The Dupont Current
Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Vol. XV, No. 11
Serving Dupont Circle, Kalorama, Adams Morgan & Logan Circle
Art installation eyed at 21st and K
DOG DAYS
■ Foggy Bottom: Golden
Triangle BID to pursue effort
By CUNEYT DIL
Current Correspondent
The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District is looking at public art to mark a prominent gateway into downtown, a space known currently for the K Street underpass.
The corner of 21st and K streets — the BID’s western boundary — “right now is fairly gray and concrete and steel,” said David Suls, director of planning and economic development at the BID. Golden Triangle, bounded by Dupont Circle to the north and Pennsylvania Avenue to the south, has used public sculptures and light installations in recent years to add color through the neighborhood.
The latest project, expected to be some combination of lighting and sculpture, could “soften the feel of the block, and add some visual interest,” Suls said. The group has $500,000 to spend on the project, half of which comes from a city grant. The idea of a gateway piece on K Street has been bouncing around for at least five years, Suls said. It wasn’t until a year ago that the See Artwork/Page 13
New pedestrian traffic signals win praise By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
For the 17th summer in a row, the MidCity business area celebrated its “Dog Days of August” festivities over the weekend with discounts, treats and special prizes. Over 60 shopkeepers and restaurateurs from the neighborhood surrounding 14th and U streets NW took part in the event.
A recent D.C. Department of Transportation initiative to improve pedestrian safety at some of the city’s most dangerous intersections has been effective and well-received so far, neighborhood leaders say. The latest phase of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Vision Zero campaign to end transportation-related fatalities in the city by 2024 involves adding crosswalk signals and other related enhancements at 21 intersections, including 10 in Northwest. Some crosswalks required a new traffic signal, while others needed a High-Intensity Activated Crosswalk signal, also known as a “HAWK,” or a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB), according to the Transportation Department. At a HAWK signal, drivers get a red light after a pedestrian pushes a button; unlike at a conventional traffic signal, motorists soon see a flashing red that See Signals/Page 12
Brian Kapur/The Current
The intersection of Georgia Avenue and Sheridan Street NW, one of 21 sites citywide with recent safety upgrades, received new stoplights.
Program helps students expand global horizons
Georgetown hotel project to proceed shortly after accord
By MARK LIEBERMAN
■ Development: Mixed-use
Current Staff Writer
Abigail Koerner has been studying Chinese in school for more than seven years. During middle school, she took a trip to China and fell even more in love with the language. When the opportunity to return to the Asian country came earlier this summer, she couldn’t pass it up. The first time Koerner went, she spent money she’d earned from babysitting on a trip that took her to most of the “tourist-y” areas. This time, she wanted to go deeper. “Instead of just being 13 and put on a plane to China, I was 17 and really ready to see things in a more mature way, having a deeper understanding of the world we live in and taking a more global perspective,” said Koerner, a Woodley Park resident and
building to set open in 2019 By MARK LIEBERMAN Photo courtesy of Melvin Saravia
School Without Walls student Melvin Saravia, seen here in France, took part in D.C. Public Schools’ study abroad program this summer.
rising senior at Wilson High School. “It’s a privilege to go on this trip.” Nearly 400 other students from across the city got to experience a similar privilege this summer through the D.C. Public Schools Global Education program, which let all students in eighth and 11th grades apply See Abroad/Page 5
Current Staff Writer
The redevelopment of the Latham Hotel site in Georgetown is moving forward after a brief dispute with neighborhood leaders over the scale and use of a proposed rooftop lounge atop the building. The New York-based development firm Thor Equities closed on the property at 3000 M St. NW for $53.35 million last month with
plans to rehabilitate the vacant 10-story building into a luxury hotel with retail on the three lowest floors. The Board of Zoning Adjustment voted last month to approve relief from land-use regulations to construct a partially enclosed rooftop deck, and the Old Georgetown Board approved the historic preservation aspects of the project design concept in May. With those decisions out of the way, the developer can proceed with construction, scheduled to begin early next year and conclude in time to open both the hotel and retail by See Hotel/Page 12
NEWS
EXHIBITS
SHERWOOD
INDEX
Walter Reed project
Park Service centennial
Ugly exit
Calendar/16 Classifieds/22 District Digest/4 Dupont Circle Citizen/9 Exhibits/17 Getting Around/15
Preservation board offers mixed feedback on sprawling redevelopment concept / Page 2
Natural History Museum exhibit showcases the diversity in 100 years of national parks / Page 17
Orange’s resignation capped off a troubled period for the veteran D.C. Council member/ Page 6
In Your Neighborhood/14 Opinion/6 Police Report/8 Real Estate/11 Service Directory/20 Week Ahead/3
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