by Virginia Adams Marentette
Vice president, Friends of Forest Hills Playground
Two years of meetings and intense planning came to fruition in the past month as a major renovation of the beloved Forest Hills Playground began. Prior to the groundbreaking, the Forest Hills community came out in force for a pre-construction meeting June 4th, a few days before construction began.
The DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) hosted the meeting at the playground to provide neighbors an opportunity to meet the construction team and DPR/Department of General Services (DGS) liaisons, while receiving an overview of the new park design. Since that meeting, the project has been moving full steam ahead.
A month into the renovation, the KADCON construction team has made a lot of progress clearing the playground and surrounding area, taking down the old play structures, removing the old concrete pavement and wooden borders, and taking down trees that were deemed diseased or within “fall zones” of the soon-to-be-new play structures. The Friends of Forest Hills Playground, represented by President Alexandra Chalupa and Vice President Virginia Marentette, has been part of a small renovation task-force along with ANC Commissioner Sally Gresham, since the project started in the fall of 2012.
During these early weeks of renovation, the Friends of Forest Hills Playground listserv and Facebook page have been buzzing with questions about the renovation. Here are answers to some of the most common questions we’ve heard:
Why is the playground renovation taking place during the summer months rather than winter, which would be much more convenient for families?
Unfortunately, having the construction take place in the summer months could not be avoided. DC does not engage in any park construction when there is a possibility of the temperature dipping below 50 degrees and the project will take four months. Work such as concrete pouring, subgrades, subbase, erosion control, etc. are all temperature and moisture dependent. Daylight saving is also a big component of summer construction work.
How long is the playground renovation going to take and can we expect delays?
The renovation is scheduled to be completed by September 30, 2014. The general contractor on the project, KADCON Construction, has conducted fifteen renovation projects for the DC government, including a handful of playground renovations, and has yet to miss a targeted construction completion date. As noted above, the renovation is taking place during summer months because conditions are ideal. Therefore, we do not expect any weather related delays. Of course, unforeseen severe weather conditions could set the schedule back and require the construction team to work overtime or adjust the end date, but that seems unlikely at this point.
What hours does construction take place?
Construction work is authorized from 7:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m., Monday-Saturday. However, the crew has been keeping a 7:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday schedule, with no loud work taking place before 8:00 a.m. As the project is on track and the schedule does not require the need for overtime, the plan is for the work to continue taking place before 4:00 p.m. on weekdays.
What about the trees?
Throughout this entire process, which began in 2012, the Forest Hills Playground Renovation Task Force has made it very clear that trees are a priority and that the playground’s existing trees need to be saved as much as possible within the site’s constraints and the new playground’s final design. One reason the newly designed playground will not have a water feature is because we were unwilling to sacrifice the trees that would have to be felled to make it possible.
The task force has been impressed with the exhaustive measures that DPR and DGS have taken to ensure tree preservation. Keith Pitchford of Pitchford Associates has been hired as the arborist for the project. He has recommended certain trees be removed for various reasons, such as severe damage/disease, threat to public safety, and the priority playground and park activities requested by the community that might adversely affect existing tree roots during construction.
You can view the current tree plan at dgs.dc.gov/node/855952. The hope is that when the renovation is complete, the diseased trees will be gone and we will have more trees in the playground than we had before. There will still be plenty of shade and the new trees planted will be better suited for the site.
What happened to all the old playground equipment?
All of the old play structures, which were at least 12 years old, had to be discarded. The condition of the equipment was one of the major factors in our playground being selected for renovation. DPR has a strict policy of not reusing old playground equipment at other DC government run entities due to liability concerns. However, in some cases, if the equipment is deemed in good condition by the DC Office of Contracting and Procurement (OCP), it can be transferred to OCP for auction or other form of distribution to a private entity.
We were hoping to be able to find a new home for some of the smaller pieces that looked to be in good condition, but upon inspection, water logging and rot at the base of the equipment was discovered. This was likely due to all of the sand damage that buried the structures over the years. It was estimated that the firetruck was resting in about two feet deep of sand – something that our biannual community clean-up efforts couldn’t prevent over the years.
What happened to the engraved bricks and the plaque honoring the families who donated money to build the previous playground?
All are being carefully preserved.
The engraved bricks will be part of the entryway to the new playground. The best part is that they will no longer be covered with sand, so we’ll actually get to see them! The plaque will also have a new home within the new playground. We continue to be grateful to all the families who have helped build and care for the playground over the years and want to preserve and honor our rich neighborhood history.
Do you have recommendations for other nearby playgrounds?
