The William H. Rumsey Aquatic Center will close Oct. 1, setting in motion the demolition and reconstruction of the Capitol Hill pool after nearly two years of community meetings, design revisions and questions from the swimmers, seniors, neighbors and Eastern Market vendors who use the site every week.
At a Sept. 22 construction meeting in the North Hall of Eastern Market (225 Seventh St. SE), Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), Department of General Services (DGS), design and construction officials told residents that the pool must close so the city can empty the building, drain the pool, move equipment, arrange utility cutoffs. Only then can they apply for the raze permit needed before demolition can begin.
Christopher Dyer, DPR Community Engagement Manager, said the project team could not start the permitting clock while Rumsey remained open. The sequence, he said, is fixed: remove everything from the pool and building, arrange for Pepco to cut power, apply for the raze permit, receive the permit and then begin demolition. Officials said the move-out and draining process will take about four to six weeks. Demolition itself is expected to last about four to five months once it begins.
The closure notice frustrated pool users, who had roughly two weeks to rearrange classes and lap-swimming routines. DPR aquatics officials said special registration for replacement programs would open Sept. 25 at noon, with fall classes running Oct. 13 through Nov. 6. Programs are being shifted to Barry Farm Aquatic Center, Joy Evans Therapeutic Recreation Center, Deanwood Aquatic Center and Turkey Thicket Aquatic Center. Officials also pointed morning and evening lap swimmers to Ballou Senior High School Aquatic Center and later added Dunbar as another school-pool option.
Plans Laid
The $44.5 million project has changed substantially since the first community meeting in December 2024. What began as a modernization of the aging 1970 facility is now a complete replacement, with a two-story aquatic and community center planned for the same site at 635 North Carolina Ave. SE.
The new building will include an eight-lane, 25-yard lap pool and a separate leisure and learn-to-swim pool. In response to earlier complaints from water-aerobics users, the lap pool is now planned to begin at three and a half feet rather than four feet, then slope to five feet and drop to 12 feet. The leisure pool will range from three and a half to five feet.
The design also includes a senior center, community rooms, a fitness room, a tech lounge, locker rooms, family restrooms, a sauna and second-floor spaces overlooking the pool. The building uses masonry, a prominent glass entrance and three masses intended to fit the historic Eastern Market context. The lobby is expected to include integrated art honoring Dr. William H. Rumsey, the former DPR director for whom the center is named.
Construction Plans
Much of the early work may be invisible from the sidewalk. Before demolition, the team must close the facility, remove equipment, drain the pool, disconnect utilities and then apply to secure permits. The construction logistics plan shown at the meeting places fencing around the site, uses part of the North Carolina Avenue plaza as a laydown area and construction entrance, and shifts sidewalks and the bike lane into the parking lane during construction. The plan is still subject to DDOT approval.
Officials said they are trying to keep Eastern Market functioning as normally as possible. The alley beside the market is expected to remain available to vendors much as it is today, with fencing aligned near the existing wall and three Eastern Market HVAC stacks preserved. The large heritage tree near North Carolina Avenue will have a protected critical-root zone; the team has already used air spading to locate major roots.
Weekend vendors currently sited on the plaza in front of the pool will be relocated. In a post-meeting conversation, officials that the bulk of the food-service vendors would be relocated to the plaza in front of Eastern Market’s North Hall. Vendors displaced from that area will go into the North Hall itself or make use of space on the 200 block of Seventh Street SE. DGS will work with vendors on the relocations.
Residents also pressed the team on the Capital Bikeshare station, compost drop-off, parking, rats, dust, vibration and construction hours. Officials said the Bikeshare station will remain, though relocated to the end of the parking area, while compost-drop-off logistics were not yet settled. Contractors expect six on-site spaces for crews and said delivery trucks should enter from North Carolina Avenue, unload inside the site and leave rather than line up on the street.
Community Concerns
The question-and-answer period showed that regular users are still focused on practical details. Water walkers asked whether the new pools will preserve deeper-water exercise space. Aquatics officials said lane orientation will continue to change based on programming and larger classes can still use the lap pool when the leisure pool is too small. Others asked about transit access, locker-room accessibility, dehumidification, hooks or shelves in showers and benches with backs.
Neighbors around C Street and North Carolina Avenue focused on construction impacts. One resident warned that the area already has a severe rat problem and urged the team to go beyond a standard pest-control plan, including staging disturbance so rodents are not displaced all at once. Project officials said pest control will be engaged closer to demolition, with pretreatment ahead of construction, sealed trash containers and regular waste removal. They also said demolition will use windscreen fencing and water to control dust, and that adjacent properties and Eastern Market would receive vibration monitoring.
The Rumsey Family
The meeting also brought the project back to the man whose name is on the building. Dyer introduced William H. Rumsey III, grandson of Dr. William H. Rumsey, and his wife, Monique, at the start of the meeting (“We left William H. Rumsey IV at home,” Monique told me. He’s 11 years old). Afterward, Rumsey said it was his first project meeting, though relatives had attended earlier sessions and kept the family informed.
Rumsey said he wanted to hear the plans and community concerns in person. Asked what he thought of the design, he said, “It’s wonderful.” His wife said she loved “the two layers and the atrium, the bridge,” and had taken photos to show Rumsey’s mother and grandmother. Mrs. Rumsey, Dr. Rumsey’s widow, is still living and is 99.
The family has had conversations with the project team about honoring Rumsey in the lobby art. Rumsey said one idea discussed was a portrait of his grandfather, though the details had not been finalized. Dyer later confirmed that the team plans to work with the Rumsey family on art selection.
“Communication is Key”
Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen (D) praised the project but did not hide his irritation over the short closure notice. “I’m pretty frustrated that people only had two weeks’ notice for the classes and the pool ending,” Allen said, adding that he had a “pretty hot phone call” with DPR director Thennie Freeman about the issue.
Still, Allen said the project has become stronger because residents kept showing up. At the first meeting in December 2024, he said, DPR expected perhaps 50 people and instead faced a packed room of about 150. Rumsey, he said, is “much more than just swimming laps or taking a class. It’s where we gather as friends.”
Allen urged DGS and DPR to provide a clear public point of contact and regular updates once construction begins. “Communication, communication, communication is going to be key,” he said. The project presented Sept. 22, Allen added, is “a heck of a lot better than it was in December 2024,” because residents pushed, stayed engaged and held agencies accountable.
All In
The construction team said it will continue monitoring the tight site, where the new building footprint, the protected heritage tree, Eastern Market operations and neighborhood streets all meet in close quarters. Jeffrey Policicchio, the Assistant Project Manager for Hess Construction introduced at the meeting as the construction community liaison, said after the meeting that he is “all in” on the project and plans to move closer to the site once construction begins.
Policicchio, who said he moved to Washington from near to Detroit’s Eastern Market, said he is drawn to Eastern Market because it is a community-focused area. “I think especially now, with what’s going on in the world, community is one of the answers on a micro level,” he said. He said he plans to move near the site so he can be within walking distance and “wake up and be here if there’s any issues.”
See project information and the updated slideshow at dgs.dc.gov/page/rumsey-aquatic-center. Contact DPR community liason Dyer at christopher.dyer@dc.gov.
