‘Wake up, Ward 8!’: DC officials break ground on new recreation center
D.C.’s Ward 8 is getting a new recreation center, one that received both praise and criticism during a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday.
Director of the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation Thennie Freeman began her remarks at the event for the new Douglass Community Center by exhorting the crowd to, “Wake up, Ward 8! Shake your shoulders. We’re talking about a brand new recreation facility and pool coming to this site right here!”
“Fun fact: This pool will mean number eight in Ward 8 — the largest amount of pools in any ward,” Freeman added.
The $225 million facility slated for completion in 2027 will include a splash park, pool, media center and a fitness center, as well as a community garden space.
“I’m excited about this, but I’m also disappointed, to be honest, because we can do more,” Ward 8 D.C. Council member Trayon White said. “There’s nowhere in the country where you’re spending $25 million on a recreation center that don’t have a gym. I’m just going to be real.”
But White also turned to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and said, “You’ve been a tremendous leader. We haven’t always seen eye to eye, and we have our moments, but in Ward 8, you always showed up for us.”
Before taking up shovels for a groundbreaking photo opportunity, Bowser told attendees, “I am just really, really happy to be here.”
She noted that the six-acre parcel for the Douglass Community Center is designed to fit a variety of community needs.
Bowser thanked community leaders and the city’s parks and rec staff for their work across the District’s recreation facilities to make sure “that they are filled with life and programming and taking D.C. residents of all ages to the next level.”
The Douglass Community Center is named for the abolitionist, statesman and author Frederick Douglass, who lived in what is now Ward 8 at Cedar Hill, a national historic site under the purview of the National Park Service.