The highly-detailed modernist Washington Suburban Sanitation Commission (WSSC) headquarters building in downtown Hyattsville remains threatened by demolition for development. The National Register-listed structure is included in a proposal by Werrlein Properties to build on the WSSC site and parcel immediately adjacent to Magruder Park.
The community group, Save our Sustainable Hyattsville, has been actively opposing the demolition and development plan on the ground that is does not comply with approved planning and preservation priorities in the Gateway Arts District Sector Plan as well as the architectural significance of the building. The WSSC building is a contributing structure to the Hyattsville National Register Historic District and described in great detail in a Maryland Inventory of Historic Properties Form. The adjoining parcel, currently paved with asphalt, is likely the site of the Couriers to Congress, a national caravan of suffragists that gathered there before protesting in Washington, DC, in 1913.
On Thursday, March 14, 2019, citizens will have the opportunity to join a Prince George’s County Planning Board hearing on proposed zoning changes from open space to residential that would likely allow this demolition and development to occur. Earlier this month, the City of Hyattsville Common Council authorized Hyattsville Mayor Hollingsworth to send the County Planning Board a letter confirming the City’s opposition to rezoning the O-S parcel to R-55. Save our Sustainable Hyattville has put together a community action guide, including information about the upcoming hearing, a draft letters, and other project background and facts.