BBAR News

A small business kiosk is providing added visibility to Black-owned startups from east of the Anacostia River across Washington, D.C., as it hits the road for the very first time this summer.
Known as The Bridge Spot, this distinctive two-tone green mobile kiosk aims to provide visibility and improve marketing and sales for businesses in Wards 7 and 8, with an eye toward helping entrepreneurs build generational wealth. For Angela Chester-Johnson, Founder of the tea, spice and sauce shop Plum Good, The Bridge Spot also offers an opportunity to promote health and well-being across the District and beyond. – Capital One

The $92 million project, scheduled for completion by early 2026, will be the first elevated park in the nation’s capital – literally a park that is also a bridge. Stretching the length of about three football fields across the Anacostia River, the 11th Street Bridge Park will connect the city’s Navy Yard with the Anacostia neighborhoods in Southeast D.C., particularly the historically disenfranchised neighborhoods of Anacostia, Fairlawn and Barry Farm east of the river. – The Kresge Foundation

The bridge park — an elevated park built on the piers of a bridge — grew out of a decade-old effort led by residents of that community to preserve their neighborhood. Other panelists were: Scott Kratz, senior vice president of the nonprofit company Building Bridges Across the River, and Vaughn Perry, director of the Skyland Workforce Center in the Anacostia community. – Arkansas Democrat Gazette

WC Smith will donate $1 million to the 11th Street Bridge Park. A project between Building Bridges Across the River and the DC Government, the Bridge Park will be Washington’s first elevated park. It will be built on the pilings and piers of the old 11th Street Bridge, crossing the Anacostia River and connecting the Anacostia and Capitol Hill neighborhoods. – WC Smith

In the coming months, residents of Washington, D.C., will witness the presence of a distinctive green kiosk called The Bridge Spot as it traverses the city, carrying the essence of several small Anacostia businesses to other neighborhoods. – Yahoo News

“This is an opportunity for each of these businesses to step up to the next level,” he said. “The goal is to build generational wealth for east of the river Black entrepreneurs.” – WTOP News

Heads up D.C., there’s a new way to shop local and Black-owned in the District: The organization behind the forthcoming 11th Street Bridge Park is launching a mobile kiosk featuring Black-owned businesses that will debut at the Anacostia River Festival this weekend. – DCist

Infrastructure reuse projects, which entail the “reconstruction of abandoned or underutilized industrial and transportation infrastructure to create new public open space,” have proliferated nationwide in recent years, including well-known projects like the Atlanta Beltline, DC’s 11th Street Bridge Park, and New York City’s High Line. Because of the new infrastructure funding in the Inflation Reduction Act, signed by President Biden last August, infrastructure reuse projects are likely to expand and multiply. – Urban Institute

In Washington, DC, the Anacostia River has long been a de facto border, splitting communities along economic and racial divides. But an ambitious new park project breaking ground later this year aims to overcome those boundaries by building a bridge that’s both physical and metaphorical. – Bay Journal

The 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington, D.C., which landscape architecture firm OLIN is co-designing with Dutch architecture firm OMA, is a “great example of how to get into a community ahead of time.” Building Bridges Across the River, the non-profit organization leading the development of the park, set up home buyer’s clubs, created robust property protections, and increased support for local businesses and artists, so more of the community will benefit from the new park, even before it’s built. – The Dirt

After more than a decade of planning and prep work, construction for the 11th Street Bridge Park is scheduled to begin in 2023. The park, situated on the pillars of an old highway bridge, will connect Navy Yard and Capitol Hill with historic Anacostia and Fairlawn when it opens to the public in 2025. – The Washington Informer

The $92 million park will span a former bridge — and send real estate prices soaring. A home buyers club is helping residents cash in rather than get displaced. – Reasons to be cheerful

“The park aims to be more than a place for recreation and relaxation: The goal is to knit together the two communities on either end of the span without displacing people in the historically disenfranchised neighborhoods on its eastern side. Residents have been heavily involved in planning, says Scott Kratz, senior vice president for Building Bridges Across the River, a Ward 8-based nonprofit that has been one of the main forces behind the park.” – Washingtonian

“According to a release from the NCPC, the park plans to include a café, a picnic garden complete with hammocks, an environmental education center, a 11,000-square foot play area, two overlooks, and other attractions. An amphitheater is also planned for construction right next to the existing Anacostia Riverwalk Trail.” -DCist

Kratz and his organization, Building Bridges Across the River, are trying to ensure that this effort doesn’t end up hurting the communities it will link, especially the historically disenfranchised neighborhoods of Anacostia, Fairlawn and Barry Farm east of the river. That’s because the 11th Street Bridge Park… – Bloomberg

“People in Ward 8 wanted this project, as small as it was, to be different. They wanted it to enrich the Black community that was already there, not accelerate an influx of white people. They wanted the value created by the bridge park to be invested in their neighborhoods. They wanted to own their own homes. They wanted well-paid jobs. They wanted art and music — and artists and musicians as neighbors. They wanted fresh food and safe streets.

