Comments on: Fences Go Back Up at Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park

By: Maryanne Burgos

Maryanne Burgos — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:28:45 +0000

What time does the drum circle meet in June?

By: The Rickster

The Rickster — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 13:09:11 +0000

You’d think that wouldn’t be hard to find. This city is crawling with trust fund babies.

By: TrueDat

TrueDat — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 20:49:15 +0000

I haven’t been around long (just over a year) but I frequent this park since I live nearby. It’s a lovely, lovely place and what it badly needs is a benefactor with a trust fund who wants it to be just a touch nicer. I wrote to the folks who manage the park and asked about the fences, the groundskeeper in charge of it gave the response I expected: it’s his duty to keep the grass in decent shape for all to enjoy, etc. I wrote back and asked the same question– why not plant some flowers or other plants if you’d like to prevent larger-scale team sports? No answer.

Any rich folks out there want to throw down some cash, get the park to plant some flowers or bushes to discourage larger groups from over-using the main field? In exchange, you’ll get a gate or a statute or something named after you.

By: John

John — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:53:23 +0000

Translation: “That’s KING troll douch to you ‘Padre’”

By: James

James — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:40:10 +0000

We know you are. Now go away, please.

By: zt

zt — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:31:30 +0000

I’m with RaggedDog.The NPS ought to just accept that the community wants to have a place to play some “team sports”.
There are lots of places to picnic in the park, amongst the trees, on the terraces, on the grass by the fountains, near the benches, by the stage, on the promenade, or near the monuments. About 20-30% of the space is fit for group sports. Given that there is so little space for that in Ward 1 this seems like an excellent use. The sports-players help keep the park safe by their very presence and desrve to use it just as much as anyone else.

The NPS has been in denial about the community interest in sports playing for year. They could do several things that would be more productive than this denial:
*use a turf mix designed to hold up for sports (adding some Kentucky Blue Grass into the seeding mix would be a good start)
*switching some of the space to nextturf would be a long-term capital solution
*providing a limited use for sports which was well enforced would be a good alternative

This is mostly an issue because NPS controls the park. The park should be co-managed by Parks and People. They’d work with the community and make much better use of it.

By: superdude

superdude — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:13:02 +0000

The drummers are awesome. I used to live on the Park, and yes, they are loud for a few hours, but it’s during the day, so who cares? Now I live on Columbia Rd and get to hear Latin covers of crap American songs all day and I’d DEFINITELY trade for drum circles.

By: John

John — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:02:44 +0000

Translation: “yes I am a straight troll douche.”

By: James

James — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:41:04 +0000

You should come out to the drum circle this Sunday afternoon. I say this, because it’s clear from your ignorance about the event and its history, you’ve never been there yourself. But I welcome you to join us. Because on Sunday, instead of sitting around namecalling on the Internet, I’ll be out in the park playing my drum.

By: Talked to NPS

Talked to NPS — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 15:39:23 +0000

I spoke with NPS when they were putting up the fences and reseeding the grass. They said the fences would be up for 3 months.

I think they did this a year or two ago and it seemed like they were up the whole summer. Hope that’s not the case this year.