Today, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Department of Parks and Recreation Acting Director Jesús Aguirre joined Ward 7 community leaders in unveiling the new $2.7 million Marvin Gaye Park, Minnesota Avenue and Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue, NE.

"We are making real investments in our communities, building stronger, safer, and healthier neighborhoods," said Mayor Fenty. "Residents in every neighborhood in our city deserve first-class recreation amenities and we are delivering just that with this new park."

Formerly Watts Branch Park, the recently re-named Marvin Gaye Park spans 2.2 miles across Ward 7. It stretches from Minnesota Avenue along Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue to Eastern Avenue. The two new sections of the park are the Lady Bird Johnson Meadows at Minnesota Avenue and the Heritage Green section located at the intersection of Division Avenue and Foote Street.

Improvements include a community stage, plaza, new shade trees, shrubs and ground covers as well as a bicycle trail that runs throughout the park. The District hired Fort Myer Construction and EDAW landscape architects to execute the improvements to the park.

Marvin Gaye Park is one of six public parks the District is building within the Anacostia River's watershed.  Earlier this year, the District completed the $8 million, half-acre Diamond Teague Park, which lies between Nationals Park and the Anacostia River. Later this summer, the District will break ground on the three-block long Canal Park near M Street and New Jersey Avenue SE. Nearby, along with its partners at Forest City Washington, the District will deliver the six-acre Park at The Yards, which will anchor a $1.3 billion mixed-use development that is under construction between Nationals Park, the Navy Yard and federal Department of Transportation headquarters.  

Along with the National Park Service, the District is also planning a 70-acre park and preserve east of the Anacostia River at Poplar Point. Next week, the District will open the $32 million Deanwood Recreation Center, the largest recreation center ever built in the city.