Kingman Island - Children's Island and Stadium Proposals

Children's Island and Stadium Proposals

Turning Kingman and Heritage Islands into a children's theme park was a major development proposal which was under consideration for two decades before being abandoned. The idea was first proposed in 1967. The concept was revived in 1972 as part of the United States Bicentennial celebrations, and included a $3 million playground and arts facility for children (including special areas for the handicapped). The American Revolution Bicentennial Commission gave the backers of the plan a $30,000 planning grant to help get the park off the ground. City officials began informally calling the Kingman Island "National Children's Island" in order to support the park's developers. The city also leased the southern part of Kingman Island from the United States Department of the Interior to spur the development. A small administration building and a children's playhouse were built, 100 cherry trees planted, and Islands No. 3 and 4 connected to the mainland by wooden footbridges. Some land was cleared, and a few brick footpaths laid down. Plans for the park soon included several playgrounds, undeveloped areas where children could learn about nature, a stage, and a worm farm. The Army Corps of Engineers itself erected a wooden footbridge connecting the shore to Heritage Island and Heritage Island to Kingman Island. The size of the theme park was also expanded to include Heritage Island. But four years and $4 million of public and private funds later, the proposal was abandoned. City officials said in 1980 that deteriorating budget conditions (caused by the beginning of the early 1980s recession) had led to "the worst budget crisis in the city's history", and officials could no longer justify spending another $4 million to complete the park. But 15 years later, press reports laid the failure of the project to a decision by Congress and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development to withhold funds for the project.

District officials built a fence around the shores of Kingman and Heritage Island in the early 1980s to protect them from illegal dumping and vandalism, but the fences did not work. Businesses and members of the public dumped discarded construction materials and other waste on the islands, and homeless people often tried to live there.

In 1986, D.C. officials considered building a new District of Columbia Jail on Kingman Island, but the National Park Service still controlled the island and refused to consider the idea. Two years later, the District of Columbia was looking for a way to upgrade RFK Stadium so that the Washington Redskins would continue to play their games inside the city limits. D.C. Mayor Sharon Pratt Dixon proposed allowing the Redskins to build a new stadium on the parking lots adjacent to RFK Stadium and replacing the lost parking lots with new ones built on Kingman Island—a proposal that included tearing up Langston Golf Course and turning it, too, into parking lots. In 1991, as the District still struggled to craft a deal to build a new stadium, Secretary of the Interior Manuel Lujan, Jr. forced Mayor Dixon to agree to preserve Langston Golf Course (although Lujan did agree to allow a redesign of the facility to accommodate some stadium parking).

A renewed effort to build a children's theme park emerged during this period as well. In 1983, a new company, National Children's Island, Inc., was formed to act as the new developer. In 1991, the company proposed yet another large children-oriented theme park for Kingman and Heritage islands. Mayor Dixon supported the idea, but Interior Secretary Lujan forced her to drop the idea because Interior officials felt the proposed development was too densely built-up and would destroy the character of the region. The company drew up new proposals in August 1991 that provided for fewer attractions. Its new designs provided for a "family-oriented" park with walking trails and meadows (with only about 5 acres (2.0 ha) used for buildings and exhibits). Access to Kingman Island would be restricted to those who paid the $8 to $10 admission fee.

Attempts to build Children's Island quickly became entangled with the stadium deal. On September 10, 1991, the Dixon administration agreed to let the Redskins organization build parking lots on Kingman and Heritage islands. By March 1992, this agreement had been scaled back, so that the Redskins were permitted to build on only a portion of Kingman Island, while additional parking would be built on Langston Golf Course (which would be redesigned to accommodate the lots). The parking deal helped clinch the stadium agreement: On December 7, 1992, Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke agreed to build his team's new stadium in the District of Columbia. Seven days later, Interior Secretary Lujan agreed to transfer 50 acres (20 ha) of Kingman Island to the District of Columbia for construction of the children's theme park. By now, National Children's Island, Inc., was advocating a $120 million park which would include science, nature, and geography pavilions; an entertainment building; a plaza that would host fairs, marketplace booths, and outdoor performances; a science center; and formal gardens—while still preserving much of the two islands as a nature preserve. Under terms of the agreement transferring the land to the city, no more than 5 acres (2.0 ha) could be utilized for buildings, and no structure could be taller than 50 feet (15 m).

The National Capital Planning Commission quickly approved of the transfer. However, various other groups were opposed to the theme park development, including several Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, the Anacostia Watershed Society, the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, and the Committee of 100 on the Federal City (a highly influential businesspersons' and civic leaders' organization). The D.C. City Council nonetheless approved the land transfer on July 13, 1993, although it also required that any plans for the islands be submitted to the council for approval. The Council also required the company to complete an environmental impact assessment and more than a dozen other studies and present them to the Council before any development could proceed. Meanwhile, the loss of parking space to the children's theme park and rising Congressional opposition to the stadium deal (primarily due to the impact it would have on local residents and its high costs) imperiled the D.C. stadium deal. Congressional opposition rose significantly after the stadium's chief proponent, D.C. City Council Chairman John A. Wilson, committed suicide on May 19, 1993. By December, Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke had pledged to build his stadium in Maryland.

The land transfer became the subject of a legal battle, which eventually led to congressional action. In August 1993, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund filed suit to block it, claiming that the federal government was required to conduct an environmental impact assessment before handing over the land. The group's interest in Kingman and Heritage islands was environmental: The lack of development and the wilderness-like aspect of the two islands had made them important to wildlife in the area. According to an Audubon Society survey at the time, more than 60 species of birds—including blue herons, eagles, snowy egrets, and ospreys—now lived on the islands. In December 1994, a United States district court agreed, and said the Park Service had violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by transferring the land without conducting the assessment. D.C. officials sought the assistance of Congress. In July 1996, after a two-year lobbying effort, Congress passed the "National Children's Island Act of 1996" (P.L. 104-163, 110 Stat. 1416), which bypassed NEPA and transferred the land to the District of Columbia. The legislation specified, however, that the city could use the land only for a children's park. Congress acted after National Children's Island, Inc., unveiled plans for a scaled-back, $150 million development which was characterized as a "mini-Epcot Center". The company said it would begin construction within 14 months of the passage of the legislation.

The project again caused significant controversy, but was eventually terminated. In early October 1997, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry proposed legislation giving National Children's Island, Inc., a 99-year lease on Kingman and Heritage islands. Although it initially appeared that the legislation would pass quickly, opposition from the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund led several Council members to withdraw their support for the lease. Opponents pointed out, too, that the company had performed none of the studies required by the 1993 Council vote. The delay doomed the project. In 1995, Congress had imposed a Financial Control Board on the D.C. government in an attempt to help the city avoid impending bankruptcy. The Control Board had the power to override decisions made by the mayor and city council. On March 5, 1999, the Financial Control Board exercised that power and voided the city's agreements to build Children's Island. The Control Board said the project would cost too much and was not financially viable. The decision was the first time the panel overturned a decision by city officials.

On September 15, 1998, the wooden footbridge from the western shore to Kingman Island was set afire by vandals around 9:00 p.m., and burned for about two and a half hours. Despite the efforts of 50 firefighters and a fire boat, most of the structure burned and collapsed into Kingman Lake.