Proposal for RFK Stadium Campus Includes Possible new Redskins Stadium

Plans to redevelop the RFK Stadium-Armory site were the topic of discussion in front of the large crowd that turned out at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center Thursday night. H/T NBC 4 Washington.

Proposal for RFK Stadium Campus

The $489.6 million proposed project includes the following:

• Three multi-purpose recreation and community fields,
• A “Market Hall,” which would offer concessions, prepared food, and groceries for both neighborhood residents and visitors
• A state-of-the-art sports and recreation complex that would house activities including indoor basketball, soccer, go-karting, and entertainment programming
• Three pedestrian bridges that would provide access to the east side of the Anacostia and connect the RFK campus to Kingman Island, Heritage Island, and River Terrace
• A Robert F. Kennedy memorial, which would be built in the place of the existing stadium once it is demolished
• An option for a Washington Redskins stadium should the franchise choose that location. The team would have to cover the cost of the new stadium.

Events DC is overseeing the project and believes they can have the first five options above ready for use within 2-5 years.

“The long-term vision emphasizes the addition of roads that will provide a cross-grain to the current arterial roads, to make the entirety of the site, program elements and parking more accessible and traversable,” Events DC said. “In addition, based on community feedback received, the amount of green space will be increased by 240% to make the site more sustainable for years to come.”

Obviously, the team would still have to choose the site as the place for their future stadium, but it’s interesting to see the team name being mentioned in connection with the RFK site. For years now, anytime the two were mentioned together, it was always quickly followed with, “but they would have to change their name.” No mention of a name change came Thursday night.

The Redskins have recently begun searching out possible future locations for a new stadium. To this point, locations in Virginia and Maryland were under consideration for the franchise. The idea has been that the team was leaning towards the more name-friendly Virginia option since their front office is already located in Ashburn, but this could be a deal changer assuming the name issue is being dropped in DC.