Yes! Here is a good list of nearby playgrounds:
• Murch Elementary School – 4810 36th Street, NW (0.4 miles away)
• Hearst Recreation Center – 3950 37th Street, NW (1.3 miles away)
• Macomb Recreation Center – 3409 Macomb Street, NW (1.5 miles away)
• Chevy Chase Recreation Center – 5500 41st St NW (1.5 miles away)
• Friendship Recreation Center (also known as Turtle Park) – 4500 Van Ness Street, NW (1.6 miles away)
• Lafayette Recreation Center – 5900 33rd Street, NW (1.6 miles away)
If you want to get excited about how great our playground will be when construction is complete, visit the Macomb playground, off Reno Road. It has been recently renovated and many of the features found there will exist at our playground once the renovation is done.
What if I still have questions? How do I stay informed?
You can stop by the park anytime and view the announcements and designs on the bulletin board located at the playground’s main entrance on Chesapeake Street.
For the latest from DPR and the history of the project to date, visit dpr.dc.gov/page/play-dc-forest-hills-playground-renovation.
If you have concerns or need to report problems, please contact:
• Stacie West, DC Department of Parks and Recreation community planner, 202-256-3528, [email protected]
• Carolina Trujillo, DC Department of General Services project manager, 202-812-2979, [email protected]
When contacting Stacie or Carolina via e-mail, it is helpful to put “Forest Hills Playground” and a short description of the issue in the subject line.
To stay on top of all the latest news related to the playground, please join the Friends of Forest Hills listserv and “like” us on Facebook. To make sure that Facebook puts the playground updates in your feed, you should also click to “follow” us.
The Friends of Forest Hills Playground is always seeking new volunteers and board members. The only qualification is that you love our park! If you would like to get more involved or learn more, we would love to hear from you. Please contact us via our listserv or Facebook page. If you are on our listserv and Facebook page, you will be the first to hear about plans for the grand ribbon cutting this fall and plans for our biggest bash of the year, our annual Halloween party!
David Bardin says
Will the renovated playground have a sandbox? If so, (a) will it be inside a circle of Astro-turf and (b) how big will it be compared to the old sandbox which my grandchildren used to love?
Will there be a sand table? Where?
Sally Gresham says
There is a circular sandbox and a sand table at the Chesapeake St entrance at the bottom of the ADA ramp and steps. On the current 6/4/14 Design Site Plan it is a beige circle with a green outer circle which is Astroturf (highly recommended by DPR and Bradley Site Design the landscape architect to contain the sand better). DPR/DGS confirms that while the sandbox and sand table are not labeled on the 6/4/14 Site Plan, both will be installed in the renovation. On the 6/4/14 Site plan, the sandbox is approximately 14′ +- in diameter. As we do not have a final construction site plan and the 6/4/14 Design Site Plan is a visual diagram with a graphic scale, the exact sandbox size will have to be confirmed by Stacie West, DPR’s Community Planner for the Forest Hills Playground.
Sally Gresham, ANC3F04 Commissioner
Jane Halsted says
I live at the Brandywine apts. You cannot have a basketball court facing our building where noises of bouncing balls would be heard all day long and possibly into the night as a street light will light up the area of the court. Please move the basketball court to another site on the playground. The court used to be behind the tennis court. Please, this is horrible for all the tenants on the Brandywine side of the Brandywine. Please change your plan for the basketball court. It will be a disaster. I’ve called DC rec and Mary Cheh’s office
John Saunders says
When is this city going to start providing its citizens with something they need as opposed to something they don’t. Who makes a decision to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to tear down a perfectly viable and obviously well utilized playground while a large pothole in the middle of the street a half block away goes unrepaired for months. Is this an employment program for playground designers? Oh yes and lets take a nice green space and replace it with a concrete basketball court that will frighten the young children playing at the playground, irritate the neighbors, and encourage loud gatherings at all hours. You have my support Jane Halsted – out with the basketball court. Put up a sign that says hoops are available 2.5 blocks away at Deal Jr. High School.
Tracy Johnke says
The basketball hoop at the old playground was only one tennis court’s length away from the proposed location on the other side. Noise wasn’t an issue there? I imagine not, since the playground wasn’t lit at night. Perhaps shifting the street lighting away the new half-court would discourage nighttime players as well.
I’m not sure I understand what will frighten the young children. At the now demolished playground, older kids often played ball with toddlers directly underfoot. The tots liked to ride trikes on the blacktop. They didn’t seem all that frightened, even with basketballs bouncing all around them – and sometimes, on them.
John Saunders says
Tracy, sorry I don’t recall any basketball court. I’ve only lived here for 16 years. As long as I can recall there have been swings, trees and a little used tether ball apparatus in the area where the court must have been. The playground has evolved to appeal to mostly a very young crowd, toddlers. I am generally against tearing up open ground to put down concrete. Especially true in this case where a full court for children is already over at Murch, and for adults at Deal.
Tracy Johnke says
We’re turning into old-timers, John! I’ve also been living in or near Forest Hills for 16 years, and have been a heavy user of the playground for the past six years. Forest Hills didn’t ask for the changes – we were as surprised as anyone that our playground was placed on the list for renovation. Apparently, DPR deemed some of the equipment unsafe, and that was that.