A rendering depicts the future Dupont Underground.
When DC’s streetcar system screeched to a halt in 1962, it left a network of tunnels and platforms forgotten beneath the city’s streets. However, the abandoned station under Dupont Circle is about to come to life again.
Dupont Underground, a nonprofit group, has leased the 75,000-square-foot space with plans to repurpose it into a venue for art exhibits, performances, pop-up shops and more. In one of the group’s first moves, it partnered with the National Building Museum to transport 650,000-plus plastic balls from “The Beach,” the museum’s popular exhibit last summer, to the station, where they will be re-used in an art installation. Look for an early 2016 debut.
“It’s an opportunity to do something grand,” says Dupont Underground managing director Braulio Agnese, “and, we hope, new and compelling.” dupontunderground.org