It was a lot to ask of a bridge. But Mr. Kratz quickly learned that he couldn’t just build a bridge and ignore the needs of the community that contained it.” – The New York Times

A $90 million project would add educational and recreational space atop piers and pilings from the old 11th Street Bridge – The Washington Post

The 130,000-square-foot D.C. park is expected to draw 1 million visitors a year. – Washington Business Journal

According to Scott Kratz, senior vice president, Building Bridges Across the River and director of 11th Street bridge park project, these art works “help embellish the park’s soul and ensure it will be reflective of the community.” – The Dirt

“We’re thrilled that the curatorial committee selected artists whose designs help realize the vision for the 11th Street Bridge Park supporting the community’s cultural, environmental, and economic health,” said Scott Kratz, Senior Vice President, Building Bridges Across the River & Director, 11th Street Bridge Park. – EastCity Art

In response to over 200 community meetings where public art was prioritized, a lighted sculpture inspired by plants growing along the Anacostia River; a mural depicting the African American and Native American experiences tied to caring for the land, hammocks created to honor DC culture reflective of the community; and design of a mobile, small business kiosk aimed at supporting East of the River Black entrepreneurs were selected from over 60 entries by the park’s curatorial committee comprised of local residents, experts, and artists. – PoPville

The team behind the 11th Street Bridge Park project has selected four installations by local creatives to enliven the seven acres of new park space set to open in Southeast D.C. in 2025. All four of the pieces have been designed by women, which is becoming a bit of a theme for the park’s larger art collection. Last year, the nonprofit that is raising money to build the park announced it had commissioned a large sculpture by mother-daughter-duo Jackson Jarvis Studio. -DCist

This interview was conducted in November 2021, as part of a series designed to celebrate park visionaries and share inspiring and practical insights into their perspectives, challenges, and advice. Follow the series to learn from developers, planners, and other leaders implementing their creative visions for parks worldwide… – Urban Land Institute

“This is an area where we see a lot of promise and a lot of opportunity, and a lot of need,” said Larry Di Rita, president of Bank of America Greater Washington, D.C. … – Washington Business Journal

On February 16, 2022, ​ the 11th Street Bridge Park​—a partnership between the local non-profit Building Bridges Across the River (BBAR) and the District government—announced the selection of Anacostia’s Sunrise/Sunset Portals by DC-based artists Martha Jackson Jarvis and Njena Surae Jarvis of Jackson Jarvis Studio as the park’s first and largest commissioned artwork. – East City Art

The site for this artwork will act as a gateway to the 11th Street Bridge Park and in a highly visible, public green space along the river’s edge that is referred to as the “Anacostia Approach.” – PoPville

It only occupies a small open area near Allen Chapel AME Church in Southeast D.C., but a newly expanded urban garden is having a big impact on the community it serves. – WTOP News

Largely overlooked in President Biden’s economic recovery and infrastructure plan is sweeping effort to reconnect communities divided by urban highways. The $20 billion in aid Biden proposed in his American Jobs Plan would be a historic effort to correct the racism in how we built our highway system and lay the groundwork for reinvigorating neighborhoods… – The Washington Post

“…and Building Bridges across the River, the nonprofit behind the bridge plan, is channeling the resources raised for the park to promote truly equitable development, especially in long-neglected Anacostia and its surrounding neighborhoods.” — Next City

In Ward 8, four organizations have come together to help residents improve their financial situation in a simple way — by giving them five monthly cash payments of $1,100. – Street Sense Media

THRIVE East of the River is helping hundreds of families in Ward 8 navigate the COVID-19 pandemic through financial assistance and mentorship – Washington City Paper

As summer began to recede, a new mural came to life at Hopkins Apartments. Created by the residents with the help of two local artists, the new mural reflects a recently developed onsite urban farm. – Hill Rag

Public awareness for cash-based social policies was growing before the COVID-19 pandemic, and public support for them has proliferated since the pandemic started to roil the US economy in March. – Urban Institute

Murals around town, and especially on the Hill, are reminders that our world is happier and bolder with color and art in it. The Capitol Hill Restoration Society recently shared a compilation of murals around the neighborhood, and I noticed there was a glaring omission: The mural at the Hopkins Garden. – The Hill is Home

A new art display is brightening up a community park in Southeast D.C. that helps provide food to local families and brings the neighborhood together. – wtopnews

Today’s public health and economic crises have brought long-overdue attention to our nation’s deeply engrained challenges of income inequity, structural racism, and a tattered safety net. Moreover, they reveal how these challenges unfold spatially to concentrate in neighborhoods that have continuously wrestled with economic exclusion, disinvestment, and discrimination – creating an urgent need for place-based solutions that provide relief to the most impacted people in the hardest-hit neighborhoods – The Brookings Institution

If it wasn’t inviting already, the 11th Street Bridge Park is welcoming Hopkins Community residents with a new mural. – LocalDVM

Architecture firm OMA and landscape studio Olin have released updated visuals for 11th Street Bridge Park – a raised garden that will extend over Washington DC’s Anacostia River. – Dezeen

The 11th Street Bridge Park, a vaguely High Line-y elevated park that’s eternally been in the works for Washington, D.C.’s Anacostia river-severed southeastern quadrant, has passed a major milestone by receiving the green light from the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC). The good news was shared by the New York office of OMA, one of two firms—the other being Philadelphia-based landscape design studio OLIN—behind the design of the programming-packed, 1.45-mile-long recreational park will span the Anacostia River along the revitalized bones of an old 1960s-era vehicular bridge. – The Architect’s Newspaper

There are a few new looks for DC’s planned 11th Street Bridge Park.

