Tuesday, December 9, 2025
A surprise meeting is being organized on Tuesday, December 9 at 6:30 p.m. about the allocation of funds to undertake some long-sought improvement projects at Book Hill Park, including the long sloping garden campus and front lawns of the historic library on R St. and Wisconsin Ave. The meeting, called suddenly by the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation at the Geogetown Community Library 326 R.St.NW, is creating some excitement and buzz.
“About three years ago, the Georgetown Garden Club—the park’s major community suppporter and benefactor—put together a proposal to DPR for various high priority improvement projects,” the long-time Garden Club President Lee Child told the Georgetowner.
Over the past 20 years, The Garden Club has contributed some $100,000 to Book Hill mainly for extensive annual clearing and planting projects, particularly from funds raised at their annual Georgetown Garden Tour every May.
“But these new proposed projects include funds for major safety infrastructure features such as a railing for the long staircase that winds through the entire back slope,” said Friends of Book Hill Park president Virginia Pooole. “Also included, a repaired or possibly a new terrace and a water spout at the bottom of the park to help volunteer gardeners establish new plantings of trees and bulbs,”
Other projects have also been suggested. “The total was for about a $200,000 grant,” Child said.
But no one had heard anything from the city until last week. Now, there is definitive word that $300,000 has been allocated to Book Hill Park from the city budget. The meeting is being called to discuss the updated designs and get community suggestions. As Georgetown Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Christopher Matthews wrote: “My understanding is that the city is reprograming money from the “Triangle Park” project at the intersection of 33rd and Wisconsin and moving it to the Book Hill project instead. At a preliminary meeting last October, planners proposed several possible elements for the Book Hill project, including repairs to existing infrastructure and the possibility of a new terrace. We’ll see how the plans have evolved since then,” Matthews wrote. “The reprogrammed budget money will dramatically increase the available money.”