A long-anticipated Ward 5 project just hit a very visible turning point. City officials, contractors and neighbors gathered to sign the final steel beam as the Fort Lincoln Campus Improvement Project "topped out," marking the moment the former Thurgood Marshall Elementary School reached its highest structural point.
The $50.8 million effort will turn the shuttered school into a combined recreation and early childhood education campus. With the frame now in place, crews are shifting from heavy structural work to the detail-oriented world of interior finishes and systems.
According to the Department of General Services, the topping-out ceremony highlights a $50.8 million investment that will bring recreation, early learning and community space together in roughly 44,000 square feet. Planned amenities include a full gym, the Department of Parks and Recreation's only elevated indoor walking track, racquetball courts, a demonstration kitchen and an 8,000-square-foot early childhood education center. The agency also shared a short video of the beam signing in a Facebook reel.
What the campus will include
"Reaching this milestone is an exciting moment for Fort Lincoln," DPR Director Thennie Freeman said in the Department of General Services' announcement. The facility is slated to feature a full gym with an elevated indoor walking and running track, multipurpose rooms, a senior lounge and dedicated spaces for teens and arts programming.
The upgrades will not stop at the building's doors. Plans call for park improvements around the site, including new playgrounds, resurfaced tennis courts and improved walking paths, tying the campus directly into the surrounding green space.
Design, contractors and partners
The project is being delivered by a design-build team led by MCN Build as general contractor and STUDIOS Architecture as architect. LinkedIn posts from the company show photos from the topping-out event and thank project partners and subcontractors by name.
In those posts, MCN Build specifically credits Department of General Services project manager Mike Etherton and Department of Parks and Recreation project manager Brent Sisco, and highlights the role of Certified Business Enterprise subcontractors and local Advisory Neighborhood Commission representatives. Contractors say the topping out signals the end of major structural work and the shift to interior build-out and systems installation.
Timeline and next steps
Construction began in spring 2025 and is scheduled to wrap up in spring 2027, according to the Department of General Services. The campus, located at 3100 Fort Lincoln Drive NE, is being delivered under a construction-manager-at-risk model with a current budget of $50.8 million.
Over the next year, crews are expected to complete interior work, install gym equipment and early-learning systems, and reopen sections of Fort Lincoln Park that have been closed for years while construction has been underway.
Why it matters for Ward 5
Local leaders are framing the topping out as the payoff from years of neighborhood advocacy. Ward 5 Councilmember Zachary Parker has said he worked to secure funding and keep the project moving.
The milestone also arrives as city officials point to more than $600 million invested over the past decade to modernize recreation centers across the District. This particular project first surfaced publicly last year when the city unveiled detailed plans, a moment captured in earlier coverage under the headline DC Unveils $49M Fort Lincoln Plan.
