Community Service
Community Improvement Day 2003
Mark Baughman
SKB ArchitureArchitecture & Design
Co-Chair, DCBIA Community Services Committee
On Saturday, September 12, 2003, DCBIA will hold its Eleventh Annual Community Improvement Day (CID) at Deanwood Recreation Center in Northeast Washington. This charitable event has become a cornerstone of the District's efforts to engage private businesses as partners to help revitalize neighborhoods. DCBIA has made a significant difference in the lives of many District citizens in ten different communities over the past several years. Through the process of working with the neighboring residents, related civic leaders and District officials, DCBIA's Community Improvement Day has not only made a big difference in the lives of community residents, it has enhanced the lives of the many DCBIA volunteers who have worked diligently for the past ten years to make it happen!
This year's event is co-chaired by Kent Fee (Lehman-Smith+MacLeish) and Karen Swick (SKB Architecture & Design), both longtime veterans of CID. Deanwood Recreation Center is situated between the Deanwood Metro Station (Orange Line) and Ron Brown Middle School. The park has a daycare center, ballfields, tennis courts, basketball courts, a small swimming pool and poolhouse and playgrounds. Currently, many members of the community feel that this large natural resource does not have sufficient facilities for people of all ages, and therefore is not seen as a true neighborhood magnate. Our goal is to repair and expand the facilities so that members of the community of all ages can relate to Deanwood Recreation Center as their own (this includes the park area).
We will renovate and expand the existing daycare center building, adding playground equipment for children of various ages; we will rebuild the baseball and softball fields, repair the basketball courts, expand landscaping, install new picnic facilities and expand a senior's walk and exercise circuit.
Once again, Hines is the lead corporate sponsor of Community Improvement Day. Gary Ball (Davis Construction) and Danielle DeChick (SOMA Architects) are the captains of the daycare center building renovation and expansion. Matthew Ferris and Janet Rankin (Lehman-Smith+MacLeish) will captain the playgrounds and picnic area. Cynthia Bowden (Skidmore Owings & Merrill), who designed this year's flyer, along with Carmen Epstein and Bozena Drzystek (Hillier), will captain the school courtyard and play area renovations with Stacy Hoffman (Structure Tone). Krista Strickland (Beery Rio Architects) and Leonard Auchincloss (Jones Lang LaSalle) are the captains of the paving repair work. Tom Jones (SKB Architecture and Design) will lead the design team for a mural on the poolhouse – similar to last year's DC Sports Figures mural that has now become a City landmark. Mike Corrigan and Ron Barckoff and the rest of Jefferson Millwork team will again make major contributions of millwork and manpower. Derek Gallardo and Reggie McCauley (Pepco) will ensure sufficient lighting to keep the park safe. Toni Aluisi, Tonisha Beards (Mestel & Company) and Marissa Martinez (Centex Construction) will direct the public relations operations – they were extremely successful last year. Gary Tvrdik (HITT Contracting) will team up with SKB Architecture & Design for the renovations of the ballfields. Alisa Lang Regulinski (Design Products) will provide the ever-popular barbecue lunch for the several hundred volunteers on Community Improvement Day, and Norman Haines (Haines Land Design) will head up the landscaping/design efforts as he has every year since 1993 when we first started these community service projects.
The difficult task of fundraising will again be undertaken by Steve Mutty (Advantis) and Lance Jaccard (OTJ). DCBIA members have always been very generous and we look for their generosity again this year. No need to wait for the call – just pick up the phone and call the DCBIA office at (202) 966-8665 and pledge your support!
And don't forget to mark your calendar for Saturday, September 12 – bring your tools along and your muscles for some hard work and lots of good fun. Have a great summer!
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