Letter
Dear Ms. Hall:
In its public meeting of 16 May conducted by videoconference, the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed a submission for the repair and reconstruction of the bulkheads along the southern part of the Tidal Basin, and for the Potomac River seawall along West Potomac Park from Arlington Memorial Bridge to the Inlet Bridge. The Commission approved the final design with the following comments.
The Commission members thanked the project team for the clear presentation of this challenging project to address ongoing issues of long-term maintenance, subsidence, rising tide levels, and chronic inundation that require elevating the edge condition along the water. They observed that climate change will also have an increasing impact on the plantings of this area’s historic landscape design by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.; they noted that the proposed tree specifications to address the changing environment—such as using alternative varieties of cherry trees or planting Southern magnolias in lieu of white pines—will create a different visual character within this significant landscape. In general, they commented that the National Park Service will need to continue evaluating the pressures of climate change on park landscapes, in order to create a balance between accommodating these impacts and honoring historic landscape designs.
For the replacement stone bulkhead and seawall, the Commission members strongly emphasized the need to retain the irregular and random appearance of the historic stone coursing, suggesting that more variety of block sizes and shapes may help achieve this quality. They expressed support for the proposal to use stepping joints between the panelized wall segments to maintain a continuous random ashlar pattern, and for the use of deeply raked joints to evoke the quality of dry-stacked stones. In their approval action, they delegated the completion of the final review to the staff, which includes the inspection of mockups for the new stone walls.
The Commission expressed appreciation for this solution to address the challenges facing this iconic and well-loved landscape. Please coordinate the completion of the final review with the staff, which, as always, is available to assist you.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA
Secretary
Kym A. Hall, Area Director
Region 1 – National Capital Area
National Park Service
1100 Ohio Drive, SW
Washington, DC 20242
cc: Andrew Cairns, Mott MacDonald