"It's much more than just swimming laps or taking a class," Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen said of the Dr. William H. Rumsey Aquatic Center at a September 22 community meeting in Eastern Market's North Hall. "It's where we gather as friends."
The pool at 635 North Carolina Avenue SE closed to the public on Thursday, October 1, 2026, so the city can demolish the 1970 building and replace it. The Department of General Services puts the project at $44.5 million and targets completion in early 2028. Until then, the jobs that one building did are split up. Classes went to one set of pools and lap swimming to another. The weekend vendors on the plaza out front are moving to three different spots around the market. And the building that comes back reflects nearly two years of residents pushing on its design.
Classes went one way, laps went another
Pool users had about two weeks' notice. Hill Rag reported that the short notice frustrated them, and Allen said he'd had "a pretty hot phone call" with DPR director Thennie Freeman about it. DPR's plan doesn't send Rumsey regulars to a single replacement. Programs moved to Barry Farm, Joy Evans, Deanwood and Turkey Thicket. Morning and evening lap swimmers were pointed to the Ballou Senior High School pool, with Dunbar added later as a second school-pool option. Charles Allen's September 18 Ward 6 update also named Reservoir Park.
Here is what each of those pools looks like on the hours DPR currently lists.
| Pool | Address | Weekdays | Weekends | Role for Rumsey users |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Turkey Thicket Aquatic Center | 1100 Michigan Ave. NE | 6 a.m.–9 p.m. | Sat 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sun closed | Relocated classes |
| Barry Farm Aquatic Center | 1230 Sumner Rd. SE | 6 a.m.–9 p.m. | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. both days | Relocated classes |
| Deanwood Aquatic Center | 1350 49th St. NE | 6 a.m.–9 p.m. | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. both days | Relocated classes |
| Joy Evans Therapeutic Aquatic Center | 3030 G St. SE | 6 a.m.–9 p.m. | Saturday hours listed incompletely | Relocated classes |
| Ballou Aquatic Center | 3401 4th St. SE | 6–8 a.m. and 5–9 p.m. | Closed | Lap swimming |
| Dunbar Aquatic Center | 101 N St. NW | 6–8 a.m. and 5–9 p.m. | Closed | Lap swimming |
| Reservoir Park Aquatic Center | 10 Lower Service Ct. NW | Noon–8 p.m. | Sat 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sun closed | Named in Ward 6 update |
Laid out side by side, the schedules expose a gap. The two pools DPR named for lap swimmers are closed midday and closed all weekend. A noon swimmer has Reservoir Park or one of the four class pools. A Sunday swimmer on this list has two choices, Barry Farm and Deanwood. Farther out, Wilson Aquatic Center at 4551 Fort Drive NW is also open weekends from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. DPR's page shows no last-updated date, and the Joy Evans Saturday entry is incomplete, so call ahead before you go.
Indoor pools are free for DC residents who have a DPR account. Nonresidents need a paid membership. Special registration for the relocated programs opened September 25 at noon, and the fall session runs October 13 through November 6. None of the project or DPR materials mention a shuttle or other transportation help. Langdon Park can't fill the gap either, because it's an outdoor pool and DPR's outdoor pools closed for the season after Labor Day.
The fence goes up long before the building comes down
The pool had to close before demolition could even be scheduled. At the September 22 meeting, DPR community engagement manager Christopher Dyer described the sequence as fixed, and said the team couldn't start the permitting clock while Rumsey was still open. Here is the order:
- Empty the building, drain the pool and move out the equipment. Officials estimated four to six weeks for this stage.
- Arrange for Pepco to cut power.
- Apply for the raze permit.
- Receive the permit.
- Begin demolition, which is expected to take about four to five months.
- Build the new center, with DGS targeting early 2028.
Hill Rag noted that much of the early work may be invisible from the sidewalk. The pool is already closed, but the building will stay standing through the drain-down and permitting, and it will take four or five more months to bring it down once demolition starts. The DGS project page still reads "Planning/Design," but the meeting materials make clear the project has moved on to construction logistics.
Saturday at Eastern Market, rearranged
For anyone who doesn't swim, this is where the closure will be most visible. The construction logistics plan shown on September 22 puts fencing around the site and uses part of the North Carolina Avenue plaza for laydown space and a construction entrance. It also shifts the sidewalk and bike lane into the parking lane. Construction representatives said the DDOT public space committee had not yet approved the plan, so treat these details as proposed.
