the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority.

The National Building Museum also would like to thank the following individuals and organizations for their assistance: Anacostia Watershed Society: Josh Unger, Ric Zeller; Army Corps of Engineers: Michael Broadhead, Todd Clark; Commission of Fine Arts: Charles Atherton, Sue Kohler, Frederick Lindstrom, Susan Raposa; District of Columbia Office of Planning: Francisca Rojas; EDAW, Inc.: Christopher Atkins, Paul Moyer; Interstate Commission on the Potomac River Basin: Jim Cummins; Natural Resources Defense Council: Emily Cousins

Honorary Committee list:
The Honorable Anthony A. Williams
The Honorable Thomas Davis
The Honorable Michael DeWine
The Honorable Douglas M. Duncan
The Honorable Richard Durbin
The Honorable Chaka Fattah
The Honorable Rodney Frelinghuysen
The Honorable Steny Hoyer
The Honorable Jack Johnson
The Honorable Mary Landrieu
The Honorable Jim Moran
The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton
The Honorable Chris Van Hollen
The Honorable Albert R. Wynn

Advisory Committee list:
CO-CHAIRS:
Andrew Altman, D.C. Office of Planning
William C. Baker, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Daniel Tangherlini, D.C. Department of Transportation

Douglas Siglin, Anacostia River Initiative, The Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Robert Boone, Anacostia Watershed Society
Larry Silverman, Anacostia Watershed Society
John Deatrick, D.C. Department of Transportation
Alex Eckman, D.C. Department of Transportation
Allen Miller, D.C. Department of Transportation
Kathleen Linehan Penney, D.C. Department of Transportation
David Howard, D.C. Office of Planning
Toni L. Griffin, D.C. Office of Planning
Uwe Steven Brandes, D.C. Office of Planning
Libby Lawson, D.C. Water and Sewer Authority
James S. Potts, PEPCO
William T. Torgerson, PEPCO
Linda Howard, Summit Fund of Washington

Sponsors & Partners

Credits

Guest Curator: Mary Konsoulis
Curatorial Assistant: Lana Gendlin
Exhibition Designer: Paul Carlos, Pure+Applied
Chief Curator: Howard Decker
Director of Exhibitions: Catherine Crane Frankel
Exhibition Coordinator: Hank Griffith
Exhibition Preparator: Chris Maclay, MaryJane Valade
Collections Manager: Dana Twersky
Registrars: Martha Sharma, Shelagh Cole