Community Members Invited to View NoMa Underpass Finalist Designs

October 14, 2014

Washington, D.C., October 14, 2014 – The NoMa Parks Foundation invites the community to view the final 13 designs for the NoMa Underpass Design Competition at a community meeting on Thursday, October 16, 2014. Those who are unable to attend the meeting are invited to take an online survey, or view large image-rich boards of the projects and take a paper survey in the Lobby at 1200 First Street, NE, from October 14 to 17.

The NoMa Underpass Design Competition is an initiative of the NoMa Parks Foundation to beautify and improve the neighborhood’s four railroad underpasses (at Florida Avenue, K, L and M Streets, NE) with engaging artistic light installations. The project is a partnership between the District of Columbia government, WMATA, Amtrak and the NoMa Parks Foundation.

The Community Meeting

Date: Thursday, October 16, 2014
Time: 6-8 PM
Location: Lobby Project, 1200 First Street, NE
Light refreshments will be served.

Can’t attend the meeting? Take the survey, or stop by the Lobby to view the presentation boards of the finalist designs from Tuesday, October 14 at noon to Friday, October 17 at 6 PM.

A prestigious jury selected 10 distinguished artists, architects, lighting designers, and landscape architects representing three countries and seven cities across the United States as finalists in the competition. View a full list here.

With community feedback in hand, the jury will select the winners by year-end. Installation of the winning designs will begin in 2015.

“We encourage the neighborhood to come give their input on these incredible installations,” said Curtis Clay, Director of the NoMa Parks Foundation. “While much of the difficult technical work lies ahead, as we delve into the installation details of these pieces, we are excited to create a significant impact in these four underpasses as we transform them into exciting and beautiful passageways.”

The underpass competition has generated overwhelming interest and excitement since its announcement in April. During the Request for Qualifications (RFQ) phase, the Foundation received 248 submissions from 14 countries, including the District of Columbia. After a rigorous review, 49 semi-finalists were selected, which was then narrowed down to 10 finalists who submitted 13 project proposals for the four underpasses.

The competition’s jury is comprised of Elizabeth Broun, Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum; Roger Lewis, FAIA, Architect, University of Maryland Professor Emeritus of Architecture, Washington Post Columnist; Robin Rose, Washington artist; George Hemphill, local art curator/gallery owner; and Charles “Sandy” Wilkes, Chair of the NoMa Parks Foundation.

About The NoMa Parks Foundation

The NoMa Underpass Design Competition is led by the NoMa Parks Foundation, and is one of several projects that are proceeding concurrently to acquire land, improve existing sites, and execute the long-term vision of the NoMa Public Realm Design Plan. The NoMa Parks Foundation was formed in 2012 and the following year received a $50 million commitment from the District government to acquire land, build parks and enhance public space in NoMa.

In the rapidly redeveloping NoMa neighborhood, one critical ingredient is missing: parks. More than 18,000 people live in greater NoMa, and the population is projected to double in the next 10 years; but currently NoMa contains no publicly accessible parks, playgrounds, or plazas. While the District of Columbia averages 12.9 acres of open space per 1,000 residents, none of these spaces exist in the NoMa neighborhood. They are urgently needed to serve the residents and more than 40,000 daytime employees and visitors to the neighborhood. Undeveloped land is becoming more scarce each year as development occurs on the remaining empty lots. The creation of refreshing, inviting parks and public spaces before it is too late will improve the lives of people in NoMa today and for generations to come. More about the NoMa Parks Foundation can be found at www.nomabid.org/parks.

About NoMa
NoMa is a vibrant, growing neighborhood nestled among Union Station, the U.S. Capitol, Shaw, and the H Street, NE corridor in Washington, D.C. Over the last several years, private developers have invested more than $5 billion in the 35-block area within the NoMa BID boundary, and have plans to develop more than 16 million square feet of additional office, residential, hotel, and retail space. NoMa is home to more than 3,900 new apartments, and more than 40,000 people work in NoMa each day. With unparalleled transportation access via Amtrak, VRE, MARC, two Red Line Metro stops, and vehicular access to Interstate 395, visitors, workers and residents can easily travel throughout the region as well as to New York or anywhere on the East Coast. For more information about NoMa, visit www.nomabid.org and sign up for our bimonthly newsletter.

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For immediate release

News media contact:
Rachel Davis
202-997-3846
rdavis@nomabid.org