Goodbye, East Potomac Park

At the turn of the 20th century the Potomac River in downtown Washington was clogged with mud and sewage that made it unnavigable. The US Army Corps of Engineers, called in to rectify the situation, created a more than 400 acre island in an open part of the river, built of the enormous amount of material excavated from the river bottom. The resulting crescent shaped island was developed into a park, finally opened to the public in 1916.At the west end was the Jefferson Memorial, at the east end a large picnic garden, a bunch of tennis courts and around the periphery a scenic bicycle path. In the middle was a modest 18 hole golf course. Thousands of trees and shrubs were planted throughout; also hundreds of cherry trees, a present from the Mayor of Tokyo were planted in 1912. The park including its golf course has been in operation for more than a century.

Last December at the behest of President Trump, the National Park Service (a subsidiary of the Interior Department) cancelled the long term lease held by the National Links Trust for the East Potomac Links saying that the non-profit had failed to meet the terms of the lease, citing inadequate maintenance.

Trump plans to have a luxury golf destination. “We’re going to make it a beautiful, world class, U.S. Open caliber course”, Mr Trump said when asked about this last month. “Ideally we’re going to have major tournaments there and everything else, It’s going to bring in a lot of business into Washington”.

Recent construction in the East Potomac park started with the dumping of debris from the demolition of the White House’s East Wing right in the middle of the golf course.

Although no designer has been chosen and there are not even very preliminary drawings to look at, many people knowledgeable about this particular island and golf courses in general have speculated about design considerations and their thoughts are not very positive. The scenic bicycle trail around the perimeter might have to be scrubbed to increase the size of the new golf course. To accommodate spectators, parking, restaurants, a service road or roads and a host of supporting services would require much more space than Trump and his subordinates have contemplated. The single access to the island, a bridge would be a bottleneck. The entire island from the start sits atop a soft, wet base and its edges at the river are showing increasing signs of eroding and need to be firmed up, especially should the development President Trump envisions occur.And the island is flat, topographically uninteresting even with the estimated 30,000 cubic yards of fill (mostly construction debris) from the demolition of the East Wing.

The park at present is kind of shabby, suffering from decades of inadequate funding and maintenance. But even so it retains considerable charm and looks delightful when the millions of tiny cherry blossoms are blooming. For well over a century it has been a pleasant park for Washington’s ordinary citizens. How many of them will be able to afford the astronomically high prices for hot dogs, let alone at least $100 to play a few rounds of golf at the deluxe Trump golf facility?

Unfortunately, President Trump’s involvement with the East Potomac Park shows a continuation of his self- centered approach displayed in his remodeling of the White House and its grounds. The paving over of the Rose Garden, the gaudy gold-plated interior decorations, the demolition of the Jackie Kennedy Garden and the grossly oversized planned Trump Ballroom are depressing harbingers of what’s probably in store for East Potomac Island.

Although the existing facility was in the middle of a fifty year lease, Trump had Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum cancel the lease thereby giving direct control to the President who then illegally ordered the dumping of the construction debris from the (also illegally) demolished White House East Wing right in the middle of the existing public golf course.A major golf enthusiast, Trump also considers himself a champion of the people. But in this case, he is planning to take away a public golf course made for, and actively used by, “the people” and remake it for elite, professional golfers and expensive commercial interests.

A bunch of lawsuits, filed by two private citizens anda non-profit environmental group, The Preservation League, are represented by a pair of well-known Washington law firms. They hope to stop Trump’s takeover but considering the way things go in Washington, Trump’s fantasy may become a reality before the case is resolved.

The redo of the entire East Potomac Island for top level golf exhibitions would likely cost much more than renovating several other existing, but somewhat dilapidated public golf courses similar to East Potomac that need work but still are enjoyed by thousands of ordinary Washingtonians.

Architect and landscape designer Mac Gordon lives in Lakeville.