The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is scheduled to review the plans for DC’s first elevated park (map) next week, and materials provided to the commission come with new renderings of the project. – Urban Turf Staff

But in this case, redevelopment doesn’t have to lead to displacement. The minds behind the bridge park have made a conscious effort to keep lifelong residents of Southeast Washington in place through a little-known housing model called a community land trust, in which a nonprofit owns the land and residents own or lease the home on top of it. – The Washington Post

On Saturday, October 19, we took a break from peddling candles to attend 11th Street Bridge Park’s Taste of the Harvest Festival. It was a great time celebrating family, community and the harvest of the Bridge Park Plots and THEARC Farms. -The Privy Group

In Washington, DC, the decommissioning of the 11th Street Bridge offered an opportunity to create an elevated linear park over the Anacostia River using the piers of the old bridge. The proposed bridge park, expected to break ground in 2021, would connect to trails on both sides of the river and provide a destination in a sector of the city lacking in amenities. – CNU

This morning, Building Bridges Across the River and the Exelon Foundation announced a gift from the latter of $5 million for the project — but perhaps the bigger piece of news is that, by the time the park is completed, people may be swimming and fishing in the Anacostia River. – Urban Turf

Exelon Corp. on Tuesday announced a $5 million gift for the long-planned 11th Street Bridge Park project connecting Washington Navy Yard and Anacostia Park on either side of the Anacostia River. – Washington Business Journal

The proposed 11th Street Bridge Park in Washington inched closer to its funding goal Tuesday with the announcement that Exelon, the parent company of electric utilities Pepco and Constellation, has given $5 million to the project. – Washington Post

Local officials announced the latest donation towards making this multimillion project happen at a press conference on Tuesday morning: utility company Exelon, which owns Pepco, is giving $5 million. – DCist

Six years ago, JJ Boone was hanging out with friends at an ice cream truck in Southeast D.C., when someone stopped by and asked if anyone needed a job. – WTOP

For D.C. residents living in Ward 8, healthy produce can be hard to come across with only a few grocery stores in the area. – WJLA

A new awareness of healthier options and, more importantly, access to those options is taking hold east of the Anacostia River.

Mar’s Food organic brand Seeds of Change announced a $115,000 grant given to DC nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River (BBAR) on Friday in a partnership for healthier communities in Wards 7 and 8. – WUSA9

Instead, in the second of three reports on the 11th Street Bridge Park project in Washington, D.C. — released today — the Urban Institute’s Mary Bogle, Somala Diby and Mychal Cohen begin with a seven-page history of community and economic development in and around D.C.’s Wards 7 and 8. – Next City

Children and families in D.C. may get an opportunity to better prepare for the future with a new program that hopes to help Ward 8 families build savings accounts. – Afro

It’s been called the “High Line effect,” and it’s stronger than ever. Fifteen years ago, the idea of redeveloping a city’s obsolete infrastructure into a photogenic public amenity wasn’t at the forefront of any urban planner’s mind. – Architect Magazine

How a strategic model for market expansion is driving inclusive economic growth -Politico

In conversations across the District, and particularly in the neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River where I work, there is a very real and heartfelt anxiety that gentrification and the displacement that accompanies it are sweeping across the city. – Washington Post

A collaboration between the 11th Street Bridge Park and ARCH Development re-connects Anacostia to the river. – East City Art

A recent Street Sense article provides the latest news on our effort to stand up a Community Land Trust – a key recommendation in our Equitable Development Plan. – Street Sense

Architect Magazine describes the efforts of the High Line Network (including the 11th Street Bridge Park) to ensure local residents can stay and thrive in place. – Architect Magazine

Curbed DC covers JP Morgan Chase’s $5 million investment to help implement our Equitable Development Plan Strategies. – Curbed DC

Washington Post journalist Jonathan O’Connell discusses a recent investment in the 11th Street Bridge Park’s Equitable Development Plan – our effort to ensure local residents can stay and thrive in place. – Washington Post

The 11th Street Bridge Park will establish Anacostia’s first community land trust, a nonprofit organization that acquires property using private and public funds to create permanently affordable housing in an area with escalating property values. – Washington Post

American cities are in the midst of an urban renaissance, pursuing design, sustainability and social good. Here are five people helping architects and designers to make our cities better (which includes the 11th Street Bridge Park!) – Metropolis Magazine

The Anacostia River took center stage as thousands of Washingtonians gathered to celebrate and renew the city’s green efforts. – The Renewal Project

The 11th St. Bridge project does more than connect disparate neighborhoods; the community-led process hopes to spur inclusive development – The Renewal Project

From the beginning of the proposal for the new 11th Street Bridge between Anacostia and Capitol Hill, planners and designers have promised to prevent the displacement of residents living nearby the new amenities offered by the bridge and its park. – Planetizen

