In recent emails posted to Brookland’s neighborhood e-group, residents wondered why prominent parks in Ward 5 were so shabby, with little to no play equipment or amenities.

An analysis of the District’s spending so far this year reveals that residents have reason to complain: Ward 5 received the lowest amount of funding for its parks and recreation facilities out of all eight wards.

So far this year, the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) spent $47 million on improvements to individual parks and recreation facilities around the city. Less than $1 million was spent in Ward 5.

Budget documents show that Ward 5 is also slated to lose out in 2010 and 2011.

90% of DPR’s $33 million budget in 2010 is already contractually committed to projects in other wards. Only $250,000—less than 1% of the budget—is allocated to a project in Ward 5.

In 2011, none of DPR’s $59 million budget is allocated to a Ward 5 project. Already, more than 30% of the funds in 2011 are contractually committed to other wards.

Ward 5’s disproportionately small share of DPR spending is remarkable given the influence of Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr: he is Chairman of the DC Council Committee on Libraries, Parks, and Recreation, and is responsible for DPR’s budget. The committee led by Mr. Thomas has the final say on DPR’s spending and can allocate funds to projects as it sees fit.

Eric Goulet, DC Council Budget Director, emphasized the influence that committee chairmen like Mr. Thomas have on the budgets they oversee. “They and their staff are considered the experts in the area,” said Mr. Goulet.

Mr. Thomas did not respond to questions for this article.

As ribbon-cuttings for renovated parks and recreation facilities continue to add up in the rest of the District, the lack of investment in Ward 5 is hard to ignore.

Part of the problem is that Ward 5 projects are often announced with fanfare, only to be quietly scaled back or abandoned. For example, last year Councilmember Thomas added three new projects to DPR’s 2009 budget: $1.5 million for a new gymnasium at Harry Thomas Sr. Recreation Center, $500,000 for renovations to New York Avenue Daycare/Recreation Center, and $500,000 for planning and designing a new Edgewood Recreation Center.

None of these projects are going forward as planned.

According to DPR spokesperson John Stokes, DPR put an indefinite hold on the gymnasium construction at Harry Thomas Sr. Recreation Center because the Council allocated insufficient funds for the project. Instead, DPR is going to spend $375,000 on minor renovations to the facility. Mr. Stokes said New York Avenue day care center was shut down earlier this year, making the $500,000 budgeted for the facility unnecessary. He said the surplus funds were not transferred to another project in Ward 5.

$500,000 that was budgeted for planning and designing a new recreation center in Edgewood will instead be spent on minor renovations. Michael Henderson, Director of the Friends of Edgewood Recreation Center, characterized the renovations as “cosmetic” and expressed dismay at the uncertainty of the plans to rebuild the recreation center.

At his “state of the ward address” in June, Mr. Thomas announced more projects in Ward 5 that were “in the budget”: $21 million to redevelop Langdon Community Center, $13.5 million to build a new recreation center in Edgewood and funding to build Trinidad Aquatic Facility.

The budget for Langdon Community Center was recently cut in half to $10 million and there is no sign that planning that was supposed to start in August for the project has begun.

The new recreation center in Edgewood has been called into question because DPR scrapped the planning and design work that was supposed to have been completed by the end of this year.

Mr. Thomas said funding “has gone into place” for Trinidad Aquatic Facility, but the project does not appear on budget documents and DPR staff contacted by Brookland Heartbeat said they were not aware of any plans to build the facility.

Interestingly, there is consensus on the need for major projects in Ward 5. For example, District documents describe the current Edgewood Recreation Center as a “one-room structure” built in the 1940s that is “both too old and too small to support the recreational needs of the community.”

Harry Thomas Sr. Recreation Center is also considered inadequate. Eckington Civic Association President Ted McGinn said that when the facility was built two decades ago, it was supposed to include a gym, indoor pool and community rooms. “The community has been promised a gym since the rec center opened,” said Mr. McGinn. “It’s an incomplete building.”

DPR spokesperson John Stokes said his agency expects to undertake several additional projects in Ward 5 in 2010, which would add to the $250,000 currently budgeted. Mr. Stokes said planned improvements include installing recreation amenities at Wheatley Elementary School; improving the football field at Edgewood Recreation Center; making improvements to North Michigan Park Recreation Center; and adding benches to Turkey Thicket Recreation Center.

The status of these projects is unclear because they do not appear on DPR’s 2010 spending plan and Mr. Stokes was unable to say how much money was budgeted for them.

Councilmember Thomas appears to recognize that Ward 5 is losing out to other wards in the competition for District spending. In a recent mailing to Ward 5 residents, Mr. Thomas made a “pledge” that he would “ensure Ward 5 gets its appropriate share of city services and city dollars.”