text: The following year, the 105th United States Congress enacted legislation that authorized the Washington Interdependence Council to establish at the Council's expense a memorial on federal land in the District that would commemorate Banneker's accomplishments. By 1999, however, the proposed memorial had become a $17 million project that would contain a visitors' center near Independence Avenue at the north end of the Promenade, a clock atop a tall pedestal at the midpoint of the Promenade, a statue of Banneker in the park's circle at the south end of the Promenade and a skyway over I-395 that would connect the park to the waterfront. After considering the proposal, the National Capital Memorial Commission rejected the placement of the statue in the park and decided to consult with the District of Columbia government about placing a Banneker memorial at the midpoint of the Promenade.
  The legislative authority relative to locating the Memorial on federal land in the District lapsed in 2005. This did not preclude the location of the memorial on lands such as the road right-of-way in L'Enfant Promenade that are under the jurisdiction of the District of Columbia.
  Skyway idea
  The skyway idea, however, captured the interest of city planners and became part of a plan to build a baseball stadium at the southern end of L'Enfant Promenade. The Council of the District of Columbia approved a plan in March 2002 to redevelop the southwest waterfront which included construction of a tour bus parking garage beneath Banneker Park and stairs down from Banneker Park to Maine Avenue SW.