The Anacostia River took center stage as thousands of Washingtonians gathered to celebrate and renew the city’s green efforts. – The Washington Informer

The 11th Street Bridge Park will physically connect both sides of the Anacostia River. It’s a 1,200-foot-long, pedestrian-only expanse that will let people stroll between Capitol Hill and Anacostia. The big question is whether it will socially connect them. – Washingtonian

There’s a new movement afoot that aims to turn old infrastructure into public parks, breathing new life into spaces that have long since been neglected or forgotten. – Here By Design

The weather cooperated for this family-friendly event! – WUSA9

It was a picture-perfect day for the third annual Anacostia River Festival at Anacostia Park on Sunday. Families played outdoor games, bicyclists paraded and then explored the riverfront trails. Some people took out canoes on the river, while others danced on the deep-green lawn. – Washington’s Top News (WTOP)

The Anacostia River hasn’t always been a big recreational destination, but this Sunday as many as 10,000 people are expected to gather on its banks for the third annual Anacostia River Fest, part of the National Cher – WAMU

A $250,000 investment from JPMorgan Chase to create the Bridge Park Community Land Trust was announced on March 29. The 11th Street Bridge Park, which began with a series of public meetings in 2012, will connect Wards 6 and 8 by simultaneously fording the Anacostia River and a considerable wealth and neighborhood amenities gap. – Street Sense

The Los Angeles River and Washington’s Anacostia River could become tests of how well communities can balance new development with opportunities for longstanding residents. – The Christian Science Monitor

It goes without saying that building bridges connects things, both literally and figuratively. The 11th Street Bridge Park in Southeast Washington, D.C., attempts to do much more – Architectural Record

Cities are finding new ways to invest in social infrastructure, helping to bridge gaps among diverse socioeconomic groups and foster a greater sense of community. – Architectural Record

Karin McLaughlin interviews Deputy Director Irfana Jetha Noorani about the 2017 Anacostia River Festival. – Karin’s Calendar

The 11th Street Bridge Park will be D.C. first elevated public park. News4′ Shomari Stone has a closer look at the plans. – NBC4

Southeast residents are learning more about a project that hopes to bridge communities on both sides of the Anacostia River. – WUSA9

We swear spring is coming! And while winter may have done some damage to many of our beloved cherry blossoms, Ice Storm Stella will not ruin all of our spring fun. – The Hill is Home

The National Cherry Blossom Festival officially began on Wednesday, but you really haven’t missed a thing — for better or worse. – The Washington Post

As development continues to transform the District, more eyes are turning east of the Anacostia River, a longtime bastion of affordable housing in the city, yet also containing some of its most-neglected and overlooked communities. – Urban Turf

City First Enterprises (CFE) and Citi Community Development announce the plan for CFE to create the first Community Land Trust (CLT) in the historic Anacostia neighborhood in the District of Columbia (DC) to preserve affordability, prevent displacement and enable community residents to purchase homes to build long-term financial assets. – City First Homes

The famed “linear park” may be a runaway success, but it’s also a symbol of Manhattan’s rising inequality. Can its founder help other cities learn from its mistakes? – City Lab

In the summer of 2016, the 11th Street Bridge Park and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) began working in partnership with faith-based communities on both sides of the river to revitalize underutilized spaces with urban gardens. – Rooflines

In the raging tempest that is DC’s housing market, the areas east of the Anacostia River offer a final bastion of affordability. But with prices starting to rise in this area too, more needs to be done to make sure longtime residents can stay. – Housing Advocacy Team (HAT)

In 2019, the 11th Street Bridge Park will become the District of Columbia’s first elevated park, connecting the historic Anacostia and Capitol Hill neighborhoods that are geographically divided by the Anacostia River. – Revitalization News

A day’s stroll from one end of America’s federal capital to the other is a good way of exploring how the culture and topography of the city are evolving.. – The Economist

The University of the District of Columbia is the only exclusively urban land-grant university in the United States. The College of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability and Environmental Sciences is charged with leading the university’s land-grant mission. We accomplish this through research based academic and community outreach programs that improve the quality of life and economic opportunities for Washington DC residents and organizations – YouTube

ANTHOLOGY is our ongoing portrait series: We’re documenting the people whose projects + plans make THIS CITY #aCreativeDC.

ANTHOLOGY x 202 Creates was produced in partnership and collaboration with the DC Public Library Foundation and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s 202 Creates Initiative | The DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment. – A Creative DC

By now, nearly everyone has heard of the plan to build a broad pedestrian park and entertainment center on the piers of the old 11th Street bridge that were left after the freeway and local roads were rebuilt in the last few years. The idea is to construct a broad band the length of three football fields across the river, connecting Capitol Hill with historic Anacostia through a series of spaces providing recreation, art, and environmental education. – Hill Rag

When housing prices rise, the poor move out and the well-to-do move in. It’s a process Washington has seen in neighborhood after neighborhood. But where do Washingtonians who are pushed out by gentrification go? – The Kojo Nnamdi Show

Can a park over the Anacostia River spur a revolution in urban development? – Next City

Very few Ward 8 residents are homeowners—only about 24 percent in fact, with many people calling it “the renter’s ward” and a lot of residents believing that buying a home will never be a possibility. There are paths to homeownership in Ward 8, though. Here’s one example of how residents are making it happen. – Greater Greater Washington

