WP: District's Mayoral Mansion Scuttled (great story ! uplifting !)

[diamond14]

District's Mayoral Mansion Scuttled
Salvation Army To Sell NW Site, Build SE Center

By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 13, 2003; Page A01


A private foundation abandoned a plan to build a $50 million mayoral mansion in the District after 21/2 years and donated the land to the Salvation Army yesterday, shocking city leaders and residents who had been fiercely divided over the project.

Officials for the Eugene B. Casey Foundation said the organization's leader, Betty Brown Casey, decided that giving the 16.5 acres of prime Northwest Washington real estate to the Salvation Army would be more beneficial than using it for an official residence for the city's mayor.

Salvation Army leaders, who also were surprised by the gift, said they intend to sell the land in the Foxhall neighborhood, valued at $11 million by the city's tax assessors, to the highest bidder and use the money to build a community center in Anacostia.

The community center, to be built at Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Morris Road SE, will bear the Casey name, Smith said. It is slated to be five floors, with a combination of social services, job training, day care and retail use, officials said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60277-2003Dec12.html

Happy Holidays to all...the rich lose and the poor gain...the loss of a huge expensive gorgeous piece of land in the most expensive part of Washington DC...and now, the land will be sold for townhomes, and the funds used to build a community center in the poorest part of DC, and benefit thousands of people...wonderful holiday cheers to all....