Adams Morgan’s Unity Park will reopen on July 15

On July 15, Adams Morgan’s Unity Park will reopen with a celebration from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. According to PoPville, the event will offer snacks, refreshments, and family-friendly art activities. That same day, at 9 a.m., there will be a free boot camp that will last approximately 50 minutes. The park is bounded by Columbia Road NW and Champlain and Euclid streets NW.

Unity Park has been fenced off since mid-May. Once reopened, the refreshed space will offer additional lighting, seating, and greenery. There will also be a new walkway, and the fountain will be restored.

In November 2015, community members, business owners, historians, and elected officials in Adams Morgan created the Adams Morgan Vision Framework, an action plan with the vision to increase the number of affordable units, green spaces, and public artworks in the neighborhood. In the action plan, there were hopes to redesign Unity Park so that it is "culturally sensitive and age-friendly," while also offering public artworks and an outdoor food service.

The statue in the park, called “Carry the Rainbow on Your Shoulders” by Jerome Meadows, was also planned to be retained with the fountain repaired and restored.

At the time the action plan was created, Unity Park was described as having a “waning” utility with a design that was “stagnating relative to the liveliness of the [Columbia Road] commercial corridor.”

In June 1996, Washington City Paper had a few other descriptions for the park, which included “wino park, a public urinal, [and] a vomitorium.”

Rendering via the Adams Morgan Vision Framework

In September 2011, Unity Park’s food market closed down after three years of business. DCist reported that the Unity market was “born of necessity” after multiple police fines caused the D.C. Office of Latino Affairs to relocate to the triangular plot of land.

Eventually, local restaurants complained that the vendors in Unity Market had a competitive advantage by not having to pay rent or taxes or deal with consistent inspections.

There are no reports of Unity Market reopening along with Unity Park.

Photo via Google Street View

• Unity Market Shuts Down After Contentious Three-Year Run [DCist]

• Unity Park Reopening across from coming LINE Hotel on Columbia Road [PoPville]

• Adams Morgan Will Create More Affordable Housing, Improve Retail, and More [Curbed DC]