In the fall of 1993, several kids at the Capitol Hill Day School took up in-line (roller) hockey. They soon found they needed a better location to play than the city streets and enlisted the help of their parents. Rather than simply find a place for the kids to skate, the parents got their own equipment and joined them.
Our home for almost a year was the athletic field at Hine Junior High across the street from the Eastern Market. Hine was a servicable (if bumpy) location, but some of the weekend vendors at the Market had other ideas. In the fall of 1994, they began hosting a weekend flea market in the athletic field. So much for family roller hockey.
When Hine proved unworkable, we searched the neighborhood for alternatives. We checked out schools, commercial lots, and dead end streets. None were suitable. Finally, we discovered the Anacostia Skating Pavillion. What a spot! A huge outdoor roller skating rink that gets heavy use on summer weekend afternoons, the Pavillion is empty early on Sunday mornings (our playing time) and is a ghost town during the off seasons when we do most of our skating.
Anacostia was a roller hockey paradise. In the cold months no one else was present. In the summer we played until other skaters arrived and then either left (if there was substantial traffic) or restricted our game to half of the rink. The conditions are so good for roller hockey that our numbers swelled and the Sunday morning game became a Capitol Hill fixture.
In the summer of 1995, the National Park Service had an attack of bureaucratitis. They decided that the roller hockey game was not authorized. The initial reason proferred was that in-line skates would damage the concrete skating surface. We countered with a petition to Gentry Davis, the Superintendent of the National Parks-East explaining why in-line skates would not damage the surface and asking for a permit to use the Pavillion (maybe that was our problem, we shouldn't need a permit to use the park when no one else wants to). Mr. Davis sent us a denial letter citing potential damage to the skating surface, a policy against exclusive use permits, and a dislike of potentially risky activities like hockey.
After weeks of bumpy school lots and a short lived sojourn at the Sculpture Garden Skating Rink, we found a temporary home on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. The Secret Service Uniformed Division has been very cooperative, and the tourists like the unusual action. But we didn't expect that to last. If someone complains, the rules would probably get dusted off and we would be driven out once more. And the street is slated to be plowed up and planted in any event.
Given the tenuous situation at the White House, we kept looking for suitable sites back on The Hill. We finally discovered a fairly smooth asphalt playground at the Stuart Hobson Middle School at 5th and F Sts., NE. Hobson isn't the Pavillion, but it's close, and the fences make interesting boards. Unless and until we get back to the Pavillion you can find us at Hobson every Sunday at 9:00 AM.
The obvious answer when the Federal bureaucracy is unresponsive is to become a special interest group - hence, CHILL. We hope that with your help we can make the Park Service see the light. Who knows, maybe we'll even get funding - the kids could use new skates. In the meantime, we will stick with the White House as long as we can.
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