A D.C. park was made 'for the pleasure of the people.' Trump's plan would change that
0 / 93
English
中文
Locals rally against Trump's potential redevelopment of East Potomac Park at a protest in early October. Runners, cyclists, birders and more worry they will lose access to the park under Trump's plan to overhaul the municipal golf course. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump's express wish to take over the East Potomac Golf Links has thrust a municipal D.C. golf course into the national spotlight.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
But locals rely on that area for much more than golfing — and worry the district could lose an invaluable recreational oasis. The southern tip of East Potomac Park, known as Hains Point, is beloved by cyclists, runners, picnickers and birders for its waterfront views, cherry trees and Ohio Drive, the scenic three-mile loop around its perimeter.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Runners use the wide, flat road to train; it's even a fixture of several major race courses, including the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday. "It's such an important part of the fabric of this region, even though it's not very well known [beyond it]," said Elizabeth Kiker, the executive director of the Washington Area Bicyclists Association.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
She herself took her now-husband on a bike ride on their second date 20 years ago. Locals describe Hains Point as a rare public resource in D.C.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
It's easily accessible from the National Mall yet removed from the crowds, full of people but free of traffic. Congress created it in 1897, "to be forever held and used as a park for the recreation and pleasure of the people." And yet, under the president's proposed golf course redesign, Hains Point as people know and love it may cease to exist.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
East Potomac Golf Links and Hains Point as seen from the top of the Washington Monument this week.
（暂无翻译）
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption Trump said on Truth Social last weekend that renovations would keep the entire park closed for 15 months starting in November. But it's not clear what would be left when it reopens: The rendering he posted shows an 18-hole course spanning the entire peninsula — including the current playground and picnic area on its southern tip — with no road visible around the perimeter.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
The White House referred NPR to the Department of the Interior, which did not respond to NPR's questions about whether those features would be removed as part of the redesign. The proposed renovations have so far been the subject of mixed messages from the administration: Trump said last weekend that work would begin in mid-November, then "immediately."
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
But government lawyers said in court Monday that they were not aware of a final plan. Even so, the government abruptly downed hundreds of trees on the course with little warning earlier this month, which critics worry was a pretext for beginning renovations. (The government says it was following up on recommendations from a 2019 landscaping report.) Judge Ana Reyes held a hearing on Monday to learn more about the tree-clearing and decide whether to block further work on the golf course. But it's not just the golf course that's at stake, as a group called Hains Point Runners told Reyes in the courtroom and a written brief.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
In its 35-page brief, the group says federal law requires the National Park Service to identify and consider the "longstanding recreational uses of the Hains Point corridor" and ways to avoid harming those uses, before embarking on any work that would change it.
（暂无翻译）
"From the perspective of the running community, that did not occur here," lawyers wrote. Ashley Hawkins of Prince George's County, Md., runs at Hains Point every day, even in the snow.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
She especially loves the river view and people watching: the families with fishing poles, binocular-wielding birders, people taking a leisurely drive.
（暂无翻译）
"Running is so tied to my mental health," Hawkins said on a recent sunny morning, stretching before she hit the road. "And no place in this area has given me the peace that Hains Point has."
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Hawkins has been following the headlines about her beloved running route. While she says she's still in denial about its potential closure, she sees the prospect as part of a pattern of Trump "bypassing" courts to advance his construction projects.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
"But to me, this feels the most egregious, because he's taking away public space and trying to make it private," she says. "It feels like one of the more king-like things that he's done so far."
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Trump's proposal would combine the park's three historic — and historically affordable — courses into one 18-hole "championship-style" course, which has already raised concerns about who will be able to play on it. Trump has said on Truth Social the golf course will "be open to the Public" while also able to host "world class tournaments" such as the U.S.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Open and PGA Championship. He's called the current course "dilapidated, and of no further use or effect," dubbing part of it "Trash Island." Each spring, when D.C.'s iconic cherry blossoms bloom, Hains Point is a fan-favorite viewing spot for both locals and tourists. The annual Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-mile run takes roughly 20,000 participants around the peninsula for that very reason.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
But race organizers are looking into backup options for next year given the rumored renovations, event director Rob Wolfe told NPR. In an email to prospective runners earlier this year, the organization said both the proposed golf course renovations and Trump's planned arch on nearby Arlington Memorial Bridge could significantly alter the course.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
It urged people to share their concerns with lawmakers and the National Park Service.
（暂无翻译）
Hains Point is part of the course of several major road races, including the Credit Union Cherry Blossom ten-mile run each April and the Marine Corps Marathon every October. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption Wolfe said the best race experience includes as many cherry blossoms as possible — ideally the ones that frame the park.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
But, he says, the park's future is "more important than our Sunday in April or Marine Corps Marathon's Sunday in October." "It's really important that people understand that if this roadway goes away, hundreds, thousands of people on a daily basis would lose out," he said.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Luke Cancilla, a runner and physical therapist who works primarily with endurance runners and cyclists, said Hains Point is a particularly safe environment because there are fewer obstacles such as traffic, stoplights and sidewalks. He often recommends it for people who are starting out or returning after an injury.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
"It's open to all of us, which makes it so unique," he said.
