Hurrah! Fences Down at Malcolm X/Meridian Hill Park
20 July 2009 11:00 AM | By Prince Of Petworth in Columbia Heights, Neighborhoods - Columbia Heights, parks
Thanks to all who wrote in with this great update. We can check this Horse’s Ass Award nomination off the list. This weekend folks were enjoying the area playing frisbee, soccer and just lounging around.
For the weekends it seems like the space is probably best used for soccer and frisbee passes rather than full on games so more folks can enjoy the space. It looks great!
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20 July 2009 11:10 AM | Anonymous Said:
Who is the NPS contact? We should ask them to water the grass. It is really dry out there now.
20 July 2009 11:16 AM | Anonymous Said:
i was gonna say. that grass looks awefully thirsty… we’ll see those fences up again next spring
20 July 2009 12:11 PM | Jimmy D Said:
That must be an old picture. The grass was very lush and green in that area when I went up on Sunday.
20 July 2009 12:13 PM | Prince Of Petworth Said:
@Jimmy D – nope that picture was also taken on Sunday. Maybe the light at the time I took the photos is playing tricks?
20 July 2009 12:14 PM | Nikki Said:
Remember that time NPS had a lush, green grass throughout the park. Then said I never had a soccer ball or frisbee to play on the grass. Then why did Malcolm X/Meridian Hill have the fence, NPS, why???”
20 July 2009 12:28 PM | OldHouseLover Said:
I hope folks respect the ‘no team sports’ rule. I know there’s a dearth of playing fields in the city, but it would suck to see this quickly return to the dust patch of years past.
20 July 2009 12:30 PM | zt Said:
It seems strange to not allow sports in any part of the park. perhaps restricting them some would make sense, but lots of people want to play. far more than wish to sunbathe. When there was an ultimate game before the renovation 35-ish people would show up to rotate into the game on the southern lawn. i saw a handful of people, maybe 4 or 5 using that field. What’s more, there are a lot of parts of the park that aren’t well suited to sports, like the terraced area (which is prettier) that are just as good (maybe better) for picnics and sun-tanning.
20 July 2009 12:34 PM | anonymous Said:
Why did PoP post this? It is only going to devolve into accusations that not having enough soccer fields in this town is racist because only Latinos play, and it is just an attempt to get immigrants to move back to their home countries.
And this announcement just means more people will go trample the grass. It probably won’t even make it through the summer now.
20 July 2009 12:37 PM | Néstor Sánchez Cordero Said:
Some Latinos prefer baseball to soccer…
20 July 2009 12:38 PM | dc mom Said:
Looks like they may have cut it a bit short for the heat – longer grass does better in the heat of summer and requires less water.
20 July 2009 12:43 PM | Sammy Said:
@Nestor – a point well taken, and one that made me laugh!
I’m just glad to see the fences down. Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park is a beautiful oasis and an amazing resource for DC – not to mention a historic one.
20 July 2009 12:52 PM | anonymous Said:
I don’t think all of the photos show areas that were fenced off. The bottom photo shows an area where the grass wasn’t replaced nor was fenced off. The grass is older, and has been trampled already for years by park users. It is what the rest of the grass will look like in a short time because of the way people treat it.
20 July 2009 12:59 PM | anothermous Said:
I was there on Sunday too and pleasantly surprised!
It does look like they mowed it too low for this weather, burning the grass. I like to
back off my lawn in mowing frequency and height by mid June to prevent this from happening. But it has happened to me and the grass can come back this season if it rains enough and it isn’t cut again. It is hard to keep moisture in the ground when fields face full sun like this.
20 July 2009 3:40 PM | Jimmy D Said:
Sunday afternoon was amazing in the park. When I first walked by, I saw so many people that I figured it was some sort of festival. Turns out it was just a beautiful day and every one decided to hang in the park. The drum circles, folks doing yoga, kids on bikes, people dancing, picnicking, tossing the frisbee or kicking around the soccer ball. Great vibe.
Anybody else ever watch the folks doing what looks like Cirque du Solei training/partners yoga? Absolutely crazy looking. One person lays on the ground and sticks their feet in the air, while the other person balances on those same feet in various precarious-looking yoga-like positions. Any idea what this is called?
20 July 2009 6:05 PM | zt Said:
Yeah, that partner yoga thing looks wicked cool. The capoiera in the old days was also fun to watch.
21 July 2009 10:56 AM | Anonymous Said:
The grass should have been water everyday in July WHEN THE FENCES WERE UP. Much much more difficult to water now with people trampling on wet grass, compacting the soil, making growth more difficult. The best most ideal way to water is when the fences were up. Why was no one saying anything then? Second best – -and an extremely distant second – - is at about 5 a.m. in the morning. Get more involved people!