DRAFT Briefing Statement: Trust for the National Mall

DRAFT Briefing Statement: Trust for the National Mall

Bureau: National Park Service

Issue: Public and Private Partnership Aimed at National Mall/ Monumental Core Parks, District of Columbia

Park Site: National Capital Parks: Central, White House Liaison Office

Date: September 29, 2002

Background: This is a summary of the status of activities related to the proposed partnership between the Trust for the National Mall, the National Park Service, National Capital Region, and the National Park Foundation. The goal of the partnership is prepare a restoration plan for the National Mall/ Monumental Core parks, improve communication with the communities they serve, increase park volunteer efforts, and raise private monies to supplement funds appropriated by Congress.

Current Status:

• Public Law 90-209, approved by Congress in 1967, established the 

National Park Foundation (NPF) to encourage private gifts of real and personal property for the benefit of the National Park Service.  The National Park Act of 1998 specifically authorized NPF to promote philanthropic programs of support at the individual park unit level.  

• In 1999 the NPS, National Capital Region (NCR)Superintendent’s 

Cluster identified the impact of budget shortfalls on current and future operations of parks as one of the highest regional priorities.   In addition to creating the Greater Washington National Parks Fund, NCR and NPF have been providing assistance to individual park units and sites to support their efforts to educate and motivate the public to help ensure long-term protection of resources under NPS’s care, and respond to the needs of the Cluster.

   •  In May 2002 representatives from the Trust for the National Mall (Trust), led by the Chief Operating Officers of Akridge Real Estate Services and Barbour Griffith & Rogers, Inc., contacted NPS and proposed that NPS and the Trust work together to create a public/ private partnership.  The Trust proposes a public/ private partnership “to harmonize the security needs, the multiple uses, and aesthetic opportunities to transform the Mall into the Nation’s urban “Jewel in the Crown” of the National Park System”. 

The goal of the Trust, a private non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, is to establish the National Mall/ Monumental Core as a world-class urban outdoor space. The Trust seeks “to provide for the restoration of the National Mall/ Monumental Core to it’s historical role as a gracious, vibrant and welcoming space for citizens, residents and visitors as well as a grand natural setting for important ceremonial, educational and recreational activities”. 

In response to the Trust’s interest, a series of meetings were held to further explore alternatives for a private/ public partnership. Discussions have included leaders of the Trust, NPS park superintendents and regional leadership, NPF managers, and leaders of the Greater Washington National Parks Fund.

On September 3, 2002 the Trust, NPS and NPF met and agreed to purse a public/ private partnership.  The creation and implementation of the partnership will be implemented in phases using a consensus-based approach to decision-making.  Phase I of the partnership is focused on an agreement to work together to prepare a Restoration Plan for the National Mall.  The plan is intended to provided agreement on the most important park needs; provide a vision that can be used to engage the public and philantrophic interests, and enable the Trust, NPF and NPS to develop a working relationship.  Key leaders are being interviewed to help design the agreement.

The Agreement will:

1. Identify goals for collaboration
2. Identify conditions for success
3. Determine who the key parties are to be involved; how they will be involved; and when they will be involved
4. Define plan methodology
5. Determine boundary area
6. Schedule for plan preparation 
7. Determine nature of partnership

The planning process--how we get to a plan, will:

1. Inventory existing historic and present information
2. Dissect the area into manageable units
3. Establish priorities for each unit (scenic, historic, recreational)
4. Recommend solutions and recommendations (parkwide and individual units)
5. Describe a scope of work for each unit 
6. Describe a design process

The next steps for creating the partnership include:

1. Preparing a draft General Agreement for the review and approval of the Trust, NPS, NPF and the Solicitor’s Office in October 2002.
2. Briefing NPS, NPF and Trust leaders on the context of the parks, each organization and current management, operations and fundraising activities.
3. Inventory of existing National Mall/ Monumental Core information.
4. Raising private money for the Restoration Plan.
5. Approval of the General Agreement in November 2002.

Contact: 

J. Glenn Eugster, Assistant Regional Director, Partnerships Office, national Park Service, National Capital Region, 1100 Ohio Drive, SW, Room 350, Washington, DC 20242.  By telephone: (202) 619-7492; By fax: (202) 619-7220; By E-mail: glenn_eugster@nps.gov