ROD-Extended Closure of Grove #24 Playground

United States Department of the Interior

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE-National Capital Region

Rock Creek Park
3545 Williamsburg Lane, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20008-1207


Record of Determination for a Partial and Temporary Closure of a Portion of Certain Federal Parkland for Human Health and Safety

Pursuant to 36 CFR 1.5(a), Rock Creek Park, a unit of the National Park Service, is temporarily closing a portion of Rock Creek Park for playground equipment repair and surface replacement. Specifically, from 7:00 am Monday, May 23, 2022, through 5:00 pm Sunday, July 31, 2022, the playground at Picnic Grove 24 – located in the Brightwood Recreation Area, west of the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center at 16th Street NW and Colorado Avenue NW -- will be fully closed to all public use. The playground will be accessible only to National Park Service employees and project contractors. The temporary closure of the playground at Picnic Grove 24 is necessary to safely repair metal play equipment, and to replace the worn and compacted play surface and return it to compliance with current play surface standards. The remainder of Picnic Grove 24, including the picnic shelter, will remain open and available for recreational use. Less restrictive measures are not possible given the need to close the playground to protect the public from unsafe conditions during the repairs and surface replacement process. The temporary closure, anticipated to last five weeks, does not constitute an impairment to park resources and values. It is not of a nature, magnitude, or duration that will result in a significant alteration in the public use pattern of the park area, nor is it of a highly controversial nature due to the short duration of the closure and the availability of other playgrounds in the area. Accordingly, the National Park Service has determined publication as rulemaking in the Federal Register is unwarranted under 36 CFR 1.5(b). The partial and temporary park closure and public use limitation is consistent with hundreds of other temporary park closures, the legal opinion of the Office of the Solicitor, and judicial adjudications. ANSWER coalition v. Norton, No. 05-0071, (D.D.C. January 18, 2005, Mahoney v. Norton, No. 02-1715 (D.D.C. August 22, 2002), plaintiffs’ emergency motion for appeal for injunction pending appeared denied Mahoney v. Norton, No. 02-5275 (D.C.Cir. September 9, 2002) (per curiam); Picciotto v. United States, No. 99-2113 (D.D.C. August 6, 1999); Picciotto v. Lujan, No. 90-1261 (D.D.C. May 30, 1990); Picciotto v. Hodel, No. 87-3290 (D.D.C. December 7, 1987); Speigel v. Babbitt, 855 F Supp. 402 (D.D.C. 1994), affd in parr wlo op. 56F. 3d 1531(D.C.Cir. 1995), reported in full, 1995 US App. Lexis 15200 (D.C.Cir. May 31,1995). This is consistent with Rock Creek Park's past partial and temporary park closures for maintenance activities. Pursuant to 36 CFR 1.7, notice of this temporary and partial closure will be made through media advisories, maps, and posting of signs at conspicuous locations in affected park area. Finally, pursuant to 36 CFR 1.5(c), this determination is available to the public upon request.