{"id":1332,"date":"2026-05-23T18:05:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T18:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1332"},"modified":"2026-05-23T18:05:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T18:05:31","slug":"its-a-d-c-rec-sports-haven-but-trump-wants-it-for-his-heroes-sculpture-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1332","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s a D.C. rec sports haven, but Trump wants it for his \u2018Heroes\u2019 sculpture park"},"content":{"rendered":"

West Potomac Park is packed with community softball and soccer games, but the president is eyeing it for his \u201cNational Garden of American Heroes.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>

Read more Tigers-Orioles game is postponed by rain, will be made up as part of a split doubleheader Sunday<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
West Potomac Park is a hub of activity on summer evenings. (Hannah Foslien\/For The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

One day after work this week, Patrick Mulshnock walked through the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, the labyrinthian monument tucked against the Tidal Basin, his athletic shorts and blue T-shirt absorbing the early-evening heat. First pitch was just a few minutes away.<\/p>\n

Mulshnock, a 36-year-old schoolteacher, has played softball for his alma mater, the University of Delaware, in the Capitol Alumni Network league for 10 years. More than 40 colleges field a team in the league, in divisions named for fast-food empires. The softball fields at West Potomac Park, adjacent to the National Mall and nestled among the monuments and memorials between the Tidal Basin and Potomac River, have hosted his games nearly as long.<\/p>\n

But the league\u2019s days of relying on the park\u2019s fields may be numbered.<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump announced May 15<\/a> on his Truth Social platform that West Potomac Park has been selected for his planned \u201cNational Garden of American Heroes,\u201d a sculpture garden Trump has said will feature life-size statues of approximately 250 historically significant Americans. Previous executive orders included a list of names<\/a> including Christopher Columbus, Kobe Bryant and more.<\/p>\n

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A softball game at West Potomac Park on Tuesday. (Hannah Foslien\/For The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

\u201cIt disappoints me so much, knowing that all this could be taken away,\u201d Mulshnock said. \u201cHundreds of people, between soccer and Frisbee and softball, use these fields and have used them for a long time. \u2026 It\u2019s really sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his post, Trump described West Potomac Park as \u201ca totally BARREN field of Prime Waterfront Real Estate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tourists riding a trolley tour around the Mall on a recent evening could see the sunset over the Potomac through one side of the trolley and the four concurrent softball games on the other. Further up the river, closer to the Lincoln Memorial, two more softball games were underway, while a large pickup soccer game kicked off on yet another part of the park.<\/p>\n

The park was created with silt dredged from the Potomac River in the 1880s and has long been a hot spot for recreation. Soccer and softball are its lifeblood, but it also contains a popular running trail and is filled with visitors in the spring for the cherry blossoms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe league has been here a lot longer than anyone in the current administration has. People love this area,\u201d Mulshnock said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s not just our league. Multiple leagues play here. I don\u2019t think I\u2019m ever going to go a sculpture garden in my life that\u2019s going to take away the fields that I\u2019ve come to depend on.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Hull back in the Premier League after dramatic late goal in playoff<\/a><\/p>\n

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The Washington Area Frisbee Club plays in 2019 at West Potomac Park. (Marlena Sloss\/The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Much of the park\u2019s area is \u201creserve\u201d land governed by the Commemorative Works Act; transforming it into the sculpture garden or any other new memorial project would probably require congressional approval.<\/p>\n

Trump, though, has aggressively pursued a full makeover of the park and the nearby East Potomac Golf Links, a historic public course he says he plans to turn into a championship course worthy of hosting majors. A top Trump fundraiser recently began soliciting donations<\/a> for a nonprofit dedicated to overhauling both sites.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen finished, West Potomac Park will be a World Class Masterpiece with elegant Landscaping, and adorned with Beautiful Statues,\u201d Trump wrote, \u201cand be yet another one of my great projects to make Washington, D.C., the Safest and Most Beautiful Capital in the World.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rendering Trump shared on Truth Social with his announcement shows a couple of open grassy spaces amid the landscaping and pathways, though there\u2019s no indication of anyone using the space for athletic activity.<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Team Carolina high-fives Team Delaware after a softball game at West Potomac Park on Tuesday. (Hannah Foslien\/For The Washington Post)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

On Tuesday evening, as teams from some 10 schools fanned out for games on the four fields, several members of the league underscored the fields\u2019 popularity with anecdotes about how difficult it is to reserve time in the sought-after evening hours. And when the fields are booked, the alternate options are often more expensive and harder to get to.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019d be a pretty significant change because these are the most accessible fields in D.C.,\u201d said Scott Nuckols, who has played for North Carolina\u2019s alumni softball team since 2011. \u201cEven now, when some of the fields have been closed [for construction around the Tidal Basin seawall], we\u2019ve been pushed out to Goddard in Maryland, which is a lot more inconvenient. \u2026 This is the best option, especially without a car.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nuckols\u2019s Tar Heels lost Tuesday night to the Blue Hens, but he was smiling as he pedaled toward home. Under the setting sun, the Jefferson Memorial took on a pinkish glow, the Washington Monument peeked over the trees, and another softball game started on the next field over.<\/p>

Read more Jonas Vingegaard seizes control of the Giro d\u2019Italia with solo win on brutal 14th stage<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The riverside area is packed with community softball and soccer games, but the president is eyeing it for his \u201cNational Garden of American Heroes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s a D.C. rec sports haven, but Trump wants it for his \u2018Heroes\u2019 sculpture park - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=1332\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s a D.C. rec sports haven, but Trump wants it for his \u2018Heroes\u2019 sculpture park - 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