DCist: New NoMa Park Will Be Named For The Woman Who Helped Open First D.C. Schools For Black Children

NoMa has a name drawn from a buried piece of D.C.’s African American history for a new large park in the works. The new 2.5-acre park adjacent to the Metropolitan Branch Trail just north of the New York Avenue bridge in NoMa will be called Tanner Park. Read more.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote on the Final Name for NoMa’s Largest Park

WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 22, 2017 — NoMa’s largest park, located along the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) and Harry Thomas Way NE, is gearing up for construction later this year. Consistent with the wildly successful naming of Swampoodle Park (at 3rd and L streets NE), the NoMa Parks Foundation is relying on the input of community members to identify names to suggest to the DC Council and Mayor Muriel Bowser. The proposed names for the “NoMa Green” are: Gales Wood, Met Branch Commons, Tanner Park, and Union Green. Take the survey to vote.

Previously, the NoMa Parks Foundation received 112 submissions from community members, collected at a community meeting and through online outreach. To ensure the broadest community involvement, the survey to vote on the final selection is online and was also mailed as a postcard to neighbors in the immediate vicinity of the park. From among the most popular names, the list has been narrowed to the four final selections. Please vote! The survey closes June 15.

“NoMa Green,” the temporary working name of the park, is a 2.5-acre park that will serve as the neighborhood’s “backyard,” providing open space for informal recreation, relaxation and community gatherings, as well as a dedicated playground for children and a dog park. The NoMa Parks Foundation solicited and has received a great deal of community input over several years about neighborhood aspirations for this large green space. Outreach included more than eight community meetings, attendance at ANC and Eckington Civic Association meetings, and online input about “NoMa Green.” Goals shared and implemented in the selected park design include a strong connection to the Met Branch Trail, a large flexible green space, a dog park, and a meadow.

About the Names

Tanner Park — Named for Alethia Browning Tanner (c. 1785-1864), a former slave who purchased her freedom and that of many relatives. She helped sponsor some of the first schools for black children in the District of Columbia and provided financial support for many hundreds of young people to gain access to education.

Gales Wood — The land that became the present-day Eckington neighborhood was the country home of Joseph Gales Jr. (1786-1860), a newspaper publisher and Mayor of Washington. After the Civil War, the area was known as “Gales Woods” and was a popular picnic ground.

Met Branch Commons — This name acknowledges the adjacency and the integration of the Metropolitan Branch Trail in the park.

Union Green — This name reflects the history of the site, which became a rail yard after the combination of the B&O Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad at Union Station. This merger enabled the creation of the National Mall.

Please view signage mock-ups with each name and take the survey here. The final contender will be recommended to the DC Council and Mayor, who will make the ultimate decision.

The NoMa Parks Foundation will also announce a community meeting with updates on the design and construction during summer 2018. Nelson Byrd Woltz is currently completing the design and construction drawings for the park, and Forrester Construction plans to begin building the park later this year. Construction is expected to conclude in late 2019. Upon completion, the park will be owned by the District government. More about the park can be found here.

About NoMa Parks

The NoMa Parks Foundation was formed in 2012 to establish permanent, public outdoor spaces in NoMa that are attractive, sustainable, and welcoming — places for people to refresh, play, and connect, now and for generations to come. In 2014, the Foundation, which is an affiliate of the NoMa Business Improvement District, entered into a public-private partnership with the D.C. government to build parks and great public spaces in NoMa. We have acquired three public park sites to date and have plans for publicly accessible parks on private spaces. Additionally, two major light art installations are in progress for the M Street NE and L Street NE underpasses beneath the train tracks. To learn more about the work of the NoMa Parks Foundation, visit nomaparks.org. Follow us on Twitter (@NoMaParksDC) and like us on Facebook.

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Media Contact:
Braulio Agnese, NoMa Business Improvement District
bagnese@nomabid.org
202-810-0088

NoMa is memorializing its own special corner of the swamp. The NoMa Parks Foundation, an arm of the NoMa Business Improvement District, announced Tuesday that the BID’s first park — consisting of a community playground and dog park at Third and L streets NE — will be called “Swampoodle Park.” Read more.

The NoMa Parks Foundation has extended the deadline to propose names for two parks in the neighborhood. Through Friday, September 1, the NoMa Parks Foundation is seeking community input to name the 2.5-acre green space north of New York Avenue and a smaller park at 3rd and L streets NE. Neighbors and community members are encouraged to propose names via the Foundation’s engagement website, ImagineNoMaParks.com:

Submit a name for the NoMa Green in the comments of this post.
Submit a name for the Third & L park in the comments of this post.
Read a recap of the August 9 Community Conversation meeting.

Suggested names will be narrowed to four or five options, then released again for a final community vote. The final selections will be recommended to the D.C. Council and Mayor Muriel Bowser, who will make the ultimate decision. Thank you for your participation!

The NoMa Parks Foundation has begun the process of selecting a name for its new large park off the Metropolitan Branch Trail north of Florida Avenue. Taking into account some of the controversy over naming the space directly after the neighborhood, the organization is looking to local history and landmarks for possible ideas. Read More