The weekend vendors who set up on the plaza in front of the pool will be relocated, and the plan moves them in stages:
- Most of the food-service vendors move to the plaza in front of Eastern Market's North Hall.
- Vendors displaced from that North Hall plaza move inside North Hall itself or onto the 200 block of Seventh Street SE.
- DGS will work with vendors on the moves.
The rest of the block is expected to work much as it does now. The alley beside the market stays open to vendors, with the fencing aligned near the existing wall, and three Eastern Market HVAC stacks are being preserved. The large heritage tree near North Carolina Avenue gets a protected critical-root zone, and the team has already used air spading to locate its major roots. The Capital Bikeshare station stays but moves to the end of the parking area. Officials hadn't settled where compost drop-off will go.
Neighbors near C Street and North Carolina Avenue asked hard questions at the meeting. One resident warned about the area's existing rat problem and urged a staged approach so rodents aren't displaced all at once. The team said it would pretreat before demolition, use sealed trash containers and remove waste regularly. It also plans windscreen fencing and water to control dust, plus vibration monitoring at nearby properties and at Eastern Market. Contractors expect six on-site parking spaces for crews. Delivery trucks are meant to enter from North Carolina Avenue, unload inside the site and leave rather than line up on the street. Capitol Hill Corner counted about 75 people at that meeting, and listed programming, accessibility, rodent control, construction practices and parking among their concerns.
The pool that comes back is the one residents argued for
The rebuild has been contested from the start, and the design shows it. At the first community meeting in December 2024, Allen said, DPR expected about 50 people and got a packed room of roughly 150. What began as a modernization of the existing building became a full replacement on the same site, a two-story aquatic and community center.
The pool depth went back and forth. At the July 22 meeting, water-aerobics participants said a lap pool starting at four feet would be too deep for some shorter users. Water walkers had the opposite worry, that the separate leisure pool would be too shallow for their workouts. Dyer called the request for a 3½-foot start "an easy fix." By September the fix was in. The plan now has an eight-lane, 25-yard lap pool that starts at 3½ feet, slopes to five and drops to 12. The separate leisure and learn-to-swim pool runs from 3½ to five feet. Water walkers are still asking about deeper-water space, and aquatics officials said lane orientation will change with programming and that larger classes can use the lap pool when the leisure pool is too small.
The sauna came the same way. A January 2026 petition asked for a sauna and a jacuzzi. The sauna was added after community advocacy, according to Capitol Hill Corner's July coverage. The jacuzzi isn't in the current feature list.
The full program also includes:
- A senior center, community rooms and a tech lounge
- A fitness room
- Locker rooms and family restrooms
- Second-floor spaces overlooking the pool
- A masonry exterior with a prominent glass entrance, designed as three masses to fit the historic Eastern Market setting
The July plans also showed a zero-entry ramp into the leisure pool, solar panels and a green roof. IStudios is the architect and WKM/Hess is building it.
The lobby will feature art honoring Dr. William H. Rumsey, the former DPR director the center is named for. His grandson, William H. Rumsey III, came to the September meeting with his wife, Monique. Asked about the design, he said, "It's wonderful." Monique Rumsey said she loved "the two layers and the atrium, the bridge," and took photos to show the family, including Dr. Rumsey's widow, who is 99. Dyer confirmed the team will work with the family on choosing the art.
Allen asked DGS and DPR for a clear public point of contact and regular updates once construction begins. "Communication, communication, communication is going to be key," he said. Hess introduced Jeffrey Policicchio as its construction community liaison. He moved to Washington from near Detroit, home to its own Eastern Market, and said he's "all in" and plans to move within walking distance of the site. For now, the contact for questions is Dyer at [email protected]. DPR's Customer Care Center is at (202) 673-7647, weekdays 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Updated slides from the September 22 meeting are posted on the DGS project page.
If you live near the North Carolina Avenue block and want to know how the next two years of construction might affect a sale or purchase you're planning, the Rebecca Weiner Group is glad to talk it through. Let's connect. Schedule a free home consultation and custom valuation.