（暂无翻译）
"You don't have to have an experience level … or be intimated to go out there." The park is a popular spot for fishing in the Potomac River.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption Summer Delehanty, an avid birder, found out about Hains Point when she moved to the area for work about a year ago. She said it's played a huge role in building her D.C. community.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
"I've only been here a year, but I still have so many fond memories of going there," she said. "I was there January 1st looking for the snowy owl … I've been there on super hot days, I've picnicked there."
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Delehanty has spotted all kinds of birds at that park, including rarities such as the fork-tailed flycatcher. She said Hains Point is a uniquely great birdwatching spot in the district because of its position right along the Potomac River: People have a 360-degree view of the migrating birds that fly overhead or take shelter in the trees.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
"There's nothing else in D.C. like it," she said, adding that she's not sure where regular birders would go instead. They could perhaps get similar views from the Virginia side of the river, she said, but those wouldn't count as D.C. bird sightings.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
The Trump administration cut down 430 of the park's trees earlier this month, with less than a day's notice. That means fewer places for tired birds to rest, Delehanty says, and potentially fewer birds stopping by altogether.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
And, if the park is closed to humans, there won't be anyone there to track the species that do, which she said is important for conservation purposes. María-Elena Montero, president of the D.C.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Bird Alliance, says the potential closure of Hains Point would mean a "devastating loss of habitat" for birds and humans alike. "It belongs to the people," she said. "And to lose that aspect of being able to experience such a gorgeous space right in the middle of the city, right in the shadow of an airport and monuments … is a big loss for everybody."
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Last October, the Trump administration started dumping debris from another controversial construction project — the demolition of the White House East Wing — on the grounds of the golf course. In February, the D.C.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Preservation League and two local golfers sued the government in an effort to stop what they describe as an unlawful takeover of a public course. Fear and confusion grew this summer, when Trump was photographed touring East Potomac with a group including golf course architect Tom Fazio and staffers holding rolled-up renderings.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Trump later announced that Fazio would design a new championship-level course, with work set to begin on September 1. When Delehanty saw that news, she realized "this involves me directly," she said. She decided to put her design skills and sizable social media following to use, designing "Hands off Hains" T-shirts to raise awareness and money for the D.C.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Preservation League. She says she's sold around 200 so far, raising about $1,500.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
President Trump and officials toured the East Potomac golf course in June, fueling locals' concerns that construction would soon begin. Trump said this week that work would close the park starting in mid-November, though a plan has not been finalized. Mark Schiefelbein/AP hide caption "In the grand scheme of things, against an administration, is that going to do anything in court? Not really," she said.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
"But for me, it's about [the fact] these are 200 people that care so deeply about this they're willing to … wear a shirt, show up to these events and say 'This is not something I'm happy about.'" The push to protect the park is grassroots – and growing. There's Save East Po, a nonprofit started by a resident named Alex Rosen who works as a consultant and described himself to NPR as "just a guy who really likes a park and doesn't want to see its fundamental characters change significantly, especially without any public input." The D.C. Bird Alliance is leading a series of daily "Hold the Point!"
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
bird walks next week. And the Washington Area Bicyclists Association has held several installments of a combined bike-ride rally called "Hains Point Hoopla." East Potomac Park is a fan-favorite spot for locals and tourists alike to enjoy the cherry blossoms each spring.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption The most recent Hoopla, held earlier this month, featured speakers including David Hearn, the former Olympian falsely accused of damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool — and an avid cyclist.
（暂无翻译）
Critics see a throughline in Trump's D.C. construction projects.
（暂无翻译）
"It goes to this overall theme of potentially taking away from the local communities, making things a little bit more challenging and having us modify things in order for something that no one really asked for in the first place," said Cancilla, the running coach. He's one of many who would like to see more input from the community about the changes to East Potomac. Critics of Trump's plan say there are steps the government can take to improve the park — such as adding benches and fixing the crumbling seawall — without risking access to public resources. Amidst the court battle and confusion, locals are at least heartened to see their beloved park getting more national attention.
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
At a time when its future feels out of their hands, they're encouraging people to speak up and show up. That's no problem for Hawkins, who says she plans to keep running at Hains Point every day "until they physically tell me that I can't come anymore."
（暂无翻译） （暂无翻译）
Where would she go then?
（暂无翻译）
"I'm not ready to answer that question," she said.
（暂无翻译）
"I feel really tied to this place."
（暂无翻译）
仅供学习使用，如有侵权请联系删除 · 查看原文