D.C.’s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium has been cleared for demolition after the National Park Service found that the demolition would have no negative impact on the environment surrounding RFK campus.
D.C.’s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium has been cleared for demolition after the National Park Service found that the demolition would have no negative impact on the environment surrounding RFK campus.
The 63-year-old stadium has been in serious disrepair for years and has not been used since 2019.
While Events D.C., the organization responsible for the management of the stadium, had cleared it out, the city had been waiting as NPS evaluated if the stadium on park land could be safely taken down.
The next step is for NPS to issue a permit for the D.C. government to demolish the stadium. Then both administrations will need to sign an agreement that the District can continue to use the property, according to the 1957 District of Columbia Stadium Act’s requirements.
The act first established that the Armory Board could establish and maintain a stadium in D.C. for “holding athletic events and other activities and events.” The Amory Board finished building RFK Stadium in 1961 and named it after Robert F. Kennedy following the assassination of the senator.
The 1957 act was amended in 1993 so the District could use land around the stadium for parking and create a new stadium. The new amendments made it clear that the D.C. government would be responsible for building, maintaining, naming and operating the new stadium.
The House passed a bill in February that would allow D.C. to redevelop the old RFK site, a move widely seen as opening the door for construction of a new stadium for the Washington Commanders. The RFK Memorial Stadium Campus Revitalization Act, which would enter D.C. into a 99-year lease of the site, passed the House on a 348-55 vote and is headed to the Senate.
Local residents have been discussing how they’d like to see the city develop the 190-acre RFK campus since the stadium’s last home team game with D.C. United in 2017.
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Emily Venezky
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