Letter
Dear Mr. Anderson:
In its meeting of 20 June, the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed a revised concept submission for the renovation of Eastern Market Metro Park, a group of open space parcels near the Eastern Market Metro station along Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. The Commission approved the revised concept with the following comments and delegated review of the final design to the staff.
The Commission members expressed appreciation for the continued effort to simplify and advance the concept proposal, which now creates two distinct but related spaces in the larger parcels, successfully marks the South Carolina Avenue axis, and improves the relationship of the open spaces in Parcel 4 to the historic public library on the west side of 7th Street. For the development of the final design, they encouraged continued focus on spatial organization over programming to ensure design coherence, which should be emphasized even if subsurface infrastructure conflicts are encountered. The placement and spacing of large canopy trees should reinforce the sense of enclosure, identity, and placemaking; smaller understory trees should be used more consistently to define sub-spaces and areas of seasonal interest, as proposed at the playground and the library plaza.
Please coordinate the delegated review of the final design with the staff which, as always, is available to assist you.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA
Secretary
Keith A. Anderson, Director
D.C. Department of General Services
2000 14th Street, NW, 8th Floor
Washington, DC 20009
cc: Paola Moya, Moya Design Partners
Susan England, Land Design