Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) D.C. United is set to move out of RFK Stadium next year when its new stadium at Buzzard Point opens. That leaves the venerable stadium without a long-term tenant, and the vast patch of land could turn in to a land of opportunity for the District, but only if the federal government allows it.
The District leases the land from the federal government, and it is asking for that lease to be renewed for another 50 years so long-term planning can commence. It’s also asking for one key requirement of that lease to be lifted.
“We need an extension of our lease, and we need the covenant removed that restricts the use of that land to only a sports and entertainment use,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser told reporters Tuesday. “We know that a future of RFK, whether there is an NFL stadium or not, has to have a mix of uses.”
Those uses, Bowser said, could include community amenities like an indoor soccer pitch, along with a recreational connection to the Anacostia River, and a memorial to RFK himself. Bowser said housing would also be key at the 190-acre site.
“We know we also need housing in the District, and anytime you have that much land, it has to be considered for a housing use,” she said.
A new stadium and the return of the Redskins has remained an unpopular prospect for neighbors of the site, who complain of an expensive white elephant that would only see use around a dozen times a year, surrounded by parking lots.
Bowser seemed to agree with the general sentiment.
“We want to make it perfectly clear, we need a mix of uses,” she said.
Bowser also met recently with Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to discuss the city’s ideas, she said.
“We have a good plan. We’re not going hat-in-hand,” Bowser said. “We’re saying, ‘We’re willing to our local dollars towards making your property better.’”
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