McMillan Sand Filtration Site is a twenty-five acre decommissioned
water treatment
Water treatment is any process that improves the Water quality, quality of water to make it appropriate for a specific end-use. The end use may be drinking water, drinking, industrial water supply, irrigation, river flow maintenance, water recrea ...
plant in northwest
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, built as part of the historic McMillan Reservoir Park. It is bound on the north by Michigan Avenue, on the east by
North Capitol Street
North Capitol Street is a street in Washington, D.C. that separates the Northwest and Northeast quadrants of the city.
Route description
North Capitol Street begins at D Street in Lower Senate Park, between Louisiana and Delaware Avenues north ...
, on the south by Channing Street and on the west by McMillan Drive; which runs along the edge of the reservoir, to which it was formerly attached. 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 before it was fenced off in WWII.
Below grade, there are twenty catacomb-like cells, each an acre in extent, where sand was used to filter water from the
Potomac River
The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...
by way of the
Washington Aqueduct
The Washington Aqueduct is an aqueduct that provides the public water supply system serving Washington, D.C., and parts of its suburbs, using water from the Potomac River. One of the first major aqueduct projects in the United States, the Aquedu ...
. The purification system was a
slow sand filter
Slow sand filters are used in water purification for treating raw water to produce a potable product. They are typically deep, can be rectangular or cylindrical in cross section and are used primarily to treat surface water. The length and bre ...
design that became obsolete by the late 20th century. In 1985, a new
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.
Rapid sand filters were first developed in the ...
plant replaced it across First Street beside the reservoir. The treatment system is operated by the
Army Corps of Engineers.
Public access to the site has been restricted since
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, when the Army erected a fence to guard against sabotage of the city's water supply. Until recently, specially arranged biannual tours were arranged for scores of visitors curious about the odd-looking structures. The site was never reopened to the public on the same basis as before the war.
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
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. 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 Plant was a Washington
public 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". Analyzing the det ...
milestone. Its innovative system of water purification, which relied on sand rather than chemicals, led to the elimination of
typhoid
Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...
epidemics and the reduction of many other
communicable diseases in the city. A legacy of the
City Beautiful Movement
The City Beautiful Movement was a reform philosophy of North American architecture and urban planning that flourished during the 1890s and 1900s with the intent of introducing beautification and monumental grandeur in cities. It was a part of the ...
and an integral part of the
McMillan Plan
The McMillan Plan (formally titled The Report of the Senate Park Commission. The Improvement of the Park System of the District of Columbia) is a comprehensive planning document for the development of the monumental core and the park system of Wa ...
to modernize Washington, the complex is an engineering wonder that served its original purpose until 1986.
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 site to catch the summer breezes that blew over the escarpment. During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
the
Girl Scouts camped and grew vegetables on the site between North Capitol Street and First Street. Boys played ball games on the east portion where there were fewer
manhole cover
A manhole cover or maintenance hole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, an opening large enough for a person to pass through that is used as an access point for an underground vault or pipe. It is designed t ...
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’ ownership, no commercial development of the site occurred. When the
National Capital Planning Commission
The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is a U.S. government executive branch agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C., and the surrounding National Capital Region. Through its planning policies and review of developmen ...
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
emaintained."
The site's future became uncertain, though, in 1986 when the Corps of Engineers declared the property surplus and asked the
General Services Administration
The General Services Administration (GSA) is an independent agency of the United States government established in 1949 to help manage and support the basic functioning of federal agencies. GSA supplies products and communications for U.S. gover ...
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
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development hell, when a project is stuck in development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
*Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped
* Photograph ...
. Since the time of purchase, the property has remained unused and closed to the public.
Recent events
Development proposals
![McMillanSandFiltration6779-102021](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/McMillanSandFiltration6779-102021.jpg)
The D.C. government began considering the McMillan Sand Filtration Site for commercial and residential development again in 2007. 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 riverfront property and the construction of the
Nationals Park
Nationals Park is a baseball stadium
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into the infield, an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined, and the outfield, where dimen ...
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 (VMP), in 2007. Their proposal includes a mix of uses, including housing, shopping and office space. The site would also include a network of accessible park space, including on the southern end of the site, a 1-acre healing garden on the north end, and an acre of green space over a preserved cell at the north end.
The VMP proposal has met with opposition from some neighborhood groups. The team has been meeting with the surrounding neighborhoods since before its selection in 2007 and has included neighborhood input in project revisions. The plan was unanimously approved by the Historic Preservation Review Board in May of 2016, which will vote on the buildings on the site but not the overall Master Plan for redevelopment.
In 2013
DC Water
The District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water) provides drinking water, sewage collection and sewage treatment for the District of Columbia, in the United States. The utility also provides wholesale wastewater treatment services ...
proposed a plan to use McMillan to provide neighborhood relief of flooding that plagued the
Bloomingdale neighborhood, in which the site is situated. The plan calls for the use of two cells to retain water, and to demolish a number of cells in order to provide access to the tunnel they will build on First Street, NW to manage the system.
In 2016, courts sided with community activists and rejected the DC Zoning Commission's approval of a $720 million project to transform the site into retail, office and residential space.
City council and court allow development to proceed
![McMillanSandRestoration5155-032122](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cd/McMillanSandRestoration5155-032122.jpg)
In summer 2021 the
City Council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
passed legislation authorizing demolition at the McMillan site. In October 2021 the
D.C. Court of Appeals ruled that the proposed development project may proceed pursuant to the legislation. Demolition of the site commenced in October 2021.
See also
*
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. Ar ...
References
External links
DC Government Office of Planning McMillan Reservoir ProjectEnvision McMillanSave McMillan Parkcitizen organization
Friends of McMillan Parkcitizen organization
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcmillan Sand Filtration Site
Buildings and structures in Washington, D.C.
History of Washington, D.C.
Water purification plant
1905 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Sand
Infrastructure completed in 1905
2022 disestablishments in Washington, D.C.
Demolished buildings and structures in Washington, D.C.
Infrastructure in Washington, D.C.