Mayor Muriel Bowser is asking President Trump to give D.C. several parcels of land controlled by the National Park Service -- including RFK Stadium, which she and some other D.C. officials would like to make the home of a new Redskins stadium.
In a letter to Trump this week, Bowser asked him to give the city control of the RFK site, Franklin Park in downtown Washington and the three public golf courses in the city now run by the U.S. Park Service.
Bowser's letter says efforts to redevelop those sites have been slowed by the Park Service and its limited budget, and that the District needs more recreation land for its growing population.
RFK was the home of the Redskins from 1961 to 1996, before the team moved to a new stadium in Landover, Maryland.
District mayors since Tony Williams more than a decade ago have been interested in bringing the team back to the city. Meanwhile, Prince Georges County hopes to keep the team in Maryland and Virginia Gov. Terry MacAuliffe has been wooing the team to move to Loudoun County.
Meanwhile, the Redskins, which have about 10 years left on their lease in Prince George's, have said the team is open to building a new stadium in the region.
If D.C. were to get the team, officials are making it clear that they would provide the land but that the team must fund the cost of building the stadium. Those costs could be more than $1 billion.
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"Certainly we do want to preserve the option for a football stadium to be on that site, as we continue to talk about what makes the most sense for the District and what makes the most sense for football in this region," said Rashad Young, D.C.'s city administrator.
RFK is now home to major-league soccer team D.C. United, which plans to move to its own new home in Southwest D.C. in 2018.
Equally important to District officials are the other recreation facilities, which include golf courses and tennis courts, including those in East Potomac Park.
"It's just an opportunity for us to look at this under-utilized inventory and really make a productive asset for the community," Young said.
The other sites are Franklin Square downtown, the golf course in Rock Creek Park and the famous 1930s Langston course - first created as a place only for black players.
The city says any changes to Langston would respect its history and character.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
