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Norton to Speak at Ceremony Marking the Transfer of Walter Reed Army Medical Center to D.C., Tomorrow

October 25, 2016

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will join Mayor Muriel Bowser, Councilmember Brandon Todd (Ward 4), U.S. Army Assistant Secretary Katherine Hammack, and Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner for a ceremony recognizing the transfer of 67 acres of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) campus to the District of Columbia tomorrow, Wednesday, October 26, at 1:00 p.m., at the Walter Reed Campus (6900 Georgia Ave. NW).

“With so much federal land in D.C., we saw Walter Reed as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring new housing, quality amenities, and shopping to solidly residential Ward 4,” Norton said. “Instead of simply banking the land for no immediate federal purpose, we argued for mixed-use and economic activity today, which could only come from transferring 67 acres to the District.”

The WRAMC was federal land that Norton got a portion of transferred to the District in 2014. Norton ensured that at least 67 acres of the 110 acre WRAMC site would go to the District. Initially, D.C. got a smaller portion following the Base Realignment and Closure process, but Norton got the U.S. General Services Administration in 2010 to declare a larger portion as surplus property that could be used by the District. She also fought successfully to get 13 additional acres transferred for a public health purpose, which went to the Children's National Medical Center, which will use the space for a state-of-the art lab for children's health research. The remaining 32 acres was transferred to the U.S. Department of State last year.