McMillan Sand Filtration Plant Site Redevelopment Plan

There are plans to develop the McMillan Sand Filtration Plant site near Howard University and Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C.  The D.C. Zoning Commission is reviewing the latest plan (www.envisionmcmillan.com).  The D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board has already approved the design.

The federal government closed the water purification facility in 1986 and sold the 25-acre site to the District of Columbia.  Between 1907 and 1911, shortly after the 92-acre McMillan reservoir and filtration plant were built.  The original accessible, landscaped spaces were fenced off and permanently closed to the public during World War II for security reasons and the reservoir has remained fenced and inaccessible.


Two underground sand-filtration cells — vaults constructed of unreinforced concrete — will be structurally stabilized, as will all 24 of the cylindrical sand storage bins and four regulator houses visible atop the existing, elevated site. The video above captures the entire site plan. (Wash Post, 8/1/2014)

AAEA support the proposal.