Curbed DC: In NoMa, Another Train Underpass Lights Up as Public Art

On Tuesday, a new visual experience opens in NoMa’s L Street NE underpass, one of several passageways beneath elevated rail tracks that run through the neighborhood. “Lightweave,” a responsive lighting display designed by San Francisco-based design studio Futureforms, is the NoMa Parks Foundation’s latest installation in the neighborhood and part of a $50 million grant. The display consists of six formations of cloud-like, lattice LED tubes suspended below the ceiling of the underpass between First and Second streets NE. With three formations on either side of the underpass, the tubes react to ambient noise, such as trains passing on the tracks above or cars driving along L Street NE. Read more.

NoMa is preparing to break ground on the new Tanner Park in January, potentially bringing the first large green space to the near northeast neighborhood by next fall. The NoMa Business Improvement District and its contractor Forrester Construction have nearly all the necessary permits in hand to begin work on the 2.5-acre space next to the Metropolitan Branch Trail north of New York Avenue, representatives said at an Eckington Civic Association meeting Monday. Construction is expected to take 10-12 months. Read more.

For Immediate Release
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NoMa Parks Foundation Opens Rain Installation in M Street NE Underpass

4,000 LED-powered light rods that evoke the sensation of falling rain will glow 24 hours a day and pulse in response to traffic flow beneath the elevated railway.

OCTOBER 25, 2018 / WASHINGTON, D.C.  — The NoMa Parks Foundation turned on the power today for Rain, a dynamic light installation in the M Street NE railway underpass. Comprising 4,000 LED-powered polycarbonate rods suspended above the underpass sidewalks, the artwork will illuminate the space 24 hours a day and pulse like gentle waves of rainfall in response to the flow of vehicular traffic beneath the elevated tracks. Rain is the first of the NoMa Parks Foundation’s four planned underpass “art parks” to open and was designed by Thurlow Small Architecture of Oakland, California, working in conjunction with Dutch firm NIO architecten in response to an international competition held by the Foundation. (more…)

NoMa has a name drawn from a buried piece of D.C.’s African American history for a new large park in the works. The new 2.5-acre park adjacent to the Metropolitan Branch Trail just north of the New York Avenue bridge in NoMa will be called Tanner Park. Read more.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vote on the Final Name for NoMa’s Largest Park

WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 22, 2017 — NoMa’s largest park, located along the Metropolitan Branch Trail (MBT) and Harry Thomas Way NE, is gearing up for construction later this year. Consistent with the wildly successful naming of Swampoodle Park (at 3rd and L streets NE), the NoMa Parks Foundation is relying on the input of community members to identify names to suggest to the DC Council and Mayor Muriel Bowser. The proposed names for the “NoMa Green” are: Gales Wood, Met Branch Commons, Tanner Park, and Union Green. Take the survey to vote.

Previously, the NoMa Parks Foundation received 112 submissions from community members, collected at a community meeting and through online outreach. To ensure the broadest community involvement, the survey to vote on the final selection is online and was also mailed as a postcard to neighbors in the immediate vicinity of the park. From among the most popular names, the list has been narrowed to the four final selections. Please vote! The survey closes June 15.

“NoMa Green,” the temporary working name of the park, is a 2.5-acre park that will serve as the neighborhood’s “backyard,” providing open space for informal recreation, relaxation and community gatherings, as well as a dedicated playground for children and a dog park. The NoMa Parks Foundation solicited and has received a great deal of community input over several years about neighborhood aspirations for this large green space. Outreach included more than eight community meetings, attendance at ANC and Eckington Civic Association meetings, and online input about “NoMa Green.” Goals shared and implemented in the selected park design include a strong connection to the Met Branch Trail, a large flexible green space, a dog park, and a meadow.

About the Names

Tanner Park — Named for Alethia Browning Tanner (c. 1785-1864), a former slave who purchased her freedom and that of many relatives. She helped sponsor some of the first schools for black children in the District of Columbia and provided financial support for many hundreds of young people to gain access to education.

Gales Wood — The land that became the present-day Eckington neighborhood was the country home of Joseph Gales Jr. (1786-1860), a newspaper publisher and Mayor of Washington. After the Civil War, the area was known as “Gales Woods” and was a popular picnic ground.

Met Branch Commons — This name acknowledges the adjacency and the integration of the Metropolitan Branch Trail in the park.

Union Green — This name reflects the history of the site, which became a rail yard after the combination of the B&O Railroad and the Pennsylvania Railroad at Union Station. This merger enabled the creation of the National Mall.

Please view signage mock-ups with each name and take the survey here. The final contender will be recommended to the DC Council and Mayor, who will make the ultimate decision.

The NoMa Parks Foundation will also announce a community meeting with updates on the design and construction during summer 2018. Nelson Byrd Woltz is currently completing the design and construction drawings for the park, and Forrester Construction plans to begin building the park later this year. Construction is expected to conclude in late 2019. Upon completion, the park will be owned by the District government. More about the park can be found here.

About NoMa Parks

The NoMa Parks Foundation was formed in 2012 to establish permanent, public outdoor spaces in NoMa that are attractive, sustainable, and welcoming — places for people to refresh, play, and connect, now and for generations to come. In 2014, the Foundation, which is an affiliate of the NoMa Business Improvement District, entered into a public-private partnership with the D.C. government to build parks and great public spaces in NoMa. We have acquired three public park sites to date and have plans for publicly accessible parks on private spaces. Additionally, two major light art installations are in progress for the M Street NE and L Street NE underpasses beneath the train tracks. To learn more about the work of the NoMa Parks Foundation, visit nomaparks.org. Follow us on Twitter (@NoMaParksDC) and like us on Facebook.

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Media Contact:
Braulio Agnese, NoMa Business Improvement District
bagnese@nomabid.org
202-810-0088