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Cynthia Carson has lived by the McMillan Sand Filtration Site for over 25 years. The site in Bloomingdale is the city鈥檚 first de facto racially-integrated park, and redevelopment plans to take over the park have been in the works for years. Carson doesn鈥檛 want to see the historical greenspace completely disappear.

鈥淭here鈥檚 plenty of space to build in D.C.,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 have to take one of the last greenspaces here that鈥檚 of historic value to the city, historians and definitely the community.鈥�

Supporters of preserving McMillan suffered a recent loss as the D.C. Court of Appeals is allowing demolition to begin. Despite the Sept. 29 ruling, community members and organizations, like , have filed lawsuits challenging the city鈥檚 demolition permits.

The 25-acre park has been the center of other court battles since ideas of redevelopment started, including

consisting of EYA Inc., Trammell Crow Co. and Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners designed a 2.1 million-square-foot plan that will include office spaces, housing, condos, a grocery store, a park and a community center.听

Carson said the development plans are too much. She wants to see a more effective development to preserve the greenspace like building an amphitheater or a park that would be open to the public.听

鈥淲e just need smart development and we don’t have smart leaders,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think the mayor and her entire team lack vision and I think they鈥檙e going to be sorry if they develop this place to the extent that they want to develop it.鈥�

Renowned architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. designed the grounds of the park, which became open to the public in 1912. The park is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and

In 2016, Mayor Muriel Bowser, Ward 5 Councilman Kenyan McDuffie and others broke ground on the site. The groundbreaking was solely ceremonial, as demolition was not legally allowed.听

Shovels break McMillan ground

鈥� bill rice (@ricebilldc)

The recent court ruling has made people wanting to save and protect the site furious. At a rally in support of preserving the park, community member Maurice Cook said the development will be unaffordable for the people who have lived in the area for generations. 20% of the plan鈥檚 housing will be affordable to those earning 50-80% of the area median income.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 just another symbol of what has occurred throughout the city,鈥� Cook said.

Others are ready for the redevelopment, like Bloomingdale resident Amy Zhou.

鈥淚t would just infuse life into what is otherwise a barbed wire, fenced-off plot of land,鈥� she said.

Zhou and other neighbors counter-protested the rally.听

鈥淚t鈥檚 not that I’m against these counter proposals, it鈥檚 just that none of them are real, none of them are material,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople want to see something versus nothing.鈥�

Park supporters argued the new development will cause even more traffic headaches. Kirby Vining, treasurer of Friends of McMillan Park, said in hearings before the Zoning Commission, the .听

Vining said Friends of McMillan Park hired an engineer from WMATA to look at traffic data of the North Capitol Street and Michigan Avenue intersection. Vining said the engineer projected that car trips would be around double the given estimate.

鈥淚 don’t want to live in a neighborhood where there鈥檚 going to be thousands of additional cars,鈥� Carson said.

Protestors are also worried about airborne asbestos if demolition begins. Carson wants to see the 20 filtration sites tested appropriately. Even at low levels, the CDC says

鈥淲e want to test it, I don’t know why anyone would be against testing it,鈥� she said.

Despite the possibility of the underground structures containing asbestos, demolition permits were approved as part of the D.C. Court of Appeals鈥� ruling. Supporters of the park will continue to fight for McMillan during their court hearing on Oct. 26.

鈥淧eople have been in this neighborhood for generations,鈥� Carson said. 鈥滱nd we don鈥檛 want new unaffordable apartments and condos to take up the space.鈥