Dear PoP – More info on Bruce Monroe School Demolition

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the current Bruce Monroe School Demolition schedule and proposed plans. A group has emerged opposing a parking lot. They write:

Dear PoP,

Demolition at the Bruce Monroe Elementary School (bounded by Georgia Avenue, Irving Street and Columbia Road) is now scheduled to be complete in late April. At a community meeting this week, the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development announced a proposal to convert the majority of the parcel into a surface parking lot for commuters, who are likely to be employees of one of the large employers on this side of town. The parking lot is to be an interim use, which the District says could last 3-5 years.

Many neighbors of the site think a surface parking lot, for however long, is a very bad idea. This will do nothing to benefit the community, will be harmful to the environment, and the revenue it raises — which the District would share — will not be targeted to any particular use in the neighborhood. By contrast, the Gage-Eckington School in LeDroit Park was nearly the same size as the Bruce Monroe parcel, demolition was begun at about the same time, and yet the residents of that community are about to enjoy a permanent 3-acre park with an urban vegetable farm.

The next community meeting on this topic is March 8. In the meantime, please help strengthen the opposition by visiting http://www.stopthelot.com to learn more and sign an online petition.

Pleasant Plains and Park View deserve better.

— The Stop the Lot Coalition

Does anyone actually support the idea of a parking lot here?