Letter
Dear Ms. Mendelson-Ielmini:
In its meeting of 18 October, the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed a final design submission for improvements to the Constitution Avenue Belvedere and the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway pedestrian and bicycle trail in the vicinity of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The Commission approved the submission with the following comments.
The Commission members expressed support for the plantings and road configuration proposed for the Belvedere as shown in Option 1, which includes a narrow stone ring to mark the historic terminus of Constitution Avenue and leaves the site open for a future memorial. For the treatment of the portals of the new trail passage through the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge abutment, they expressed a preference for the chamfered opening and aligned joints of Alignment 2 of Option B4 shown in the presentation, consistent with elements of the abutment’s larger vehicular portal; they also endorsed the use of recessed lighting fixtures within the new passage. To minimize conflicts on this busy pedestrian and cyclist trail, they continued to advise close coordination with the Kennedy Center to refine the intersections of the approaches to the new pedestrian bridge, now under construction, with the trail’s new alignment.
Please coordinate with the Commission staff for the submission of final design drawings to complete the review of this important project.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA
Secretary
Lisa Mendelson-Ielmini, Acting Regional Director
National Park Service, National Capital Region
1100 Ohio Drive, SW
Washington, DC 20242
cc: Steve Zeender, Stantec
Esther Olavarria, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts