by Larry Janezich
Posted November 14, 2025
Sherwood Recreation Center at 640 10th Street, NE
Last night, ANC6A heard the results of a survey conducted by ANC6A03 Commissioner Roberta Shapiro on neighbor’s use of the Sherwood Recreation Center. She told commissioners that she probably gets more email from her constituents on Sherwood than any other topic, save parking. Sherwood lies in Shapiro’s single member district.
Shapiro said, “I’ve done my share of complaining up and down the food chain about the situation there but decided that we really needed more data to back up the complaints.” So she conducted a survey and received 289 responses from nearby households comprising some 900 residents – 90% within a mile of Sherwood and 71% within a half mile. She told the ANC that these responses are from people who have an opportunity to use Sherwood, but about 2/3 had never used the inside facility.
The main answers given to the question of why not, included lack of awareness, lack of cleanliness and maintenance, and concerns about safety. The outdoor facilities – the playground, the tennis court, the basketball court, and the field running track were more broadly used.
The survey showed that more than half of respondents said they get no communication from the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) about the facilities. And reacting to information provided about Sherwood programs, only 14% of the respondents said that programming choices were good. Also, only 23% rated the equipment as good, and only 25% rated maintenance and cleanliness good.
Shapiro said that people have a fairly negative view of the facility, but there was “very strong interest in having expanded programming for little kids, preschoolers, and adult exercise programs.”
When asked what additional facilities people wanted, Shapiro said there was “a whole range of answers but 50% of respondents said they’d like to see a kid’s splash park like the one at Eastern Market Metro Park and 25% said they were interested in community gardens.”
There were 88 responses in which people took the time to write narrative answers to the question whether there was anything else they’d like to comment on or suggest. The number one topic was poor cleanliness and maintenance, number two was loitering, gambling, alcohol and drug consumption on the north side of the building. Those were followed by the need for more programming and expanded hours – people complained about being there with their kids on a Sunday and there’s no access to a bathroom facility. (CM Charles Allen has legislation pending before the City Council to expand hours at DC Recreation Facilities, requiring minimum weekend hours and increased weekday hours.) Also mentioned was the need for improvements in fixing equipment, ventilation, and cleaning.
Shapiro said, … ”there are other DPR facilities which are in really good shape and offer extensive programming and I don’t quite understand why Sherwood is the stepchild of the system.”
She referenced $4 million in the DC FY26 capital budget for improvements at Sherwood and said there needs to be a real effort to engage the community in terms of how those dollars get spent, and added that DPR says they are behind schedule but pledged community engagement.
With respect to nest steps, Shapiro said she had shared the survey with CM Charles Allen’s office and DPR. She said “we have written multiple times to Director Thennie Freeman (DPR) and we did not even get the courtesy of a response. So I think we just all need to keep making noise. I guess we could send another letter and copy the council and copy Director Freeman and copy DGS Director Hunter as well but I sort of feel like we are whistling into the wind.”
Commissioner and former ANC6A Chair Amber Gove suggested a next step could be drafting testimony for thecouncil’s performance oversight hearing. She added, “I would say that I very much recognize whenever I venture into NW that there is a huge difference in the quality of our facilities managed by DPR, and it would be wonderful if attention could be drawn to that … I don’t know if you recall but a couple years ago when this topic came up and in a letter to Director Freeman we actually did a comparison programming at all of the other DPR facilities … and Sherwood was at the bottom of the barrel in terms of … programming offered.”
Gove went on, “I think a conversation … identifying some of the discrepancies and showing them just what we’re seeing as commissioners, not just in our areas but in Ward 7 and 8, that the quality of facilities can be quite different than they are in the other parts of the city.
CAPITOL HILL CORNER 