At Historic Walter Reed Deed Signing, Norton to Speak About How She Got the Walter Reed Site for D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) will speak at the Deed Signing Ceremony to celebrate the transfer of the first federal property, Building 18 at the campus of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), from the U.S. Army to the District of Columbia, today, December 10, at 10:00 a.m. at the John A. Wilson Building, Room 509 (1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW). Building 18, once demolished, will accommodate the relocation of D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services' Engine Company 22. Norton was instrumental in ensuring that at least 67 acres of the 110 acre WRAMC site would go to the District of Columbia. A result of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, initially D.C. got a smaller portion, but Norton got the General Service Administration (GSA), in 2010, to declare a larger portion as surplus property that could be used by the District. She then questioned GSA and argued that the property should not be used to house federal agencies due to its distance from a Metro stop, considering distance to a Metro is a key regulation regarding the housing of federal agencies. GSA then transferred more land to D.C., giving the city the 67 acres they have today. Some of that acreage recently became endangered when the Department of State (DOS) sought, for free, 13 acres meant for Children's National Medical Center, while D.C. was negotiating to pay for the land. Norton protected those 13 acres for Children's, which included a building with a state-of-the-art lab space for research on children's health. Norton said that if DOS had succeeded, that space would have been demolished.
"Today's land transfer will enable D.C. to get the new fire and emergency station Ward 4 has long needed to reduce response times for the northernmost section of the District, enhancing public safety." Norton said. "Building 18 is only the beginning of a historic land transfer that will transform upper Georgia Avenue with mixed-use development and the commercial amenities upper Ward 4 has needed."
In 2006, Norton got the General Services Administration (GSA) to agree to consider plans to develop the WRAMC campus that would allow commercial development on Georgia Avenue, NW. Under the agreement, GSA would work with D.C. officials in deciding the type of development, including retail that the uptown Georgia Avenue community has long desired. Norton tried to get the federal Walter Reed site for exclusive development by the city, but the federal government is so short of necessary space that the 16th Street portion of the Walter Reed site was quickly claimed by the State Department for consolidation and similar uses.
Norton has continued her involvement with the land at WRAMC. She got language in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015 (NDAA) last week, authorizing the transfer of the Pathology Building to Children's National, which desires to use their state-of-the-art lab space for research on children's health. DOS wanted to demolish the building at a cost of up to $20 million for use sometime in the future when it can get funding.