Earlier this fall, DC’s Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) approved an expansion of the Kingman Park Historic District, granting a victory to the applicants who were disappointed with the Board’s decision to reduce their desired boundaries in the initial designation process two years ago.
But that public conflict overshadowed an additional controversy that was happening behind the scenes: a tussle between the applicants and the Historic Preservation Office (HPO) over the scope of their application. Before the application even came before the Board, HPO staff had significantly revised the size of the proposed district, shrinking it from the expansive boundaries the applicants preferred, to a smaller area HPO felt would best meet the criteria of the law.