With its five large parks, Capitol Hill is a verdant part of the District compared to areas like Foggy Bottom and Dupont Circle. Jewels in the Hill’s crown of parks, such as Stanton and Lincoln, serve as places of enjoyable respite from the bustle of everyday city life. Smaller “pocket” parks are also sprinkled throughout but are not in abundance in the Hill East area. Thus, the creation of the 13th Street Community Park and Garden will create a welcome place where local residents can interact with nature and each other without ever having to leave their neighborhood.

Green areas are especially welcome when they replace something less appealing to the surrounding community. The community park and garden slated for construction at the corner of 13th and C streets SE is just that: currently a patch of asphalt serving no useful purpose.

The realization of the vision for the park and garden relies on the effort of neighborhood residents. Eric Schwalb and Richard Lukas, both of whom are heavily involved in the goings-on of their local community, are spearheading the project. Schwalb and his wife, Courtney, live at 307 13th St. SE, right across the street from the soon-to-be-park. “The longer we live in this neighborhood, the more I’ve gotten involved in the community,” remarked Schwalb. “I’ve been very impressed with the willingness of community members to lend a helping hand.”

While the success or failure of the park and garden itself lies with members of the surrounding community, the support of local government and private industry is equally important. That is something the 13th Street Community Park and Garden has enjoyed no shortage of. Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells (D), Mayor Adrian Fenty (D), District of Columbia Housing Authority Executive Director Michael Kelly and Casey Trees, a local community-based planter and environmental education organization, have all backed the initiative.

“The administration will work very aggressively to support not only this great neighborhood project but other such initiatives in the future,” remarked Fenty at the Sept. 12 community meeting and kickoff event held at the planned park and garden site.

Perhaps the most important impact of the 13th Street Community Park and Garden will be its ability to bring the surrounding community together. As is true of most of the Hill, a wide socioeconomic cross-section exists within the immediate vicinity of 13th and C streets SE. Well-kept single family, privately owned row houses coexist with the increasingly predominant condominium complex and also public housing. Kentucky Courts, which borders the area slated for construction, is an example of the latter; their support and continued diligence once the garden is complete will be central to its long-term success.

“A lot of Kentucky Courts residents already grow vegetables,” noted Courts Resident Council President Laverne Smith. “We’re very excited to see the garden going in.” With the courts bordering one side of the planned park and garden area and the other butting up against a private home, the 13th Street garden is geographically poised to serve as a social liaison between community residents from different walks of life.

“What I discovered at our kickoff event is that I met people from C Street and Kentucky Courts that I’d never met before,” stated Schwalb, revealing that the foundations of common ground are being laid even before the first planting in the area. Close to a hundred District residents were treated to an ice-cream social afterwards, where Kentucky Courts and other local residents met and laid groundwork for future relationships that the community garden should help nurture.

While enthusiastic support for such a positive initiative isn’t unusual when it is first revealed to the general public, bureaucracy and red tape often bring progress to a standstill. However, with the full support of the DCHA, Councilmember Tommy Wells and Mayor Fenty’s administration, the 13th Street Community Park and Garden is scheduled to be transformed from an empty, paved lot to lush, inviting social space by spring of next year. Asphalt will be removed as far as the current location of the gates separating the area from the street, a job scheduled for the winter months in addition to various other hardscape efforts. “As winter breaks, we hope to combine with Casey Trees and community volunteers to do some initial landscaping and planting,” said Schwalb. “We hope that by spring, the tough work that the DCHA has agreed to undertake will be complete.”

It is important to note that both Lukas and Schwalb, like many other key figures involved in planning and logistics of the 13th Street Community Park and Garden, are both lead project coordinators and residents of the immediate neighborhood. While their involvement bridges a gap and many other volunteers have come forward, increased involvement from residents is necessary to continue the project’s forward momentum.

“The current board of directors for the initiative is preliminary and is mainly there for purposes of incorporating,” remarked Schwalb. “Once we incorporate as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we’ll have a more permanent board of directors culled largely from the community.” Help is needed at all levels, from administrative and financial issues to commitments for manual labor once construction and planting begins.

Here, too, Kentucky Courts will play a vital role in the ultimate success or failure of the garden itself. In an article posted on Councilmember Wells’ blog, Lukas and Schwalb noted: “The ongoing improvements at Kentucky Courts have indeed led it to live up to its namesake as a Jewel on the Hill – and we hope that our efforts to create a socially and environmentally-friendly gathering place at this corner will add to its sparkle.”

If the turnout of courts residents at the Sept. 12 kickoff event was any indication, they recognize the multitudinous benefits the garden offers them and their neighbors on 13th and C streets and beyond. “The residents of Kentucky Courts will do everything they can to make this garden a success,” remarked Smith at the kickoff event.

A new Ward 6 community garden and park gives young pupils at neighboring Watkins elementary a wonderful opportunity to learn about growing things and also to see firsthand the process that these green spaces undergo. “These community gardens tend to grow and have things added to them piece by piece,” noted Schwalb. The spirit of a space where all nearby Ward 6 residents can meet is in keeping with Councilmember Wells’ focus on a “livable, walkable” Ward 6 community.

And with seven other community gardens in Ward 6, precedent exists for the success of the 13th Street venture.

For more information regarding updates, fundraising, and volunteer opportunities at the 13th Street Community Park and Garden, visit www.13thstreetgarden.org. 

Sidebar: Area Community Parks
According to the DC Urban Gardens Web site, there are seven additional community gardens in Ward 6. Questions regarding plot availability are best directed to those in charge of the gardens themselves. Space at such green areas is often in high demand: Urban Gardens recommends spearheading the founding of your own community garden should you have trouble at an existing area. A list of the seven Ward 6 community gardens follows with pertinent contact information.

- Barracks Row Community Garden, 11th Street & Virginia Avenue SE ktowema@yahoo.com
- Hill East Community Garden, 14th & D streets SE, Jennifer Fowler, jenncomey@yahoo.com
- Hilton Garden, 220 Sixth St. NE, Mary Wyman, 202-546-6058
- Kingman Park Community Garden, rear of 400 block of 20th Street NE, Michael Dillon, mfdillon@yahoo.com
- King’s Court Community Garden, 1400 block of King’s Court SE, Pat Taylor, dc.greenthumb@verizon.net
- Lovejoy School Community Garden, 12th & D streets NE, Anne Montgomery, annemontgomery@allhealth.org
- Pomegranate Alley Community Garden, 11th & I streets SE, ktowema@yahoo.com