It is clear that the days are numbered for venerable Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium (RFK). Built in 1961 as D.C. Stadium, RFK served as the home of the Washington Redskins for 36 seasons, and recently it has housed DC United and the Washington Nationals. This will be the Washington Nationals last year in RFK, DC United will get a new stadium at some point, and there are reports that RFK could be torn down as early as after the 2007 season.Why is the demolition of RFK important in planning terms? There are a number of reasons. The stadium is part of a large parcel of land in downtown Washington, DC, which if combined with the DC Armory (horizontal building, middle left of screen) is even bigger and very close to a Metro station. The aforementioned Metro station is Stadium/Armory (located in bottom left of screen) and serves both the Blue and Orange Metro lines. The RFK site is located minutes from the Capitol building. No barriers either natural (a river) or human (a highway / railroad tracks) separate the site from downtown Washington. RFK is also located on a historic and monumental east-west axis. Due west of the stadium is the Capitol, the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. In fact, RFK at the moment serves as the eastern terminus of this monumental axis. In the spatial hierarchy of Washington, DC the RFK site has a fairly elevated importance.
What's the future for the RFK site? I have suggested that it would make a good site for a consolidated Department of Homeland Security complex (at least from a planning perspective) as it is a large amount of land in downtown DC with close proximity to a Metro station. There are some reports that the Washington Redskins could come home to RFK. The potential deal is very interesting because DC officials are in no mood to shell out more money to construct a sports stadium after spending over $600 million for the Nationals new park. The leverage that Dan Snyder, the owner of the Redskins, wants is the land and development rights for the area around the new stadium. This arrangement is similar to the one being worked out for DC United's new stadium across the Anacostia River in Poplar Point.
What has changed in the construction of sports stadiums is that the owners are now viewing local government's provision of land and concurrent development rights to be worth more than local government's provision of the actual stadium. Marc Fisher of the Washington Post argues that "this kind of giveaway is no more fair to the taxpayer than the baseball deal." This land is incredibly valuable. A comprehensive, mixed-use, and transit-oriented development surrounding a new RFK stadium complete with residences, restaurants, and a hotel could generate enormous profit for Snyder. The new stadium is also proposed to be domed, with the intention of bringing the Super Bowl to Washington, DC.
What's the future of RFK? Will this be it's last year? In December 2006 when Major League Soccer (MLS) announced that its championship game would be held at RFK Stadium this November the move was met with great skepticism. What was this old stadium doing hosting a league championship ? But maybe MLS knew (or guessed) of RFK's impending demolition and decided that this would be a good way to say goodbye to one of the great soccer places in the United States. Even a few Redskin fans, having no like of soccer or baseball, might come out to see good old RFK for one last time.
