September 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 45

neighborhoods grew around the park area over the
next century. From the 1930s into the 1970s, Watts
Branch Park experienced varying levels of development under the National Park Service. First Lady
Lady Bird Johnson rededicated an eight-acre tract in
1966 as part of her Capital Beautification campaign
of what was originally called Watts Branch Park. The
park was maintained and used regularly until the
early 1970s, when federal funding for maintenance
was discontinued and management transferred to
the District of Columbia. After a new series of park
and trail developments, city maintenance funds
dried up and the park fell into disrepair. For the past
quarter century, Watts Branch Park became a hub
of illegal dumping and crime activity-to the extent
that an open-air heroin market thrived, leading to the
park's nickname, " Needle Park, " by local residents.
Life-long area resident Juanita Fairchild, 66, remembers playing in the park as a child in the 1950s
and catching tadpoles with her brothers. But after the park deteriorated, Fairchild and her family
avoided the park altogether.
" It was a drug haven, " Fairchild says. " You didn't
come down here much. "
Thirty-four-year-old Deidre Gantt, whose family
has lived in the area for 100 years, remembers as a
child being too scared to walk through the park. Instead, she opted to go around the park on her way
to church or to visit family.
" There was a lot of drug activity and a lot of
trash, " Gantt recalls. " You just didn't feel safe. "

Revitalization
The neighborhoods surrounding Marvin Gaye Park
are home to more than 600 families-and the city's
second-highest concentration of children. In 1997,

the nonprofit Washington Parks & People decided
to put its belief in the transformative power of parks
to work in Marvin Gaye.
With input and help from the surrounding community, WPP circulated a petition that amassed
2,500 signatures calling upon the District of Columbia to restore Marvin Gaye Park and Watts Branch
Stream. The city responded to the call, and for the
next decade, WPP and the D.C. Department of Parks
and Recreation implemented what would become a
multi-million dollar, multi-phased project, and the
largest community park revitalization in D.C. history.
In 2001, the partners led a five-year cleanup effort, in which 24,000 volunteers removed more than
3.5 million pounds of trash, 9,000 hypodermic needles, and 78 abandoned cars. More than 1,000 native trees were planted, and in 2008, the city closed
a nearby methadone clinic. The park was renamed
April 2, 2006, after music legend and local childhood
resident Marvin Gaye on what would have been the
singer's 67th birthday.
WPP President Steve Coleman credits the local
community with the park's transformation.
" We tend to think in very constrained ways about
how we don't have enough resources, " Coleman
says. " But if you look to the community, the possibilities are endless. "
WPP first made sure residents had opportunities to advance their community. WPP initiatives included a youth job training program, a youth-run
farmer's market, creation of a permanent mosaic
honoring 200 community heroes, an amphitheater,
and 1.6 miles of new hiking and biking trails.
Coleman believes that just as communities can leverage resources and buy-in to help revitalize parks,
parks are, in turn, a great investment for communities.

www . N R P A . O R G

SEPTEMBER 2010

One year after
its opening, the
playground at
Marvin Gaye
Park remains
clean, green, and
much used by
the surrounding
community.

Parks & Recreation 43

September 2010 - Parks & Recreation

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of September 2010 - Parks & Recreation