As the building continues to decay, a 27-year battle between the District government and Brookland residents over the future of historic Brooks Mansion seems no closer to settlement. In fact, the D.C. government office responsible for overseeing the project has released almost no information about the status of the site and few in the government seem to know who is responsible for sale of the property.

Dallas Evans, director of real property and assessment management for the city administrator, did not return repeated calls for comment.

Although DCTV, the city’s public access cable television channel, put in a bid for the property more than a year ago, the company has not heard an answer, said Nantz Rickard, executive director of DCTV.

"I can’t believe they’ve been fighting this since the ‘70s," Rickard said. "It’s amazing how these people will keep going."

Rickard said the community has taken the lead on the issue and has kept the government informed of developments rather than vice versa.

Rickard said DCTV hopes to make Brooks Mansion its home for company headquarters, a studio, training and equipment facility. She said the nonprofit DCTV has offered to pay $1 a year for the mansion in addition to financing all repairs and renovations.

Another group interested in Brooks Mansion is the Ron H. Brown Foundation, founded by the late Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown to provide programs to students for continuing education in politics.

Foundation administrator Aija Turner said that while the group has an interest in the site, it so far has made no move toward submitting a bid other than a private meeting six months ago with Ward 5 Councilman Harry Thomas. The mansion is located in Thomas’s ward.

Today Brooks Mansion continues to be the object of love and abandonment, said Robert Artisst, president of the Brookland Civic Association.

The love: Residents of the Brookland community hold meetings and write letters on top of letters to the District government to save their historic landmark.

The abandonment: The University of the District of Columbia opened its D.C. Cooperative Extension Service office in the mansion under a rent-free lease agreement with the District government in 1986 and proceeded, say neighborhood activists, to neglect the property for 10 years.

"All UDC had to do was pay utilities and keep it looking decent," Artisst said. "The whole time UDC was there, they never once painted (the building) or cut the grass."

UDC, which did not own the property, also put up "for sale" signs there, Artisst said.

Officials from UDC did not return repeated phone calls seeking comment.

The Brooks Mansion Emergency Steering Committee held public meetings and demonstrations as soon as UDC put for-sale signs all over the mansion’s exterior.

Since the last public meeting in April, the committee continues to await the fate of this historic landmark, one of 25 pieces of surplus property owned by the District government, said Diane Pecor, a member of the Emergency Steering Committee for Brooks Mansion.

At the last committee meeting in April, about 80 people gathered at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Northeast Washington, including representatives of the Brookland Civic Association, UDC, DCTV and the District government, hoping to finally resolve the future of Brooks Mansion.

At the end of the meeting, they were still without answers.

"We were told what we always knew, which was that UDC doesn’t own the building," Pecor said. UDC never budgeted money to restore or maintain the building, she said.

Although the D.C. government has made little response to the neighborhood group’s queries, members already are planning for the future.

"Any organization interested in the mansion should be able to maintain the mansion’s availability to the community, maintain the building and make renovations," Pecor said.

"It’s public property and should be used for community programs," said Artisst, who noted the neighborhood civic association used the mansion for 10 years as its meeting place.

At the April meeting UDC’s coordinator of properties, Philip Brach, and UDC President Julius Nimmons expressed concern for the mansion, according to neighborhood residents. Brach and Nimmons did not return phone calls for comment regarding this story.

Artisst and other Brookland residents attribute the problems with getting accurate information and timely responses from the D.C. government to general mismanagement. They say they believe that’s the same reason the mansion’s fate remains unresolved.

"The community agreed unanimously that because the mansion is public property, it should be given to a public organization, " said Thomas Rooney, a member of the emergency committee.

In the attic of Rooney’s garage, a cardboard wall filled with official letters and flyers for meetings proves the saga and dedication surrounding the mansion. On it is a copy of every letter and package that was sent to UDC and Dallas Evans at the city administrator’s office.

In February 1997, ANC 5A resolved that Brooks Mansion be preserved, kept secure and continue to function as a community center and historic symbol.

Brookland, which takes its name from the mansion’s founder, is the only neighborhood in the District named after a person who lived there, according to historian Philip W. Ogilvie.

Brooks Mansion (originally named Bellair) is the largest historic building in Northeast Washington. Col. Jeheil Brooks, an U.S. government land agent who refused to confirm claims of white settlers to Indian land, built the mansion in 1836. Brooks was charged with fraud under the United States treaty with the Caddo Indians. He eventually purchased from the tribe for $6,000 the 134 acres on which the mansion was built.

Soon after Brooks’ death in 1886, the mansion became a church, a Catholic college and high school. The D.C. government took it over and provided funds for restoration in 1979 after the community urged officials to purchase the mansion for the benefit of Brookland residents.

Copyright 1998, The Common Denominator