For the last four years, Scott has been working with the Washington D.C. Office of Planning and the Ward 8 nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River at THEARC to transform an old freeway bridge into a park above the Anacostia River. The old 11th Street Bridges that connect Capitol Hill with communities east of the river have reached the end of their lifespan, Scott is working with the community to use the base of one of the bridges to create a one of a kind civic space supporting active recreation, environmental education, and the arts. Scott is a resident of Barrack’s Row and has lived in Washington D.C. for the last 10 years. He has worked in the education field for twenty years and began his career teaching at Kidspace. – BTM Radio Show

The 11th Street Bridge Park re-imagines a defunct bridge span as a new citizen destination for recreation and entertainment. The resulting park will be an economic anchor for the surrounding neighborhoods, and provide economic opportunities for residents, during construction and beyond. Spearheaded by Ward 8’s Building Bridges Across the River at THEARC, the park is one of the most collaborative projects to start up in D.C. in recent years. – Prime Settlement

Washington, DC, is awaiting its own version of the High Line in the 11th Street Bridge Park, anelevated park to span Washington, DC’s Anacostia River and connect distressed neighborhoods on the east to more affluent neighborhoods on the west. In the meantime, local groups are doing their part to achieve that balance – Urban Wire

Today’s bridges can be awe-inspiring and iconic, but in the future, bridges will go above and beyond being just eye candy and a means for traffic to cross over barriers. – Autodesk

As the sun set over the 11th Street bridge on Saturday, Scott Kratz turned around to see what he describes as “fireflies” flickering behind him. Kratz, the director of 11th Street Bridge Park, was among a crowd of nearly 300 people who walked from Yards Park to the Anacostia Arts Center. – DCist

The Arts Task Force was created to seek input from community leaders to drive and determine programs that will make the biggest impact in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River (Wards 7 and 8). – Shelterforce

Project planners are working to avoid develop community land trusts in the impact area. – Street Sense

While it may not seem as though much has happened since the design for the 11th Street Bridge Park was unveiled two years ago, UrbanTurf has learned that pre-construction for the highly-anticipated park could begin next month, putting it on a schedule to be complete in three years. – UrbanTurf

learned that pre-construction for the highly-anticipated park could begin next month, putting it on a schedule to be complete in three years. -Urban Turf

Pre-construction for the 11th Street Bridge Park, an innovative and likely transformative development, could begin in August. Long before then, the nonprofit leading the charge on the project began working with community stakeholders to make sure residents are not pushed out by expected economic impacts from the new asset. – Capital Community News

The goal for building the park is to improve the quality of life for people including health, strengthening social skills, and enhancing the economy. -Capital Student News

Urban Waters Learning Network shares our Equitable Development Plan. – Urban Waters Learning Network

The vision for DC’s 11th Street Bridge Park, a new $45 million elevated park that will span the Anacostia River, is ambitious: create recreational and environmental value for the city, and connect distressed neighborhoods on the east side of the river to the more affluent neighborhoods on the west side. But to realize this vision, planners must honestly answer, who is this for? – Urban Wire

“The vision for DC’s 11th Street Bridge Park, a new $45 million elevated park that will span the Anacostia River, is ambitious: create recreational and environmental value for the city, and connect distressed neighborhoods on the east side of the river to the more affluent neighborhoods on the west side. But to realize this vision, planners must honestly answer, who is this for?” – Mary Bogle, Urban Institute – Urban Institute

With the replacement of the 11th Street Bridge came a vision for a park that would not just run between these communities, but connect them. – How Housing Matters

There is already a lot to see and do in Anacostia, from the Frederick Douglass house to the Anacostia Community Museum. In the next few years, there will be even more retail and restaurant options as well as Washington, D.C.’s first elevated bridge park. – Curbed DC

How are artists converting the power and creativity of art into community-led change? – Shelterforce

At Bloomberg, our commitment to supporting charitable causes is engrained in everything we do and we actively support issues from public health, to the environment, to the arts and education. Most important for those of us at Bloomberg Government, we are proud to support our local community here in Washington, DC. -Bloomberg Government

The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) hopes to prevent gentrification of the African American community east of the Anacostia River in D.C. when the new 11th Street Bridge Park connects the area to Capitol Hill. – Nonprofit Quarterly

When long-ignored city neighborhoods suddenly become hot spots, real estate prices typically go up, and many long-time residents are pushed out. There are organizations, however, that can push back. – WAMU 88.5

LISC DC’s Elevating Equity Initiative, a $50 million comprehensive effort to help foster equity, inclusiveness and an improved quality of life in the neighborhoods surrounding the future 11th Street Bridge Park. – The Washington Post

Unlike in other great American cities, DC’s waterfront hasn’t been its most desirable area. See how these neighborhoods are changing that – Washingtonian

Hundreds of families attended the 2nd annual Anacostia River Festival on Sunday. The festival was the official end to the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Children enjoyed fishing, playing a life-sized chess game, listening to live music, boating and other outdoor activities. -ABC 7 – WJLA

