{"id":12445,"date":"2017-11-07t12:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-07t12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/ivy-city-at-the-corner-of-development-and-gentrification\/"},"modified":"2017-11-07t12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-11-07t12:00:00","slug":"ivy-city-at-the-corner-of-development-and-gentrification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/ivy-city-at-the-corner-of-development-and-gentrification\/","title":{"rendered":"ivy city: at the corner of development and gentrification"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\u201cso is my life at ivywall: replete with beauty and enjoyment. and the rose, that is its central ornament and pride.\u201d -thomas seaton donoho<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
donoho<\/a> had a love for the ivy plant, so much so that he would write poetry and a book about the plant. but his greatest stamp on history for his love for ivy was the naming of the historic ivy city neighborhood in northeastern washington, d.c.<\/p>\n
ivy city has a rose, the crummell school, which the residents in the neighborhood once had great pride and joy in. since its closure in 1977, the school has withered and been neglected by every stakeholder involved: local government, local businesses, and even the residents themselves.<\/p>\n
after decades of neglect, in 2016 there were plans to redevelop the school after decades of no substantial plan. these plans would give the school the chance to bloom into the rose ivy city needs.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cthe tale hath history told – but words are weak, and may not with the pencil\u2019s eloquence speak.\u201d -donoho<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
opened in 1911, the crummell school was named after african american preacher and academic alexander crummell<\/a>. the school served the black community of ivy city, not only as a primary school, but as the community center that held the neighborhood together.<\/p>\n
prior to the school closing in 1977, it experienced turmoil and problems that it never recovered from. in the years since, it has been a failed day care, a failed bus parking lot, and finally a d.c. historic site that the environmental protection agency has labeled a brownfield <\/a>\u2014 a property \u201cwhich may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant.\u201d<\/p>\n
for the crummell school, the hazardous contaminants include arsenic, barium, chromium and lead. this contamination not only impedes the economic development of the land, but creates a negative environment for the public health of everyone in ivy city. cleaning and redeveloping the land will increase the standard of living for the residents in the neighborhood.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cmy ivy, and mist the storm soon tear thee from thy trust, strewn wild and withering, and i, alone, hopeless to battle with a world or wrath!\u201d -donoho<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
there are two redevelopment plans being explored. one plan turns the land into a community center, health clinic, 100% affordable housing, and a park. the other plan turns the land around the school into townhouses, restaurants, community center and the expansion of a local fish distributor.<\/p>\n