Mayor Fenty likes to play.

Construction is well underway at Stoddert Elementary in Glover Park.

Memorably described as a “handsome triathlete” by the Post’s Michael Grunwald during his run for office in 2006 (next to Linda Cropp’s “matronly grandmother”), Fenty has always been enthusiastic about the benefits of exercise–especially for kids.

Since taking office, he’s been moving forward aggressively on that basis, using $21.5 million in taxpayer money to update football fields and tracks at six DC high schools in 2007, and most recently unveiling the dazzling new 55,000 square foot Wilson Aquatic Center.

“I think people demand better recreational centers, better playgrounds, and we’ve got a great team that is doing just that,” Fenty said in late August at a ribbon-cutting for a new elementary school soccer field in Columbia Heights.

Closer to my home–across the street, in fact–Stoddert Elementary is well into a yearlong “modernization” that will add athletic facilities to the school’s campus. This upgrade has so far involved the razing of 50 or 60 old-growth trees in the northwest corner of the park, reduced parking on Davis Place, and led to an awful lot of early-morning construction noise. (Why do backhoes spend so much time in reverse?)

Some of the crankier tenants in my building are beginning to raise a stink. They say the new buildings are unnecessary and intrusive, and complain that the gymnasium will be open to the public, with city-wide basketball tournaments, increasing parking problems on game nights. There will also be a new access road directly across from my building.

The ANC presentation for Stoddert's modernization reveals some compelling facilities upgrades.

I confess I was initially on the side of the complainers, feeling that Fenty’s knee-jerk “build more athletic facilities” approach was going to ruin my pretty little park, at vast expense to the city during a severe economic recession. It still might, but I’m warming to the project all the same.

Taking a look at the ANC presentation, it’s clear that the modernization involves much more than putting up a gym where some beautiful old trees once stood. The new LEED-certified buildings will also comprise a media center, cafeteria, and visual and performing arts space. The draft educational specifications are impressive.

So, despite recent questions about the wisdom of Fenty’s recreational profligacy, and resisting the urge to adopt a NIMBY attitude, I’m throwing my support behind the project. Or, at least, I’m hoping it will turn out to be the right thing for the kids and the neighborhood. That seems possible, at this point.