Park Service Issues RFP for Redevelopment of Rock Creek Tennis Center
By Alan Kahan
The National Park Service recently issued a request for proposals for redevelopment of the Rock Creek Tennis Center (16th and Kennedy Streets, NW). This project is being fast-tracked and apparently bypasses regular National Park Service procedures for such leases. The Request for Proposals deadline was January 20, 2026.
Included in the RFP is a draft lease agreement with a proposed site map that closely resembles a redevelopment concept circulated earlier this year by Mark Ein, the Washington-area businessman who runs the DC Open professional tennis tournament, and first reported on in June by WAMU. That concept can be seen as part of a change.org petition that displays before and after map renderings that show the extent of the redevelopment. There is also a recent article in The Washington Post (dated 1/9/2026) about the tennis center renovation.
Of particular concern to some PATC members is the paving over of the picnic area for parking on the south side of the tract and the building out of the playground space on the west side. This will create more impermeable surfaces that have the potential to increase water runoff down to Rock Creek and negatively affect adjacent forest habitat and the Valley Trail down the hill from the tennis center.
PATC members may want to strongly recommend that, as part of the process, community input should be sought and an environmental impact assessment should be carried out. If you are concerned about or opposed to this potential redevelopment plan, please contact:
Brian Joyner
Rock Creek Park Superintendent
3545 Williamsburg Lane, NW, Washington, DC 20008
202/895-6000
Jessica Bowron
Acting Chief of NPS
1849 C St NW, Washington, DC 20240
202/208-6843
To send an email, you will have to use the National Park Service website at https://www.nps.gov/aboutus/contactus.htm