The DC Office of Motion Picture and Television Development is pleased to select The Yards Park as the September 2011 One City Location of the Month. The Yards Park, formerly known as the Navy Yard Annex, is a major, urban mixed-use redevelopment project on the Anacostia River waterfront near Southeast DC in the Capitol Riverfront district. Celebrating its grand opening on September 11, 2010, The Yards Park has become one of the city’s most beloved, yet fairly untapped, attractions.
The site is adjacent to the operating Washington Navy Yard and was formerly part of the Navy Yard’s industrial operations, which ceased, for the most part, following WWII. The Yards Park is part of the larger 42-acre parcel of land known as “The Yards,” which boasts several historically protected and former industrial buildings. Some of those buildings are currently being redeveloped as residential and retail facilities. At full build-out, The Yards will include 2,800 new residential units, 400,000 square feet of retail space and 1.8 million square feet of new office space in addition to the world-class urban waterfront park.
The Yards Park is approximately 5.5 acres and includes several well designed, programmable components including:
- The Great Lawn is an open, flat, grassy area with no trees within its boundaries, but with walkways and landscaping, including trees, on its perimeter.
- The Yards Bridge is a landmark, iconic, white tubular steel pedestrian bridge that spans the park’s water feature basin.
- The park’s water feature includes a grouping of vertical water jets inset on the upper plaza area, which is accessible for play; a large falling wall of water into the lower wading basin, which allows comfortable pedestrian access behind the sheet of water; and a large, rectangular wading basin pool approximately 12 inches deep which is also accessible for wading and water play.
- A broad, riverfront esplanade boardwalk runs the entire length of the park’s waterfront. The Yards Park waterfront boardwalk is linked to the east by a boardwalk of similar scale that runs the length of the existing Navy Yard’s riverfront (a large Navy cruiser-class ship is permanently docked there); to the west, The Yards Park is linked by a broad floating walkway to Diamond Teague Park which is adjacent to the Washington Nationals ballpark.
- Evening lighting of The Yards Park is extensive, significantly beyond functional levels and visually dramatic.
The Yards Park was built through a public/private partnership between the federal General Services Administration (GSA), the District of Columbia, and Forest City Washington. Forest City Washington is the master developer of the project and the Capitol Riverfront BID is responsible for managing the upkeep, programming and special events, and rental functions of the riverfront Yards Park. The park itself is owned by the District of Columbia. Online information about The Yards Park can be found at http://www.dcyards.com/ and http://www.yardspark.org/.
In March, the DC Film Office launched its One City Location of the Month to bring attention to the wide range of varied, cinematically compelling locations that are available to film and television productions. Former One City Location of the Month recipients this year include Ben’s Chili Bowl, Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater, the Hillcrest neighborhood in Southeast Washington, the Atlas Performing Arts Center, and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Rock Creek Parrish.
To learn more about The Yards Park and to view photos please visit the One City Location of the Month feature. If you are interested in using The Yards for a future filming location, please contact us at [email protected].