Tonight: NPS Woodson Site Public Meeting for General Management Plan

I apologize for the late notice (I'm just now seeing this), but from NPS comes news of a meeting (tonight, February 22, 2012):

The National Park Service is developing a General Management Plan/Environmental Assessment/Interpretation Plan for the Carter G. Woodson Home National Historic Site.


The plan describes the process for development, visitor use, and management of the national historic site. Throughout the planning process, the National Park Service has received ideas and comments from members of the public. Input from the public is valuable, and I hope you will take part in reviewing the plan.

The plan will be available online in mid-February 2012 at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/woodsongmp; I invite your and comments.

The review and comment period will last for 30 days once the plan is released. To promote environmental stewardship, only a limited number of printed copies and USB flash drives will be available; therefore, I encourage you to access the plan online. Please make your comments on the website listed above. (To request a printed copy or USB flash drive of the plan, please call 202-673-2402.)

You are also invited to provide feedback at a public meeting.

Please join us:

PUBLIC MEETING FOR GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLAN

WHEN: Wednesday, February 22, 2012

WHERE: African American Civil War Memorial and Museum

1925 Vermont Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20001

TIME: 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

A presentation will be made regarding the plan, and National Park Service staff will be available to answer your questions. If you are unable to attend the meeting, I recommend visiting www.nps.gov/cawo starting in mid-February to view a video message from me. Look under Park Management on the website for a link to the video. For more information about national historic site, please visit www.nps.gov/cawo . I welcome your participation in this planning effort and look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for your interest!

Sincerely,

Alexcy Romero, Superintendent

National Capital Parks-East

NPS To Install Signage at Woodson Site Soon

According to this presentation (PDF):

The National Park Service is proposing to permanently install two exterior interpretive wayside panels in front of the Dr. Carter G. Woodson Historic Site in the Shaw community. The site was named after Dr. Woodson the “Father of Black History” and is located in a heavily trafficked urban community near Rhode Island Avenue, the Washington Convention Center, and several neighborhood schools. The panels will stand on the sidewalk in an unobstructed location in front of the home of Dr. Carter G. Woodson and the future visitor complex area at 1540 9th Street which the NPS currently owns and plans to restore and operate as a staffed park unit with tours and visitor service.

The two panels are to be placed in front of the historic site on the sidewalk, in approximate alignment with the projection of the existing entry stairs. Two alternative locations for the panels are being considered. The first location is centered between the two window bays in front of the Woodson home. The second location is centered between the two window bays in the adjacent NPS property at 1540 9th Street, NW, which would be in between the historic home and the future entrance to the visitor services facility to be located at 1542 9th Street, NW. Because it will be several years before the visitor services facility is opened, the NPS prefers the first alternative, to locate the signs directly in front of the Woodson home, so that there is a more direct and straightforward connection to the historic home.

This project seeks to provide a limited interpretive experience for pedestrians, visitors and the tour groups who visit the site so that they may understand how Dr. Woodson, the Shaw community, and the organization he founded, Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, changed the nation and world. Until the home is completely restored and opened to the public, these wayside panels will interpret the site’s significance. The National Park Service hopes to install the panels between the second week of January 2012 before the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or by the end of February 2012, Black History Month, which Woodson started in 1926.