Stead Park
| Stead Park | |
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Stead Park, looking north
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 Location within Washington, D.C.
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| Type | Urban park |
| Location | Washington, D.C. |
| Coordinates | Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. |
| Area | 1.5 acres (0.61 ha) |
| Created | 1953 |
| Operated by | D.C. Parks & Recreation |
| Status | Open all year |
Stead Park is a 1.5-acre (0.61 ha) municipal park located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington, D.C. Among its facilities are Stead Recreation Center, located at 1625 P Street NW; a lighted basketball court; an athletic field with a 60-foot (18 m) baseball diamond; and a playground.[1]
Public events such as Summer Movie Mania, an outdoor screening sponsored by the city's government, are held at the park.[2][3][4] Stead Park is also used as a practice field by the Washington Renegades RFC, the first rugby union club in the United States to recruit gay men and men of color.[5][6]
The park and its small staff are administered by the city's Department of Parks and Recreation. Stead Park, whose property was valued at $8,659,560 in 2009,[7] is partially funded by a private trust created by Washington architect Robert Stead (1846-1943). The park is named for Stead's wife, Mary Force Stead.[8]
History
The portion of the park next to P Street once held 19th-century row houses. During a 2008 renovation, archaeological work uncovered artifacts and brick foundations from the houses that once occupied 1613 and 1625 P Street. Researchers concluded that the latter supported a house built in 1878 by Henry Hurt, a Confederate Army veteran and president of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company.[9]
When construction began on Stead Park in 1951, the single-story fuel sheds from the row houses at 1621, 1623, and 1625 still stood. These were consolidated and expanded and had a second story added to turn them into the park's recreation center. The unsegregated park was formally opened on November 13, 1953, at a cost of $80,000[10] ($707,562 today[11]).
In 2003, plans for a four-story, multi-million-dollar gay community center to be built on a small section of the aging park sparked a dispute among Dupont Circle residents and the Washington D.C. Center for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender People. The plans were ultimately abandoned.[12][13]
In 2008, the recreation center and playground were renovated. Work began in April and the park reopened on December 15.[14]
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stead Park. |
