The National Park Service (NPS) has given its approval for the demolition of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial (RFK) Stadium in Washington, D.C.
The stadium opened in 1961 as District of Columbia Stadium and was renamed for the former U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator in January 1969. Over the years, it was the home of multiple professional sports teams, including football’s Washington Redskins and baseball’s Washington Senators and Washington Nationals; it also hosted concerts featuring the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Michael Jackson. The stadium, which is owned by the District of Columbia and located on NPS land, has not been used since 2019.
“The next step is for the NPS to issue a permit to the District of Columbia, which would allow the District to demolish the stadium,” said the NPS in a statement. “In addition to the permit, the NPS and the District will sign an agreement that confirms the District’s continued use and demolition of the property will follow the 1957 District of Columbia Stadium Act’s requirements.”
The NPS added that it has “evaluated the potential effects on the natural, cultural and human environment related to the demolition,” noting that hazardous materials, stadium seats, furniture, fixtures, equipment, trash and debris has already been removed from the site.
Photo: Duane Lempke / Wikimedia Commons
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Sign of the times. RIP RFK, sorry the DS is still at it.
Let’s stop treating the DC City Government as being part of a State (which doesn’t exist). Washington DC is Federal Land intended to be used for public purposes which enrich ALL of the people in the United States and not just DC residents or sports team millionaires.
There has never been a good reason to build sports facilities within the limits of the District of Columbia. Let’s demolish the stadium that should never have been built and let the Washington based teams seek land within State boundaries in either Maryland or Virginia.
The District of Columbia was never intended to have a large permanent residential population.