In July 2018, a group of mostly Capitol Hill seniors walked onto an abandoned dead-end road just south of Garfield Park and started a pickleball game. Robert Krughoff and Margaret Crenshaw led it. The volunteers hauled away debris, patched the cracked asphalt and painted their own court lines.
That stretch of Virginia Avenue SE under the freeway is known as Bridge Spot. It now has five permitted courts with semi-permanent nets, a nonprofit operator and a sponsor-funded futsal court set to open November 19. Each step since 2018 has followed the same pattern. Players start using the space for something, and the formal version gets built around them later. The Capitol Riverfront Parks Foundation, which runs the site, calls it "a place keeping project as much as a place making one."
Eight Years From Painted Lines to Permitted Nets
The pickleball courts came first, and they took the longest.
- July 2018. Neighbors begin playing on the dead-end roadway, using lines they painted themselves.
- 2023. A stakeholder group forms, made up of the players, the Navy Yard BID, Councilmember Charles Allen's staff, ANC commissioners, Capitol Hill Village and Friends and Neighbors of Garfield Park.
- Three years of paperwork. The group works to secure a public space permit from the District Department of Transportation.
- Winter 2026. The Foundation holds a community open house with a DIY hot cocoa bar and a zine workshop with solarpunk dc to ask users what the underpass should become.
- Spring 2026. DDOT finishes its roadway work. Alongside the Garfield Connector project, the courts are resurfaced, lined and netted, with barriers and a storage container added, all paid for by community fundraising.
- July 2026. The Robert M. Krughoff Pickleball Center opens with five free public courts on the same spot where the 2018 games began.
The center is named in memory of Robert Krughoff. Its funders include the Capitol Hill Community Foundation, Consumers' Checkbook, the Doug and Mei Smith Fund, Washington DC Pickleball and many individual donors. Private donations pay for the courts and their upkeep, from resurfacing and nets to storage and loaner paddles. The Foundation manages and programs the courts. It staffs them with paid site managers at peak hours and volunteer Court Ambassadors.
How Open Play Works on the Krughoff Courts
The rules still reflect the original pickup games. The Foundation's pickleball page spells them out:
| What | How it works at the Krughoff Center |
|---|---|
| Where | 100 block of Virginia Ave SE, just south of Garfield Park |
| Open play | Daily, 9 a.m. to noon and 5 to 8 p.m. |
| Cost and sign-up | No fee, no registration |
| Claiming a spot | Put your paddle in the rack. The next four paddles go on |
| Rotation | Four on, four off after every game. No challenge courts, no "winners stay" |
| Game format | To 11, win by 2. Doubles take priority when players are waiting |
| Provided | Chairs and balls |
| Balls | USA Pickleball–approved outdoor balls only |
| Not allowed | Alcohol, smoking, pets, and paid instruction, leagues, tournaments or private events without an approved special-use reservation |
Evening sessions are the hardest to get into. The Foundation says the courts fill to capacity most evenings. Players coordinate on the TeamReach app under group code GPPB, which carries the open-play calendar and live player counts. If you're new, add your paddle to the stack and an Ambassador will help you find a spot. The Foundation describes the Ambassador as "a host, not a referee."
Court reservations and permitted programming hours are planned for 2027. Until then, the courts run on the same first-come system the founding players used. The center's motto is painted into its identity:
"Winning is wonderful. Belonging is better."
The Pickup Game Gets Its Own Court
The second build follows the same pattern. Capitol Hill Corner reported that the space "has been used heavily by the community for over a decade as a basketball court, a skate park, a public art space and a guerrilla pickle ball court." The Foundation's project page puts it more briefly. Pickup games have been part of Bridge Spot for years, and "now they're getting a proper home."
That home is the CVS Health Futsal Court, a shared court for futsal and basketball with a new mural. Futsal is small-sided soccer played on a hard court. CVS Health is the presenting sponsor through its partnership with the Washington Spirit. According to HillRag's November 5 report, Ted Jutras told the ANC that CVS Health had committed $150,000. Jutras represents the Capitol Riverfront Parks Foundation and the Navy Yard Business Improvement District.
HillRag also described the design. The court will have removable modular walls, artwork on the playing surface and the nearby pillars, and sponsor branding built into the look. The branding has a practical purpose. Jutras told Capitol Hill Corner that "the courts will feature a new mural with branding elements to allow us to raise funds for these types of amenities." The pickleball courts were built with community donations and foundation grants. The futsal court has a corporate presenting sponsor, and its branding is part of how the Foundation plans to fund amenities like it.
ANC 6B voted unanimously to support the DDOT public space permit for the court. The Foundation has set November 19, 2026, as opening day. The Foundation designed the project, led permitting, community engagement and fundraising, and will manage and operate the court. It has also asked neighbors to email ideas for how they would use it, whether open runs, leagues, clinics or something else, to [email protected].
Championship Week, a Short Walk Away
The timing is deliberate. HillRag reported that organizers hoped to finish the court in time for a celebration around the National Women's Soccer League championship at Audi Field. The NWSL's September 22 announcement lists the public events that weekend:
- Saturday, November 21, 8 a.m. The first NWSL Championship 5K presented by CVS Health runs along The Wharf and benefits the American Heart Association.
- Saturday, November 21, 3 to 7 p.m. NWSL Fan Fest at The Wharf, free and open to the public with an RSVP, featuring games, food and music.
- Saturday, November 21, 8 p.m. The 2026 NWSL Championship kicks off at Audi Field, airing on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.
CVS Health is the presenting sponsor of both the Saturday 5K and the new court under Virginia Avenue SE, which the Foundation plans to open two days before kickoff.
What Stays on the Wall
The Foundation's plan makes the same promise for the rest of the underpass. Its Bridge Spot page says it can't promise everything will stay exactly as it is, "but the skating, the pickup games and the art that made Bridge Spot what it is are what we're designing around." The remaining phases follow that idea:
- The long wall on the east end stays an open wall where artists can keep installing murals. The Foundation describes it as a rotating canvas for local artists.
- Phase III covers gates and barriers that keep out all vehicles except emergency vehicles, maintenance vehicles and food trucks for special events. ANC 6B approved a separate letter supporting these controls and protected electrical outlets.
- Phase IV is a skate park designed with the skaters who already ride Bridge Spot. A request for proposals for a designer is planned for December 2026, followed by co-design workshops and design work with skaters in 2027.
- Phase V adds flexible community space for arts programs, markets and similar uses.
Bridge Spot's posted hours are dawn to dusk for now. The Foundation says longer hours will come once the basketball and futsal court is built and lighting is installed at the Krughoff courts. Navy Yard–Ballpark Metro, using the New Jersey Avenue exit, and Capitol South Metro are each about an eight-minute walk away. Stairs and the Garfield Connector's accessible ramp connect the courts to Garfield Park. The Foundation keeps a public survey open for anyone who uses the space and wants a say in what gets built next.
At Caitlin Platt, we pay attention to the details that shape daily life on a block, like free courts that took eight years to go from painted lines to permitted nets, or a wall that stays open to artists. If you're weighing a move on or near Capitol Hill and want someone who follows the neighborhood at that level, schedule a consultation.
