About Our Columbia Heights Civic Plaza Work:

The Columbia Heights Civic Plaza was built to be a vibrant public space that would serve as a central meeting place and hub of activity for the neighborhood. While the vision for the plaza was well-intentioned, it was not well thought through. Shortly after the plaza was completed, the problems around maintenance began to emerge. The problem boiled down to a matter of ownership and responsibility. While the plaza is a fairly small public space, there are multiple stakeholders responsible for various aspects of its maintenance.

Through funding from NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) and the District of Columbia, District Bridges’ Columbia Heights Main Street program has formed the Civic Plaza For All initiative to try to address some of the challenges this public space is facing through a holistic and human-centric approach. Just this past summer of 2022, the Civic Plaza For All initiative organized 85 events in the Civic Plaza, orchestrated regular cleanings in partnership with DC’s Clean Team, and conducted 900 hours of street outreach. Learn more.