The Trinidad Neighborhood Association board voted this week to support the Ivy City Civic Association/Empower DC petition on Change.org calling for workforce development and recreation at historic Crummell School over the DMPED’s proposed Bolt and intercity bus rest area and lot. The text of the petition letter is below, and we encourage you to add your signature to the growing list of supporters, and to also share this with your neighbors and friends.

The Ivy City Civic Association and Empower DC call for an immediate halt to the location of 65+ Bolt Buses on the lot of historic Crummell School, which would further pollute and harm the Ivy City community in the midst of its efforts to revitalize the community and develop a workforce development and recreation center on the Crummell site for the uplift of area residents.

DC’s Mayor Vince Gray & Deputy Mayor Victor Hoskins appear to moving forward with plans – despite community opposition – to allow 65+ Bolt Buses per day to park on the lot of the historic Alexander Crummell School lot for the next 5-10 years. The proposal goes against decades of civic activism during which the community has a laid out vision for Recreation and Workforce development at Crummell and has recently identified a nonprofit partner to provide necessary services. Even the City’s own Comprehensive Plan calls for the school to be restored as a workforce and youth development center. The Bolt Buses will also contribute to pollution and traffic in this already heavily impacted neighborhood. The Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Dept of Transportation officials have repeatedly refused Ivy City’s request for a meeting about this issue, and moved forward with their plans while the community had no City Council representation due to the resignation of former Councilman Harry Thomas Jr. There is no rationale for the buses to be parked at Crummell School when, like the proposed Bus Barn at Spingarn High School, they could be located at RFK, The PEPCO site or other available sites in close proximity to Union Station.

Sincerely,

The Ivy City Civic Association
Empower DC