Volta Park to Get $450,000 Rehab

The District government is paying $400,000 for the cost of the upgrades for Volta Park on 34th Street, while the community fundraiser will take care of the remaining $50,000. Throughout the construction process, the tot lot will be closed and later rebuilt.

Mayor Vincent Gray, D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation Director Jesús Aguirre and Department of General Services Director Brian Hanlon announced in October that the District government would be undertaking the largest playground renovation project in its history. “Improving every resident’s quality of life is one of the main goals of my One City Action Plan, and every child in the District should have a safe and inviting place to play,” said Mayor Gray. “Renovating these playgrounds is an investment in the well-being of our children that will pay dividends for years to come.”

As part of his Playground Improvement Project, Gray tasked the parks department with identifying the playgrounds across the city most in need of renovations. Initially, this project was to be a multi-year endeavor as the District worked to improve all of the playgrounds in the city’s inventory. However, Gray pushed this initiative to the front of the line and worked with his budget team to identify additional end-of-year capital funds to both add additional playgrounds to the project and accelerate the pace of renovations. As a result, a total of 32 playgrounds will now be renovated in Fiscal Year 2013.