Enhancing and Maintaining the Park

When FOGWP was formed in 2005, the National Park Service had developed a design for the park, but it did not have sufficient funds to begin park construction.  Working in partnership with the District of Columbia government and the National Park Service, FOGWP completed raising the public and private funds needed to begin constructing Phase 1 of the park in 2006, and to finish Phase 2 in 2011.

Since the park opened, FOGWP has focused on raising funds for a Park Maintenance Endowment. These funds are needed to supplement the National Park Service’s regular maintenance of the park as trees, shrubs, grasses, perennials and other features in the heavily-used park need to be replaced.  The Park Maintenance Endowment has also funded several features in the original park plan that were not constructed, including the cable fence along the bio-edge.

As Phase 1 of the park moves into its second decade, the Park Maintenance Endowment will be needed to renew landscape and hardscape features in a park that hosts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.