Ebony Wheeler, a volunteer producer with DCTV, the public access television station of Washington DC covered the 11th Street Bridge Park for a television show called “Student Exposure”. The show is a positive portrait of the people, communities and interesting stories that make up many elements of DC. -YouTube – DCTV

Want to close out the National Cherry Blossom Festival right? That’s what the Anacostia River Festival is all about. – NBC4

A multi-million dollar elevated park spanning the Anacostia River is planned to link neighborhoods in the District of Columbia. This project will use existing infrastructure to support a new landmark called the 11th Street Bridge Park. – The Field

Builders of the 11th Street Bridge Park, which is expected to open in 2019, hope it will be a major tourist attraction that will brace two differentcommunities. -The Capital News

This round featured a conversation with Alfredo Cruz of The Foundation of Louisiana, Mary Maxon of The Red Cloud Indian School, Sebastian Ruth of Community MusicWorks, and Scott Kratz of the 11th Street Bridge Park Project on the question: “How can I foster a more sustained community engagement?” – ArtPlace America

“The goal is much larger than adding a civic space. The 11th Street Bridge Park seeks to connect communities on each side of a river that has always represented a stark economic gap between the haves and have-nots, perhaps now more than ever.” – The Washington Post

The developers creating an elevated park on a disused bridge in Washington D.C are to begin feasibility testing and community outreach programmes early this year as the project enters the pre-construction phase. – CLAD

The 11th Street Bridge Park, a public-private venture to repurpose existing infrastructure into pedestrian space, proposes a progressive model of community engagement. – Street Sense

In urban centers around the world, the loss of public green space to private development has prompted innovative designers to make greenways out of no ways. We’re now seeing a surge in landscaped pedestrian bridges, many of them designed as such from the beginning. – Huffington Post

With the release of the Equitable Development Plan, Bridge Park staff will partner with experts from the Urban Institute to create measureable and detailed outcomes for each recommendation. – PoPville

The design of the 11th Street Bridge Park was chosen last fall, and D.C.’s first elevated park will include waterfalls, an amphitheater, a hammock grove and more. Sounds lovely—just as long as everyone in the surrounding area can benefit. – DCist

D.C.’s highly anticipated 11th Street Bridge Park, a project that some have compared to Manhattan’s High Line, is taking greater shape thanks to efforts to ensure the river connector serves as an economic anchor for neighborhoods east and west of the Anacostia. – Washington City Paper

When hundreds of people gathered last Thursday for a conference on “Equitable Economic Development East of the River,” organized by City First Foundation, DCFPI shared statistics that remind us of how different life is for residents living there. – DC Fiscal Policy Institute

Student journalist project on Dupont Underground and 11th Street Bridge in Washington D.C. – The George Washington University

A key goal of the 11th Street Bridge Park, a project of the Ward 8 based non-profit Building Bridges Across the River at THEARC, is to serve as an anchor for economic growth. – The Hill is Home

The 11th Street Bridge Park, which aims to connect neighborhoods east and west of the Anacostia River with an elevated park on an unused bridge, received a $1.2 million grant. The grant, which comes from the Kresge Foundation, brings the total capital campaign funds raised for the park to more than $11 million. – The Washington Business Journal

The group behind the plan to build a park on the old 11th Street Bridge is seriously committed to making sure the project is a net gain for the communities around it. – Greater Greater Washington

It’s hard to believe, but it has been almost a year since the final design was unveiled for DC’s 11th Street Bridge Park. UrbanTurf has now learned that the team behind the park has targeted mid-2019 for when it will be open to the public. – Urban Turf

The Washington Informer highlights the Bridge Park Mural project! – The Washington Informer

The mural stems from the splitting of the Anacostia river, being crossed by a luminous bridge. – Artolution

It’ll be great to have a shiny new 11th Street bridge complex, connecting Wards 6 and 8 and deftly rearranging traffic on 295 and 695. But there is much work to be done to properly bridge the city: there are emotional and cultural scars that divide us more than unite us. Last night’s Bridge Park Mural reception at THEARC, 1901 Mississippi Avenue SE, proved that art is what brings us together and speaks to us most directly. – The Hill is Home

A stunning 55 foot mural created by local teens under the direction of international artist Max Frieder. Over two weeks, these talented artists from Cesar Chavez Public Charter High School and ArtReach at THEARC collaborated to paint remarkable artwork exploring what makes a healthy city, community and neighborhood. – Congress Heights on the Rise

The 11th Street Bridge Park is a project of Building Bridges Across the River, part of THEARC, which stands for Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus, a large community facility on Mississippi Avenue SE in Ward 8. The focus is programs to support the arts and other activities to enrich lives in DC’s poorest ward, but also to build connections with other neighborhoods along the river. – Hill Rag

There is a decrepit old bridge extending from 11th Street in southeast Washington, D.C. and across the Anacostia River that will soon contain three football fields’ worth of public art pieces, performance spaces, playgrounds, urban farms, social enterprises, and a swath of other spaces for gathering and revelry. – Rooflines

