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The 11th Street Bridge Park, a partnership between the Ward 8-based nonprofit Building Bridges Across the River and the District Department of Transportation, will be Washington, D.C.’s first elevated public park. Located on the piers of the old 11th Street Bridge spanning the Anacostia River, the Bridge Park will be a new venue for healthy recreation, environmental education and the arts. After a seven-month design competition, the design team of OMA+OLIN was selected in October 2014.

Join us for an informative walking tour and discussion with Building Bridges Across the River Senior Vice President & 11th Street Bridge Park Director Scott Kratz and learn about the extensive community outreach and consultative process, anchored by more than 1,000 stakeholder meetings for design, development and impact that has informed the project, and how the Bridge Park goes beyond supporting the community's cultural, physical and environmental health by also seeking to become an anchor for equitable and inclusive development in our nation’s capital by investing in affordable housing, workforce training, small business preservation and arts + culture strategies through its nationally recognized equitable development plan.

This tour is being offered as part of AIA|DC Advocacy’s Intersections Series, exploring the intersection of sustainability, resiliency, wellness, and equity.

This program is part of the Sense of Place Tour Series.

Learning Objectives:

• Explore the symbiotic nature of adaptive, sustainable, and resilient design with development that promotes equity, community engagement, and civic health.

• Identify opportunities for the renovation and adaptive re-use of infrastructure for public recreation and welfare.

• Identify and describe the culmination of environmental concerns and analysis, site design, and regulations involved in projects that convert extant infrastructure into parks.

• Investigate the use of an equitable development plan to encourage affordable housing, workforce training, small business preservation, and promote arts + culture and counter gentrification.

Presented by:

Scott Kratz, Building Bridges Across the River Senior Vice President & 11th Street Bridge Park Director

For the last ten years, Scott has been working with the Ward 8 based non-profit Building Bridges Across the River and the Washington D.C. city government to transform an old freeway bridge into a park above the Anacostia River. The old 11th Street Bridges that connect Capitol Hill with communities east of the river have reached the end of their lifespan, Scott is working with the community to use the base of one of the bridges to create a one of a kind civic space supporting active recreation, environmental education and the arts.

Scott is a resident of Barrack’s Row and has lived in Washington D.C. for the last 16+ years. He has worked in the education field for twenty+ years and began his career teaching at Kidspace, a children’s museum in Pasadena, California and later as the Associate Director of the Institute for the Study of the American West at the Autry National Center in Los Angeles, CA. While at the Autry, he supervised a staff that planned and implemented programs including theater, film, music, festivals, family programs, lecture series, and academic symposia. Most recently, he was the Vice President for Education at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. Scott is honored to serve on the board of the Anacostia Coordinating Council and the Anacostia Business Improvement District.