Re-Imagining The Watha T. Daniel Library

Watha T. Daniel Library

Could the site of the closed Watha T. Daniel library in Shaw become home to not only to a new library, but also housing and perhaps even a small store?

That’s what Cheryl Cort, Policy Director for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, is suggesting in a provocative proposal being circulated in the community, that I have published below.

Zoning Around Watha T. Daniel LibraryThe idea is not as far-fetched as it might seem. Although composed of barely a quarter of an acre of land, the library site is located immediately adjacent two large Section 8 subsidized apartment buildings and across the street from an exit to the Shaw Metro station. (The canopy can be seen to the far left in the photo above.) A dense development would fit nicely in the existing context, and take advantage of the proximity both to Metro and 7th Street buses, which will soon include the new Metro Extra. As Cheryl suggests, a creative re-use of the building could provide not only library and retail services but also additional housing and safety to the neighborhood. Furthermore, the parcel is already zoned R-5-D, a category designed to include both residential buildings and “institutional and semi-public buildings that would be compatible with the adjoining residential uses.”

A quick web search turned up an article about the project in Portland, Oregon Cheryl mentions, where mixed-use development combines a library, restaurant, and 47 apartments — 19 of which are reserved for households below the area’s median income. Although the situation here in Shaw may have been created by poor planning by library officials, the closed library presents a tremendous opportunity for a creative redevelopment.

Watha T. Daniel Library redevelopment proposal for a mixed use facility
By Cheryl Cort

Our closest (closed) library is the Watha T Daniel library at the 8th & R St. entrance of the Shaw Metro station. It feels or is unsafe at night; it’s a depressing place by day due to poor land uses and urban design.

The Mayor has promised to rebuild or reopen the 4 closed libraries as soon as possible.

Given the problems with crime and poor land uses around the Watha T. Daniel Library and the adjacent Shaw Metro station, a mixed use library at this site with a pedestrian-friendly design is particularly important for creating a safer environment for the community, library patrons and Metro riders. To create a safer and more inviting street environment and library, I propose reconstructing a new library with affordable housing units above, and possibly a small retail space at the ground level. This proposal is similar to the new branch library in Portland Oregon which doubled library space, added a café and 40 units of housing – 19 of which are affordable.

Transportation: The Watha T. Daniel site is tight but located next to a Metro station, close to grocery stores, shops, services & downtown. In order to provide added public benefits, such as affordable housing on top of a new library, I propose that the mixed building be developed with no automobile parking. Instead, residents can be offered a valuable package of carsharing memberships & discounted usage, transit passes, bicycles and bicycle parking (ShawEco Village could provide the bicycles). The transportation benefits package could equal the cost of renting a parking space in such a location – about $150 per month. Two to four on-street carsharing vehicles could be parked adjacent to the new library building. Access to residential parking permits could be limited to a small number in order to address adjacent neighbor concerns about more competition for $15/year residential public street parking.

Until now, the opportunity to leverage the value of the library sites through redevelopment to provide greater public benefits has been largely overlooked. These public benefits include: expanded library space, public meeting and study spaces, enhanced technology, synergistic development potential with adjacent schools/public facilities, and complementary private uses such as a café and affordable housing that could offer greater safety and vibrancy to the library as a center of civic life.

I understand that some people have been skeptical of the opportunity to leverage added public benefits from a public-private venture for the library. The idea of mixed use libraries to maximize complementary public benefits is not new. The Montgomery County Library in Rockville, Maryland, is finishing a ground floor café that marks the prominent corner of the street and public plaza that leads to the main entrance of the new main library for the County. Library agencies all over the country are building mixed use, complementary facilities to leverage the opportunity to expand library space and offer other public benefits such as affordable housing and activities to reinforce the vitality and safety of public realm through cafes and other small-scale retail. This is the kind of mix of uses that would great benefit a new Watha T. Daniel Library.

I propose that we adopt a resolution asking for the city to look into a public-private partnership to increase the library space, upgrade facilities and add complementary uses such as a café and affordable housing.

Author: Rob Goodspeed

Comments

  1. There are a number of places around DC where this would be great. Tenleytown is another where there is a Metro station, a library, and a plethora of opportunity.

  2. I LOVE it! I’m all for mixed use & mixed income…Its terrible that shaw has been with out a library for so long. whats the sq footage of the lot?

  3. Rob, this is such a common sense proposal, it’s hard to figure out why it hasn’t happened yet. But, as a resident of the area, and an attendee of local meetings, I’m sure you’ve heard that an enormous amount of people are more than just skeptical of development like this…they’re vehemently opposed to it.

    It’s unfortunate, because dense development of a location like this, incorporating all of the things that Ms. Cort proposes would be brilliant. If people could just be made to see how a public property like this could provide benefits to the public on so many levels (housing, safety, retail, and educational), like I said, it just screams common sense.

