The Dupont Current
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Vol. XVI, No. 10
Serving Dupont Circle, Kalorama, Adams Morgan & Logan Circle
Crowding squeezes Ward 3 schools
DOG DAYS
■ Education: Wilson High
facing particular pressure By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer
When Kimberly Martin became principal of Wilson High three years ago, she frequently took phone calls from lottery hopefuls across the city, fielding questions about their prospects for landing a
place at the sought-after school. Martin no longer takes those calls herself, delegating to staff the task of explaining the absence of open seats through the lottery. “I wish I could have everyone, but I just can’t,” she told The Current on Monday during Ward 3 D.C. Council member Mary Cheh’s annual school readiness tour, which evaluates schools each summer across her ward. Wilson High, located at 3950
Chesapeake St. NW, is bursting at the seams. Martin expects 1,900 students to walk through the doors next week, although the campus was built for 1,600. In recent years, Wilson’s population has steadily grown from the 1,633 students enrolled in 2011. Meanwhile, the school has endured three consecutive years of budget cuts and more than 30 layoffs. Now, with one guidance counselor See Schools/Page 5
Opponents defeat planned strip club By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
The 18th annual Dog Days Sidewalk Festival returned last weekend. Nearly 100 businesses spilled onto the sidewalks along the U Street and 14th Street NW corridors. As part of the festivities, City Paws and the Humane Rescue Alliance held an adoption event that included the puppy Nugget.
Plans for a large new downtown strip club have been withdrawn after opponents demonstrated that the proposal violated D.C. law. Attorney Stevan Lieberman had hoped to open the Effigy club at 1720 I St. NW across the street from his law office. Addressing skeptics at recent community meetings, he pitched Effigy as a “sophisticated” gentlemen’s club that would feature full meal service in addition to nude dancing. But opponents raising concerns included multiple advisory neighborhood commissions; nearby commercial interests; and even local Metropolitan Police Department officers. Andrew Kline, an alcohol attorney representing some of the opponents, discovered that the proposed club would be within 600 feet of the nearest residential building — AKA White House, 1710 H St. NW, a cross between a luxury hotel and a
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
Effigy would have offered nude dancing with a capacity of 500 patrons at 1720 I St. NW.
furnished apartment house. That proximity violates a city law intended to keep new nude dancing establishments away from residential property. Jessie Cornelius, spokesperson for the D.C. AlcoSee License/Page 19
Northwest parks secure centennial grant funds
Fannie Mae developer seeks landmark status for building
By GRACE BIRD
■ Preservation: Tenleytown
Current Staff Writer
The National Park Service is celebrating its 100th birthday by awarding centennial challenge grants to six parks across Northwest D.C., the U.S. secretary of the interior announced last month. This year, Congress gave $20 million to national parks across the U.S., and park partners added another $33 million. “Many of the national parks that Americans treasure today would simply not exist without the strong partnerships and philanthropy that have benefited the national park idea for over a century,” acting National Park Service director Michael Reynolds said in a news release. Locally, the Northwest locations receiving funds are Chevy Chase Circle, a section of Rock Creek Park near Massachusetts Avenue, Dumbarton Oaks
project to include Wegmans
By GRACE BIRD Brian Kapur/Current file photo
Although fountain repairs are beyond the current scope, Chevy Chase Circle is slated for upgraded benches via a National Park Service matching grant. Park, the Lincoln Memorial, the Carter G. Woodson Home and Mount Vernon Triangle. At Chevy Chase Circle, sometimes called the “gateway to the nation’s capital,” the park’s friends group received $16,368 in government funds and matched that amount with an additional $17,705. The See Parks/Page 19
Current Staff Writer
Amid plans to redevelop the Fannie Mae headquarters into a mixed-use complex, the project team received positive reception for its proposal to secure a landmark designation for the 1958 building at 3900 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Richard Lake, co-founder of Roadside Development, said he hopes that landmark status —
which would regulate and restrict alterations to the building — would go a long way toward putting residents at ease with the large-scale development. The Roadside team lavished praise on the red-brick building, graciously set back from the street behind an open lawn, citing the quiet elegance of its architecture and its resemblance to Colonial Williamsburg. The company’s plan includes renovating but generally maintaining the main 1958 building and replacing subsequent additions that sit behind it. The company also intends to spruce up See Fannie Mae/Page 3
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