Today marks an exciting day as we announce and welcome the latest round of National Grants Program grantees to the ArtPlace family! We’re thrilled to share with you the work of the 38 unique projects in this year’s National Grants Program pool and hope you take the time learn more about them here. 50% of this year’s grantees are first-time ArtPlace applicants, 97% of them are first-time ArtPlace grantees, and 29% work in rural communities. – ArtPlace America

If the plan to build a park over the old 11th Street Bridge comes to fruition, there’s no question it will change Anacostia. For now, the people behind the park are working hard to ensure that the people who are there now will be able to stick around to enjoy it. – Greater Greater Washington

How does Fast Company describe the “City of the Future?” With a park that can bridge the economic divide of course (Hint: we’re #3.) – Fast Company

“It’s really critical that we’re thinking presciently about how to ensure that the thousands of people who have helped shape this project can be the ones that benefit from it, while at the same time mitigating any potential displacement,” says Kratz. – Next City

Can political and economic projects actually take into account more than a bottom line? Public park developer Scott Kratz is working toward an answer. – National Catholic Reporter

Plan: A High Line to Silicon Valley East – Washingtonian Magazine

A big project is turning a decades-long vision of connecting D.C.’s Southeast neighborhoods into a reality. – WTOP

ArtPlace is proud to announce the 90 projects that have been selected as finalists for consideration for its 2015 National Grants Program. Each of these finalists have proposed opportunities for the arts to play an explicit and intentional role in a community development project that seeks to strengthen the social, physical, and economic fabric of a community. 11th Street Bridge Park submitted a proposal in partnership with Washington Performing Arts; we are proud to be selected as finalists in this grant program. – ArtPlace America

See what projects will take Washington by storm on our list of the top 10 biggest developments to watch out for in 2015. (The 11th Street Bridge Park is #1!!!) – Curbed DC

The park would become a recreation area of both national significance and of rare benefit to Ward 8, just southeast of Capitol Hill and the Nationals’ ballpark, and aid in restoring the Anacostia River, a fetid, often forgotten tributary to its elegant sister, the Potomac. – New York Times

A proposal to build a park over the Anacostia River would add a new landmark to the nation’s capital and maybe help unite a long-divided city. – Governing Magazine

On the morning of October 16th, the winning design team was announced for the highly-anticipated 11th Street Bridge. But what that morning really represented was the first concrete step to connect the section of DC east of the Anacostia River to the city west of the river, both physically and metaphorically. – Urban Turf

This year, this project, which folks are calling “D.C’s High Line” for its reuse of old infrastructure just like the original High Line in NYC, went from “cool idea” to “holy crap, this thing is actually happening.” – Elevation DC

Washington’s best chance at building something that physically resembles the High Line is the proposed 11th Street Bridge Park, which would be built atop piers left behind from the city’s old 11th Street Bridge. – Washington Post

Will an innovative urban park revitalize D.C.’s Anacostia River? – Parks Advocate

There are plans to design a massive new civic space in the nation’s capital called the 11th Street Bridge Park. The new park will span the Anacostia River, along a dividing line between prosperity and poverty in D.C. – Here & Now

11th Street Bridge Park plans lead to economic development for Anacostia. – East of the River Magazine

For generations Washington, D.C.’s Anacostia River has been a dividing line between Capitol Hill. – Architectural Digest

The organizers behind the 11th Street Bridge Park have picked a design that could be the city’s most brilliant piece of architecture in decades. – Greater Greater Washington

Like other elevated parks, the 11th Street Bridge Park project will be built on out-of-use infrastructure; in this case it’s an aging freeway that stretches over the Anacostia River. – Wired

Rem Koolhaas’s practice manages to close the gap between two distinct Washington DC communities. – Phaidon

The proposed new space would not only be a marquee feature in the increasingly vibrant and economically booming nation’s capital, but, as OLIN partner Hallie Boyce puts it, the proposed new cantilever bridge would “knit together two distinct communities to make it really a world class city and act as a model for social equity.” – NPR

After a months long design competition, which was narrowed down to four final designs in September, a winner has been selected for the 11th Street Bridge Park. And it features waterfalls. And an amphitheater. And a hammock grove. – DCist

After Wednesday’s announcement that the 11th Street Bridge Park project has been awarded to the design team of OMA and Olin, developers of the urban park gave new details about what the winning architects and landscape designers have in mind. – The Washington Post

The 11th Street Bridge Park Competition jury unanimously selected OMA, based in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and OLIN, based in Philadelphia, to design a park in Southeast Washington, D.C. – Architect Magazine

Washington, D.C. is getting its own elevated park and it’s a roomier, less polite and ultimately more community-minded affair. – Mother Nature Network

The Anacostia River currently divides part of D.C., but plans for a new walkway might transform that, making some people near the old 11th Street Bridge hopeful. – ABC 7 – WJLA

A pair of architectural firms from the Netherlands and Philadelphia are the winners of a frenzied competition to design a $40 million park that would traverse the Anacostia River and could help unite the communities on its banks. – The Washington Post

The goal of bridges is to span across rivers or valleys, streets or highways, rail yards or railroad tracks. Essentially a structurally supported deck, a bridge is a connector enabling movement between whatever the bridge connects. – Washington Post

