The Dupont Current
Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Long-delayed bench honors civil rights icon
Meridian project wins preservation approval
FARRAGUT FRIDAYS
White-Meyer House at 1624 Cres-
■ Development: Opponents cent Place NW. Meridian Interna-
still plan zoning challenge
By KATHLEEN J. BRYAN Current Correspondent
Nearly two years after Chevy Chase community leaders began pushing for a bench to honor the passing of neighborhood resident Julian Bond, the civil rights icon and former NAACP chairman has his memorial at last. More than 60 of Bond’s friends, family, neighbors and civil rights colleagues joined Mayor Muriel Bowser and other D.C. officials for a ceremony last week to dedicate the bench and a memorial plaque outside the Chevy Chase Community Center on Connecticut Avenue NW. Bowser said attendees were paying tribute to a “great man” who, she said, exuded bravery alongside others from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in “hostile areas,” where riding a bus or sitting at a lunch counter could spell danger. Bond, who died in August 2015 at age 75, was known locally for his presence in the D.C. neighborhood where he lived with his wife of 25 years, Pam Horowitz. At the See Bond/Page 2
By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Neighbors of a proposed apartment development near Meridian Hill Park lost their bid to reduce the building’s height from nine to eight stories, as city preservation officials voted last Thursday to approve the taller of several design options. Plans call for a 110-unit apartment building with a penthouse at 2300 16th St. NW, behind the
tional Center, a nonprofit publicdiplomacy organization that owns two early-20th-century mansions on the west end of the development site, plans to use the new building to raise money for maintenance and other capital projects. Residents have repeatedly blasted proposals from the development team, which includes Westbrook Partners and the architecture firm Perkins Eastman, as too tall and out of step with the character of the surrounding Meridian Hill Historic District. See Meridian/Page 23
Lawsuit challenges right to develop SunTrust plaza site ■ Adams Morgan: Groups
Brian Kapur/The Current
The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District’s weekly Farragut Friday event last week included a musical performance and recreational activities such as table tennis, giant Jenga, large building blocks and painting.
allege space belongs to public By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Evans pushes extended lease for art center By CUNEYT DIL
Current Correspondent
Jackson Art Center has support from Ward 2 D.C. Council member Jack Evans in hopes of staying at its Georgetown building long past next year, when its lease with the city is set to expire. On March 2, Evans introduced a bill to renew the lease for up to 20 years — moving ahead of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office, which hasn’t yet begun negotiations with the nonprofit. The art center has occupied the historic Jackson School building at 3050 R St. NW since 1980 and currently pays $145,000 in annual rent. The center has signed two short-term lease extensions in
Vol. XVI, No. 5
Serving Dupont Circle, Kalorama, Adams Morgan & Logan Circle
Photo courtesy of Jackson Art Center
Jackson Art Center is located at 3050 R St. NW in Georgetown.
recent years, most recently in 2015. The large Georgetown building has been eyed at times by developers, making users and neighbors anxious at the possible loss of a community arts space. The mayor supports a long-
term extension of the lease, D.C. Department of General Services general counsel Camille Sabbakhan told the council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development at a hearing last Wednesday. She asked the committee to hold off on moving the bill because the mayor is prepared to submit her own legislation that is “very similar to the bill currently presented” after discussions with Jackson Art Center. But Evans said he wants faster progress. “I am anxious to get this done,” Evans told Sabbakhan. “It’s very important. I think we can just do it, knock it off.” Sabbakhan said the rental fee is See Jackson/Page 2
After failing to block project approvals from city preservation authorities, opponents of the redevelopment of the SunTrust branch at 18th Street and Columbia Road NW are taking their battle to a new venue. When Denis James, president of the Kalorama Citizens Association, saw in May that developer PN Hoffman had applied to raze the existing bank building at 1800 Columbia, he decided the time had come for last-ditch efforts to save the open plaza space on the property. “Sometimes things do change without any input from the community, like they can’t find investors to finance the building. You never know,” James said in an interview. “It seemed clear that at that point their plans were becoming more likely to be a reality.” On June 16, the citizens association joined with the ad hoc group Adams Morgan for Reason-
Brian Kapur/The Current
The SunTrust at 1800 Columbia Road NW has long hosted the neighborhood farmers market.
able Development to file suit against PN Hoffman. Their D.C. Superior Court filing argues that the developer’s plans conflict with an existing easement that affords the plaza space as a public benefit of a decades-old building project. Despite written testimony dating back to the original deal from neighborhood leaders involved in the negotiations, PN Hoffman has repeatedly denied that the easement still applies. A hearing on the plaintiffs’ request for a preliminary injunction will come before Superior Court Judge Todd Edelman on July 19 at 2:15 p.m. The suit’s main contention See Plaza/Page 5
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