DC Wishlist: Thomas Circle
28 04 2009By Feature Writer - Chris Loos. DC Wishlist is a weekly look at a new topic each week, from imminent projects, to long-term plans, to pie-in-the-sky ideas for the city. This week we take a look at a complete remix of Thomas Circle and it’s potential.
Thomas Circle has a lot of untapped potential. With a massive equestrian statue of George Henry Thomas at its center and flanked by two gorgeous churches, its certainly not DC’s worst looking traffic circle. The Circle is an important crossroads between the neighborhoods of Logan Circle, Shaw, Downtown, and Dupont Circle, and acts as the gateway to Mid-City when coming north from downtown.
Its a shame then that the Circle has been so underutilized. In the 1950s, the District altered Thomas Circle to ease gridlock, changing 14th Street to cut right through the center. All that remained of the Circle was a sad football shaped piece of turf, the statue, and a single cherry tree.
In 2006, DDOT carried out a $6 million renovation that righted this wrong, bringing the Circle back to its former glory…and circular shape. New lighting, crosswalks, bike lanes, and sidewalk were added. These days the Circle is looking pretty good, but is still missing one thing– life…
With so few amenities inside the Circle there’s no reason to linger very long. Its merely a nice place to look at while passing through to other destinations.
The thing is, a few small additions could be made to make Thomas Circle a neighborhood destination in its own right. Benches would be a good start, giving pedestrians a place to sit and people watch from. New trees could provide shade on hot days. Removing the fence in the middle might also be a good idea, as it would allow pedestrians to utilize the statue steps as additional seating. While we’re at it, we might consider paving over the circular patch of grass at the center of the circle, which currently serves no purpose. This would create a larger pedestrian plaza area like in Dupont and Logan Circles.
I’ve taken a stab at some Circle renovations here with a little help from Sketchup and Photoshop. What else would you change about Thomas Circle? Is it even possible to turn it into a neighborhood hub like Dupont Circle?
[Rendering: Chris Loos]
Definite improvement.
I walk through Thomas Circle everday and have also dreamed about what it’d take to make it a better/more enticing place.
I agree that benches and more shade trees around it would be great additions. I also think a ring of low shrubbery around it would help cut down on the vehicular noise pollution.
Additionally, I think the circle needs a management plan to give it vitality. Food always helps bring people to a place — adding mobile food vendors (e.g., an espresso cart, an on the fly stand) would be an easy fix. Perhaps engaging the surrounding churches and/or businesses to hold events on the circle — like lectures or concerts, cooking classes (by the hotel or by the nearby cooking school), etc.
One problem is that there is no reason for people to be there in the first place. The churches, although pretty, are mostly dead zones and I think of them as block killers throughout the city. And there is nothing else on the circle that really draws people around it (you have 2 hotels–one set very far back from the circle–a CVS, a language school, a salon….nothing real “browsing” friendly). Plus its a much smaller circle then, say, Dupont, so the heavy bus and car traffic are really noticeable and annoying (a ring of trees along the outside may help with that, but not by much)
I disagree with the assumption that no one has a reason to be in Thomas Circle, it’s at a cross roads between a ton of offices (ie great place to hang out during lunch) and residential (ie great place to hang out after work) and enjoy.
More trees and most certainly benches would make it a more attractive place to stop for a while, instead of just passing through.
I would also move the crosswalks. Right now, pedestrians are encouraged to use little traffic islands. It would be safer for both those walking and those driving to move the crosswalks so that pedestrians can get from one street block to the Circle and off to another street block without using the traffic islands at all.
im from the train of thought, if something worked elsewhere, why not duplicate and then improve on it. Dupont Circle is a hub for its commercial and business purposes; it’s a crossroads for the busy and the not so. Logan Circle works cause its not to busy for pet owners. Thomas Circle is neither. A vast improvement would be the trees and benches, improving on the businesses along 14th between RI and the circle might help as well; this would encourage pedestrian traffic on evenings and weekends for residents headed down to the clubs and restaurants on the K Street Corridor.
Great post. I walk through it almost daily, and think of it as a traffic circle more than a gathering place. Benches and trees would be a great place to start! But I like the fencing- u can still get to the statue and sit below it through some gaps in the fence.
Why are Logan and Dupont busier- it’s because people are sitting around — on benches!!
I like the suggestions, it does have a lot of potential.
I have walked through it a couple times at night. Had drinks at Wash Plaza then took a leisurely stroll down to an ice cream place at Vermont or 15th, can’t remember which.
It is true that there are not a lot of businesses around there that would draw people. However just the fact that I felt in the mood to just walk around there a few times says something.
It’s vastly better than it was, and previously I would not ever thought of just walking around there with no particular purpose in mind. In time it will mature. Some trees for shade will increase its daytime appeal.
The only way to get instant life is… dog park. I’m not a fan of that usage, but just saying. Would need some fencing. Basically, turn it into a second Logan Circle.
I love hte rendering though.
This is great! I work in the NAHB building right on this circle. Everyone in our office yearns for great outdoor places to sit and have lunch. Right now we must walk 4 blocks down to the already crowded McPherson Square. Put a few food carts there and I could see this be the new lunchtime hot spot!
Thomas is smaller and has less potential than Logan or Dupont–lots of noise and surrounded by dead space that doesn’t hold pedestrians. Relocating the crosswalks to make crossing the street safer would be a first step, but I don’t see a good model for a lively small circle. Greener, but somewhat similar in size is Scott Circle which has little function beyond being a small hub for the homeless and an actual barrier to good pedestrian flow, because of the design of the adjacent streets and crosswalks.
I like it! I made some additions to the photosim and posted at BeyondDC.
I agree that Thomas Circle could do with some livening up. However, I wish the city would so something about the lights. When I do drive, I almost always avoid this circle because of the gridlock that appears all day long due to the poorly times traffic lights. Buses (including the new Circulator line) don’t have the luxury of bypassing this circle and spend many needless minutes waiting in traffic, even at off-peak times.
[…] to Chris Loos’ Thomas Circle remix. […]
[…] He’s referring to the 2006 renovation of Thomas Circle, which restored its central shape but, as one blog post put it, turned Thomas Circle into “merely a nice place to look at while passing through to other […]