Standing on the edge of the Anacostia River, with the disused piers of the old 11th Street Bridge in front of him, Scott Kratz says he doesn’t yet know what the four design teams will propose for a new urban park on the site. – Washington Post

Washington, D.C.’s 11th Street Bridge Park competition, currently underway, selected four finalists today. These four teams will each receive a $25,000 stipend to develop designs, due September 9, 2014. – Architect Magazine

When old things are being made new in Washington, New York City often gets a prominent citation. – Washington Business Journal

Six design teams are competing to build a park atop the former 11th Street bridge in the District, a project that is in need of nearly $40 million in funding but which organizers envision as a chance to build a local version of New York City’s High Line Park. – Washington Post

This spring, architecture and landscape architecture firms from all over the country submitted proposals to design D.C.’s 11th Street Bridge Park—an estimated-$25-million project that will transform the existing bridge spanning across the Anacostia River into an elevated park. – Architect Magazine

The 11th Street Bridge Park Jury has selected six teams to move on to the next phase of the design competition. Here are examples of their work. – Elevation DC

The plan for a park over the Anacostia River is inching from plan to reality. – Elevation DC

Following in the footsteps of New York’s High Line and Atlanta’s Belt Line projects, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit is looking to enter the nation’s capital into the ranks of urban cities that are transforming existing transportation infrastructure into public green spaces. – Architect Magazine

A Washington, DC, nonprofit will launch a national design competition tomorrow to turn the remains of a highway bridge that spans the Anacostia River into a public park. – Architectural Record

Washington DC is using the rebuilding of a local bridge as an opportunity to create  a new 900-foot elevated park across the Anacostia River. – Architects Newspaper

Washington has long turned its back on the Anacostia River, and in turn the neighborhoods east of the river. The 11th Street Bridge Park could become one of the city’s most distinctive places, turning disused bridge structures into a connector and destination. – Greater Greater Washington

The 11th street bridge, which connects Washington D.C.’s historic Capitol Hill and Anacostia neighborhoods, is being rebuilt, opening up a new opportunity to create a 900 foot long elevated park. – ASLA’s The Dirt

Funny things can happen when you’re waiting for Jan Gehl. – NEXT CITY

The runway success of the High Line has sparked trendy rail-to-trail conversions across the country. Now DC is offering its own twist: A park on a span of decommissioned freeway that crosses the Anacostia River. – Gizmodo

Washington is experiencing an ongoing development boom, with parking lots and empty storefronts giving way to multi-story apartment buildings and big-box retail all over the region. – The Kojo Nnamdi Show

The Anacostia River has been a dividing line between the historic Anacostia area and the Navy Yard and Capitol Hill in the District of Columbia for generations. Now a group of dedicated planners are hoping to change that. – Engineering News-Record
 

When the city built the new 11th Street Bridge across the Anacostia River, it left three concrete piers standing beside the stretch of road that now carries local traffic between the Navy Yard and historic Anacostia. – The Washington Post

Active or passive? That was the essential question at two recent citizens’ meetings to discuss plans for the proposed 11th Street Bridge Park. – Washington Post

It’s been a hot minute since we’ve heard anything about a project that could turn a portion of the old 11th Street Bridge that sits over the Anacostia River into a recreational park akin to New York City’s High Line. – DCist

As the old 11th Street river bridges that connect Washington, D.C.’s Capitol Hill and historic Anacostia neighborhoods are being replaced, the District government and a local nonprofit organization, Building Bridges Across the River at THEARC, will transform part of this aged infrastructure into the city’s first elevated park: a new venue for healthy recreation, environmental education and the arts. – Greater Greater Washington

The 11th Street Bridge over the Anacostia River lies just a half-mile from my house in Washington’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. – CBS News SmartPlanet

For this edition of One on One, we talked to Scott Kratz, the hardworking volunteer who is working with the Office of Planning on the 11th Street Bridge Park project, a unique park that will sit on a former bridge spanning the Anacostia River, connecting Capitol Hill to Wards 7 and 8. – Urban Turf

Big plans are in place that could transform an old freeway into a 21st century playground. Developers are eyeing what’s left of the 11th Street Bridge in Southeast D.C. – ABC 7

Cities around the nation have tried a variety of approaches to revitalizing their urban cores. Some have turned to repurposing old infrastructure to breathe new life into neighborhoods. – NPR, All Things Considered

The old 11th Street bridge could provide not just a physical but a cultural connection for a divided city, planners say. – Washington Post

In Washington, D.C., the 1,600-foot long 11 street bridge over Anacostia River is being pulled down and redesigned because it’s structurally unsound. Part of the redesigned bridge will include a new “local bridge” with bicycle lanes and 16-feet wide sidewalks, offering stops to look out over the river. – ASLA’s The Dirt

When DC’s new 11th Street Bridge opens, its old spans will become unnecessary transportation infrastructure. – Greater Greater Washington

Yesterday, the news dropped that the Office of Planning is floating the idea of preserving one of the 11th Street bridge spans slated to be destroyed after the new ones are built, and renovating it into a pedestrian space for arts, culture, natural appreciation, and everything else good in the world. – Washington City Paper

WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of drivers cross the 11th Street Bridge every day, but soon they could be joined by commuters on ziplines. – WTOP