    People are just so scared of change. I really fear that some of the reasons that we don’t see more creative applications of development is because people in DC really are conservative…they are afraid of change, afraid to try…

  4. We can barely fit a library on this site. Because of the configuration of the lot, no on site parking can be accommodated, and there isn’t enough space for two elevators, which would be needed in order to provide a residential entrance. We struggled for months trying to get DCPL to let us have a basement again: the proposal was for a 16,000 square foot building on two levels. We, community residents, Friends of the Watha T. Daniel Library, library advocates, etc., were glad the contracts were cancelled for the previous proposed replacement library because we were going to get a library 2/3 the size of the one we already had. And we had to spend months killing the move to reconsider mixed use development on this site. It’s too small. Look elsewhere for your demonstration project. The demolition contract for the current building has been let. Community meetings to discuss the new building’s program will begin shortly. DCPL is too much of a dinosaur agency for us to ever hope to get more than the replacement library building that’s proposed. And after having my constituents deprived of library services for three years, and it will probably be six years before they get full services again, I will oppose any plans to further delay our new library’s construction to allow for further consideration of a mixed use developmet on the site. Anyone who disagrees can expalin to the hundreds of children and seniors who want a library again ASAP why they should have to wait a single extra day to explore mixed use development again.

  5. This is a response posted on my blog by Alex Padro relating to your post:

    We can barely fit a library on this site. Because of the configuration of the lot, no on site parking can be accommodated, and there isn’t enough space for two elevators, which would be needed in order to provide a residential entrance. We struggled for months trying to get DCPL to let us have a basement again: the proposal was for a 16,000 square foot building on two levels. We, community residents, Friends of the Watha T. Daniel Library, library advocates, etc., were glad the contracts were cancelled for the previous proposed replacement library because we were going to get a library 2/3 the size of the one we already had. And we had to spend months killing the move to reconsider mixed use development on this site. It’s too small. Look elsewhere for your demonstration project. The demolition contract for the current building has been let. Community meetings to discuss the new building’s program will begin shortly. DCPL is too much of a dinosaur agency for us to ever hope to get more than the replacement library building that’s proposed. And after having my constituents deprived of library services for three years, and it will probably be six years before they get full services again, I will oppose any plans to further delay our new library’s construction to allow for further consideration of a mixed use developmet on the site. Anyone who disagrees can expalin to the hundreds of children and seniors who want a library again ASAP why they should have to wait a single extra day to explore mixed use development again.

    Alexander M. Padro
    Commissioner, ANC 2C01
    President, Friends of Watha T. Daniel Library

  6. And here’s my response:

    Thanks for the response, Alex.

    I don’t think of this proposal as a “demonstration project” at all. I certainly concede that the property presents some challenges regarding its size, but principles of smart growth are essential to our neigborhood’s renewal and to D.C.’s goal of transit oriented development (I mean, this site is ACROSS THE STREET from the metro! It would be a crime not to maximize the use of this property!). If housing is not doable, at very least a retail spot should be workable. Furthermore, I think the “traditional” library concept is no longer the best format for our community in this digital age, so hopefully that consideration is on your group’s radar.

    For the children and seniors, we are getting a three quarter of a million dollar modular library in front of Shaw Middle School, a block and a half away from the library site, in the near future (fences are up, presumably the facility will arrive soon) to meet our library need. Though I strongly dislike this temporary solution to the lack of library problem, it buys us time so that we don’t have to rush to build. DCPL is clearly an ineffective agency, but can we not demand more and better?

  7. Have a peek at Remaking Le Slum Historique. Alex weighed in rather heavily against any other use than a traditional library. The bunker building never had many users other than a few kids on the two rickety PCs checking e-mails and winos chilling. Thus the proposals advocated by Ms Cort and you are worthy of consideration.

  8. Alex, thanks for your comment, I didn’t realize a mix-used library was already considered. How can folks get involved with the Friends of Watha T. Daniel Library if they would like to help?

  9. The DC Public library has been remarkable slow on the uptake. But the entirely new administration should be given a chance. Though horrible at PR, they are accomplishing some things.
    This should be a mixed use site. I had the opportunity to visit University of MD’s main library the other day and it was a shock…it was full of people (students and others)…doing location-appropriate stuff–studying, writing. I thought “what a contrast” to the very underused MLKML. And the library is NOT just a place for books–it is a common space, an information space, a community space. Well-thought out mixed use could give us a decent mixed-use library and other public/private uses.

    As for opposing this idea, Alex gives us a very good idea why he was not reappointed to the Library Board. The flexibility, open-mindedness, and creativity shown is clear.

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