Stead Park
{{Short description|Park in Washington, D.C., U.S.}}
{{Infobox park
| name = Stead Park
| photo = Stead Park from 1616 P Street building.jpg
| photo_width = 300
| photo_caption = Stead Park, looking north
| map = United States Washington, D.C. central
| map_caption = Location within Washington, D.C.
| type = Urban park
| location = Washington, D.C.
| coords = {{coord|38.91|N|77.037611|W|region:US-DC|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| area = {{convert|1.5|acre}}
| created = 1953
| operator = D.C. Parks & Recreation
| visitation_num =
| status = Open all year
| open =
| website =
}}
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 {{convert|60|ft|m|adj=on}} baseball diamond; and a playground.{{cite web|title=Stead Recreation Center |publisher=Government of the District of Columbia |url=http://app.dpr.dc.gov/DPR/information/rec_center/rec_center.asp?id=47 |access-date=2008-12-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610182945/http://app.dpr.dc.gov/DPR/information/rec_center/rec_center.asp?id=47 |archive-date=June 10, 2008 }}
The park hosts public events such as Summer Movie Mania, an outdoor screening sponsored by the city government.{{cite news|last=Buckwalter|first=Ian|title=Screens on Other Greens|publisher=DCist.com|date=2009-05-13|url=http://dcist.com/2009/05/screens_on_other_greens.php|access-date=2009-05-24|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517003253/http://dcist.com/2009/05/screens_on_other_greens.php|archive-date=2009-05-17}}{{cite news|last=Mathis|first=Sommer|title=Stead Park's Summer Movie Scheulde|publisher=DCist.com|date=2009-06-12|url=http://dcist.com/2009/06/stead_parks_summer_movie_scheulde.php|access-date=2009-06-12|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090615084650/http://dcist.com/2009/06/stead_parks_summer_movie_scheulde.php|archive-date=2009-06-15}}{{cite magazine|title=Summer Movie Mania|magazine=Washingtonian|url=http://www.washingtonian.com/events/2955.html|access-date=2009-06-12}} 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.{{cite news|last=Worsdale|first=James|title=Sports|newspaper=Washington Blade|date=2009-02-27|url=http://www.washblade.com/2009/2-27/calendars/sports/14162.cfm|access-date=2009-05-24}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{cite magazine|last=Krisberg|first=K.|title=Renegades Rugby|magazine=Metro Weekly|date=2002-07-25|url=http://www.metroweekly.com/news/?ak=48|access-date=2009-05-24}}
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,{{cite web|title=DC Citizen Atlas Real Property Reports|publisher=Government of the District of Columbia|url=http://citizenatlas.dc.gov/atlasapps/propertyhometab.aspx?QString=|access-date=2009-05-24|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430004154/http://citizenatlas.dc.gov/atlasapps/propertyhometab.aspx?QString=|archive-date=2009-04-30}} 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.{{Cite web |url=https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/publication/attachments/Dupont%20Circle%20HD%201625%20P%20Street%20NW%20Stead%20Park%20HPA%2018%20133.pdf |title=Historic Preservation Review Board Staff Report and Recommendation - 1625 P Street NW |date=2018-02-22 |website=planning.dc.gov |access-date=2022-10-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804081958/https://planning.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/op/publication/attachments/Dupont%20Circle%20HD%201625%20P%20Street%20NW%20Stead%20Park%20HPA%2018%20133.pdf |archive-date=2022-08-04 |url-status=live}}
History
File:Stead Park - playground.JPG
The portion of the park next to P Street once held 19th-century row houses. One of them, an 1878 house at 1625 P Street, was built by Henry Hurt, a Confederate Army veteran and president of the Washington and Georgetown Railroad Company. (Archaeological work during a 2008 renovation uncovered artifacts and brick foundations from that house and another at 1613 P Street.){{cite web|title=Stead - New Entrance, Central Plaza, and Playgrounds|publisher=Government of the District of Columbia|year=2008|url=http://dpr.dc.gov/page/stead-new-entrance-central-plaza-and-playgrounds|access-date=2013-11-23}}
In 1951, work began on Stead Park, an explicitly unsegregated recreational facility. The single-story fuel sheds from the row houses at 1621, 1623, and 1625 P Street were consolidated, expanded, and topped with a second story; this structure became the park's recreation center. The park was eventually completed at a cost of $80,000{{cite news|url=http://www.washingtonhistory.com/ScenesPast/images/SP_0904.pdf|title=Scenes from the Past...|last=Williams|first=Paul Kelsey|date=September 2004|access-date=2008-12-22|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060325031637/http://www.washingtonhistory.com/ScenesPast/images/SP_0904.pdf|archive-date=March 25, 2006|publisher=The InTowner|pages=12}} ({{Inflation|US|80000|1953|r=-4|fmt=eq}}{{Inflation-fn|US}}), and formally opened on November 13, 1953.
In 2003, plans for a four-story, multimillion-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.{{cite news|last=Brune |first=Adrian |title=Neighbors unsure about gay center at Stead Park |newspaper=Washington Blade |date=2004-07-23 |url=http://www.washblade.com/2004/7-23/news/localnews/neighboor.cfm |access-date=2009-05-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725013857/http://www.washblade.com/2004/7-23/news/localnews/neighboor.cfm |archive-date=July 25, 2008 }}{{cite news|last=Chibbaro Jr. |first=Lou |title=D.C. gay community center to open in office building |newspaper=Washington Blade |date=2004-11-19 |url=http://www.washblade.com/2004/11-19/news/localnews/libs.cfm |access-date=2009-05-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120084440/http://www.washblade.com/2004/11-19/news/localnews/libs.cfm |archive-date=November 20, 2008 }}
In 2008, the recreation center and playground were renovated. Work began in April and the park reopened on December 15.{{cite news|title=Mayor, D.C. Open Stead Park in Northwest|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=2008-12-15|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2008/12/mayor_dc_open_stead_park_in_no.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308204545/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dc/2008/12/mayor_dc_open_stead_park_in_no.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 8, 2012|access-date=2008-12-22}}
In 2022, the city began a $15.4 million renovation of the recreation center, intended as a "modernization of the existing recreation facility with an addition and to bring it up to ADA standards." The new recreation center opened in Spring 2024.{{cite web|title=Stead Park Recreation Center Project|publisher=Government of the District of Columbia|year=2022|url=https://dgs.dc.gov/page/stead-park-recreation-center-project|access-date=2025-01-02}} Its design by VMDO Architects allowed the facility to be the first net-zero community center in the District.{{Cite web |title=Stead Park Recreation Center |url=https://www.vmdo.com/stead-park-recreation-center.html |access-date=2025-06-03 |website=VMDO Architects |language=en}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Stead Park}}
- [http://www.facebook.com/pages/Friends-of-Stead-Park/374908402605717?ref=hl/ Friends of Stead Park]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090502020638/http://dpr.dc.gov/dpr/frames.asp?doc=%2Fdpr%2Flib%2Fdpr%2Finformation%2Fplanning_and_capital_projects%2Fpdfs%2Fward_2%2Fdpr_steadpark_archreport_oct2008.pdf 2008 archaeological survey at Stead Park]
Category:1953 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Category:Archaeological sites in Washington, D.C.