January 8th, 2009
Saint Elizabeths and the DHS
As you may or may not know, the Department of Homeland Security plans to take over the abandoned West Campus of Saint Elizabeths Hospital in Washington DC and consolidate it’s various agencies’ offices in that one location. There’s recently been a pretty substantial indication that it’ll be a while till that happens though: Coastguard Renews Lease in Buzzard’s Point.
Another eyebrow-raising piece of news is that Saint ELizabeths West Campus might lose its National Historic Landmark status when the DHS moves in: Saint Elizabeths Could Lose Historic Status. Apparently the DHS’s plan is so incompatible with the site’s historic character that the National Park Service expects to consider its “dedesignation as a National Historic Landmark.” That doesn’t sound too good…
By the way, I finally got to take some exterior photos of the Saint Elizabeths Kirkbride in December by participating in one of the DC Preservation League’s walking tours. I’ll be posting some of those soon along with some interior photos from a few years ago.
UPDATE: Somebody just directed me to this opinion piece about Saint Elizabeths’ status written by National Trust for Historic Preservation President Richard Moe: Disaster for St. Elizabeths.
Wow, this doesn’t sound too good. I’m thinking all sorts of security walls and lots of demo, though I’ve heard the Kirkbride is to left complete. I’ve always thought that the St. Elizabeths campus was probably the best suited to full reuse or preservation. You’d think with as much money as the DHS and the Coast Guard have they could build a new facility somewhere. It just sucks that whatever they do, it can safely be assumed the public won’t be welcome to visit. I didn’t even know that something could loose it’s historic status!
Yeah, I think one of the biggest complaints I’ve heard is that people won’t have access to the property, especially The Point which offers one of the best views of Washington.
Check out the editorial piece I just added a link to for the thoughts of someone with more knowledge of the situation.