McMillan Sand Filtration Site
Encyclopedia
Water purification
Water purification is the process of removing undesirable chemicals, materials, and biological contaminants from contaminated water. The goal is to produce water fit for a specific purpose...
plant in northwest Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
connected to the McMillan Reservoir
McMillan Reservoir
The McMillan Reservoir is a reservoir in Washington, D.C. that supplies the majority of the city's municipal water. It was originally called the Howard University Reservoir or the Washington City Reservoir, and was completed in 1902 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The reservoir was built on...
. It is bound on the north by Michigan Avenue, on the east by North Capitol Street
North Capitol Street
North Capitol Street is a street in Washington, D.C. that separates the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of the city. The street begins at D Street due north of the United States Capitol and continues northward 4½ miles to Nicholson Street where it is interrupted by Fort Slocum Park and the...
, on the south by Channing Street and on the west by First Street. Two paved courts lined by regulator houses, tower-like sand bins, sand washers and the gated entrances to the underground filter cells provided a promenade for citizens taking the air in the park.
Below grade there are twenty catacomb-like cells, each an acre in extent, where sand was used to filter water from the Potomac River
Potomac River
The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...
by way of the Washington Aqueduct
Washington Aqueduct
The Washington Aqueduct is an aqueduct that provides the public water supply system serving Washington, D.C., and parts of its suburbs. One of the first major aqueduct projects in the United States, the Aqueduct was commissioned by Congress in 1852, and construction began in 1853 under the...
. The purification system was a slow sand filter
Slow sand filter
Slow sand filters are used in water purification for treating raw water to produce a potable product. They are typically 1 to 2 metres deep, can be rectangular or cylindrical in cross section and are used primarily to treat surface water...
design that became obsolete by the late 20th century. In 1985 a new rapid sand filter
Rapid sand filter
The rapid sand filter or rapid gravity filter is a type of filter used in water purification and is commonly used in municipal drinking water facilities as part of a multiple-stage treatment system...
plant replaced it across First Street beside the reservoir. The treatment system is operated by the Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
.
Public access to the site has been restricted since World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when the Army erected a fence to guard against sabotage of the city's water supply. Specially arranged biannual tours are supported by scores of visitors curious about the odd-looking structures.
In 1991, the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board designated McMillan Park a Historic Landmark and nominated the site for the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. It included the site on their "List of Most Endangered Properties in 2000" and again in 2005.
History
The 1905 completion of the McMillan Reservoir Sand Filtration Site was a Washington public healthPublic health
Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...
milestone. Its innovative system of water purification, which relied on sand rather than chemicals, led to the elimination of typhoid epidemics and the reduction of many other communicable diseases in the city. A legacy of the City Beautiful Movement
City Beautiful movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy concerning North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of using beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. The movement, which was originally associated mainly with Chicago,...
and an integral part of the McMillan Plan
McMillan Plan
The McMillan Plan was an architectural plan for the development of Washington, D.C., formulated in 1902 by the Senate Park Improvement Commission of the District of Columbia which had been formed by Congress the previous year.-United States Park Commission:...
to modernize Washington, the complex is an engineering wonder that served its original purpose until 1986.
In 1906 Secretary of War William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft was the 27th President of the United States and later the tenth Chief Justice of the United States...
designated the site part of the McMillan Reservoir Park, a memorial to Senator James McMillan (R-Michigan), for his work as chairman of the Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
Commission on the Improvement of the Park System and his efforts in shaping the development of the city at the turn of the 19th century. After Taft became U.S. President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
officially designated the site as a park in March 1911.
The park was conceived of as part of "a necklace of emeralds," large permanent reserves of open green space connected by trails that would ring the city. The site’s design and construction involved the leading civil engineers, urban planners, artists and architects including pre-eminent landscape architect of the time: Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. was an American landscape architect best known for his wildlife conservation efforts. He had a lifetime commitment to national parks, and worked on projects in Acadia, the Everglades and Yosemite National Park. Olmsted Point in Yosemite and Olmsted Island at Great Falls...
, engineer Allen Hazen, sculptor Herbert Adams and architect Charles Platt
Charles A. Platt
Charles Adams Platt was a prominent artist, landscape gardener, landscape designer, and architect of the "American Renaissance" movement. His garden designs complemented his domestic architecture.-Early career:...
.
The site has been described as "an imaginative combination of landscaped park, with promenades, sculpture, curving carriage drives, careful grading and the placement of trees planned and personally supervised by Olmsted. The heirs of Senator McMillan personally financed the landscaping." Crowning the park was a pink granite fountain, designed by Adams and Platt and dedicated in 1913 as a memorial to Senator McMillan. Featuring three nymphs representing faith, hope and charity, the monument was funded by contributions from every Michigan county. The fountain has since been removed.
Residents from the ethnically diverse neighborhoods near the park expressed their "delight in this rigidly segregated city in being able to enjoy its amenities regardless of race. Courting couples promenaded on the geometrically laid out avenues on the east site under a canopy of clipped trees, families on hot summer nights slept in the park to catch the summer breezes that blew over the escarpment, boys played ball games on the east portion where there were fewer manhole cover
Manhole cover
A manhole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, to prevent anyone from falling in and to keep unauthorized persons out....
s near Michigan Avenue. They laughed about sometimes falling through the center of a vault to the white sand beneath when a manhole cover had been left open."
During the Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
’ ownership, no commercial development of the site occurred. When the National Capital Planning Commission
National Capital Planning Commission
The National Capital Planning Commission is a U.S. government agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C. and the surrounding National Capital Region...
prepared the federal element of its first Comprehensive Plan in 1983, it included McMillan Park as among the "Parks, Open Space and Natural Features" of the city that "should be conserved and whose essential Open Space Character [be] maintained."
The site's future became uncertain, though, in 1986 when the Corps of Engineers declared the property surplus and asked the General Services Administration
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. The GSA supplies products and communications for U.S...
to dispose of it. GSA iterated its position that open space was not the highest and best use of the property, and insisted on selling the property for mixed commercial development over the objections of the McMillan Park Committee.
The District of Columbia government purchased the site from the federal government in 1987 for $9.3M, in order to facilitate development
Land development
Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as:* changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing...
. Since the time of purchase, the property has been vacant and has deteriorated severely due to lack of maintenance.
Recent developments
The D.C. government is again considering the McMillan Sand Filtration Site for commercial and residential development. The National Capital Revitalization Corporation (NCRC), a development agency created by the city, selected the site as part of a land swap deal involving Anacostia riverfrontAnacostia River
The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. It is approximately long...
property and the construction of the Nationals Park baseball stadium. (The government dissolved the NCRC in 2007 and merged its functions into the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.)
The government selected a development team, Vision McMillan Partners, in 2007. Their proposal includes 1,200 units of housing with buildings up to 10 stories, a 100000 square feet (9,290.3 m²) shopping center, a 125-room hotel and conference center and underground parking. Limited open green space would remain.
Citizen groups have voiced objections, calling for maximum green space with appropriate repurposing. Different groups have lobbied for a museum, a library, a park, and a national memorial for dogs that died in war.