D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton unveiled plans Wednesday for retail, office and housing development on the east campus of historic St. Elizabeths Hospital in Anacostia.
The plans are designed to create a more community-friendly space in light of the construction of the Department of Homeland Security headquarters on the west campus, which some have complained will resemble a fortress.
“This is the first time the federal government has taken an agency across the Anacostia,” Mrs. Norton, a Democrat, said. “There is no question this can renew the ward. Ward 8 would not only be a neighborhood, it would become a destination.”
St. Elizabeths, built in the mid-19th century, is a storied mental institution on a 356-acre, 60-building campus on the Anacostia River. Carl Jung made psychiatric breakthroughs there, and poet Ezra Pound was confined there late in his life.
The advent of drugs that effectively treated psychiatric disorders reduced the need for mental hospitals and involuntary confinement. St. Elizabeths has been largely vacant since 1987.
The facility is separated between the east and west campuses. The west campus is owned by the federal government, while the east campus is owned by the District.
Mrs. Norton and D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty held a community meeting Wednesday morning to outline the plans. Mrs. Norton said she has been working on the project since 2006. The first phase was to develop the west campus.
“You cannot have a healthy ward with two huge, empty hunks of land taking up most of the space along the avenue,” Mrs. Norton said.
Mr. Fenty will submit the plans to the D.C. Council on Tuesday.
Mrs. Norton said construction can start by February if the D.C. Council approves the plans at its Dec. 8 meeting.
“The community is anxious to see more job opportunities,” said Sean Madigan, spokesman for Mr. Fenty. “We have come a long way with city support so far.”
Mr. Madigan said the plan was to incorporate the Congress Heights Metro station into the area by adding more shopping areas and restaurants. Mrs. Norton said everything is being done to preserve St. Elizabeths’ historic buildings.
“Two-thirds of the 60 buildings will be preserved for reuse,” she said. “That is going to take some expense.”
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