Dick Wolf Memorial Lecture

This lecture on issues in urban planning and preservation is named for former CHRS president Dick Wolf, a city planner and activist who was a Hill resident who championed the cause of historic preservation. 

By Marci Hilt
CHRS Communications Chair

Nearly everyone who lives in DC or visits has fond memories of the National Mall and the Tidal Basin with its spring flowering Japanese cherry trees.

The 1,000 acres of Mall is a public space, but also a place where history is happening every day, Teresa Durkin, executive vice president of the Trust for the National Mall, said. Durkin, along with Catherine Townsend, president and CEO of the Trust, spoke at the Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s Annual Dick Wolf Memorial Lecture at the Hill Center on Tuesday, Nov. 19. Nearly 70 people attended the event. 

The Tidal Basin was created in response to flooding, Durkin said. But, the Mall and the basin have issues that threaten THEIR continued use. Both were created from fill dirt, which is unstable. The landscape is at risk and crumbling; and it floods twice each day. 

“People have used it many different ways,” she said, “It is not just a place for recreation, it is a place for memorials.” It is now home to memorials to Thomas Jefferson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Martin Luther King, Jr. 

“The National Mall needs it to be here for the next 200 years,” she said. If other cities flood, you just get out of

the way, she said, but we can’t just get out of the way here.

 Durkin said we must plan for a 2.5 foot rise in the tide by 2050. And we must find a way to stabilize the area. The planning must be done on a regional level. Durkin detailed the history of the area and explained some ideas for responding to changing environmental concerns and preserving the area, including floating walkways and ways to address the crumbling infrastructure. 

Townsend said the Trust for the National Mall is the leading nonprofit partner of the National Park Service and is dedicated to restoring, preserving and enriching the National Mall. The Trust works to help restore monuments on the Mall, as well as operating a Monument Cam and a Bloom Cam for the cherry blossoms. The Trust has helped restore the Lockkeepers House, as well as the U.S. Park Police’s Horse Stables. It is currently running a campaign to raise $250 million for a 2026 celebration of America’s 250th anniversary. 

To learn more about the Mall, and ideas for rescuing and transforming the Tidal Basin, visit the Trust website: https://nationalmall.org. 

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