The DC Preservation League and two golfers who play East Potomac Golf Links asked a federal judge on Thursday, Nov. 5, to block the National Park Service from closing East Potomac Park on Nov. 15.
The emergency motion, first reported by WUSA9, was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington by the Preservation League, Dave Roberts and Alex Dickson. They want U.S. District Judge Ana C. Reyes to issue a 14-day temporary restraining order or a 14-day stay under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) blocking the closure.
The Park Service plans to shut the park south of Buckeye Drive on Nov. 15, citing safety hazards from a deteriorating seawall. The plaintiffs called that explanation a pretext for President Donald Trump's plan to rebuild the golf course.
Their filing pointed to two Trump social media posts announcing the closure. In the second, on Oct. 26, the president wrote that the site would close "in order to renovate and rebuild." That post came hours after Reyes ruled the government's tree-removal plan at the course was itself a pretext for the renovation.
The filing also noted the Park Service allowed more than 30,000 Marine Corps Marathon runners along the park's perimeter on Oct. 25, three days before the closure announcement. The plaintiffs argued the agency has rebuilt seawalls elsewhere in the District without shutting down entire parks.
Rebecca Miller, executive director of the DC Preservation League, said in a court declaration that the Park Service invited the group to a historic review meeting on the course in August, then canceled and never rescheduled.
A concept plan the Interior Department submitted Oct. 30 to the National Capital Planning Commission estimated a new seawall would cost $304.5 million and take 2.5 to 3.5 years from funding to completion. The government had said the closure would last 15 months.
Reyes has a hearing in the case scheduled for Nov. 13, two days before the planned closure.
