Office workers and others shut out of McPherson Square by Occupy DC since October will be barred from the park’s south lawns until at least September after the National Park Service shut off part of the square Monday to begin reseeding the lawn destroyed by Occupy’s tent city.
The Park Service began repairing the south end of the park at a cost of about $6,000, said Karen Cucurullo, deputy superintendent for operations, though the service originally estimated it would cost just $8,000 to place new sod across the entire park.
Occupiers will be allowed to keep their tents — but not sleep in them — on the north side of the square. The Park Service won’t reseed the north side of the park until Occupiers leave. There is no timeline set for their departure.
In the meantime, the lawns on the south side of the park will be off-limits to everyone — including Occupiers.
McPherson Square had undergone a $400,000 renovation, including new sod, just last year, but it was reduced to mud after the Occupiers arrived in October.
Business and city leaders have urged the Park Service to evict the Occupiers, but park officials said the tent city represents a “24-hour vigil” and would be allowed to remain as long as Occupiers aren’t sleeping in the tents at night.
On Monday, only a handful of tents were still standing in McPherson, with a small group of protesters keeping watch as Park Service workers tilled the ground they said had been compacted by “heavy park use” and put up fences across the square.
Cucurullo said the Park Service didn’t face any resistance from protesters when they began work early Monday. Protesters said they wanted to help the Park Service repair the park and have no plans to reclaim the south side.
“We’ve been trying to keep tents in one area, and we’ve done what we can to keep people off what they’ve worked on,” said protester Georgia Pearce. “If they resod it, we’ll leave it and let it grow.”
