Serving Dupont Circle, Kalorama, Adams Morgan & Logan Circle
Wednesday, December 16, 2015
The DuponT CurrenT
Vol. XIV, No. 29
Zoning board airs St. Thomas’ plan
q-AND-ACE
■ Dupont: ANC votes down
compromise with developer By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
A decision on the development project at St. Thomas’ Parish will have to wait until after the new year, following four hours of back-andforth at a Board of Zoning Adjustment hearing yesterday.
The long-debated project would construct a seven-story, 60-unit residential building and a new church at 18th and Church streets NW, where the congregation’s previous sanctuary was destroyed by arson in 1970. Many community members have staunchly opposed the size and design of the proposal. Developer CAS Riegler has already secured Historic Preservation Review Board approval for its designs, but it now needs the zoning
board’s nod for the new building to occupy 86.7 percent of its lot instead of the 80 percent coverage that would otherwise be allowed. At the hearing and at last Wednesday’s Dupont Circle advisory neighborhood commission meeting, residents said the project would rob the street and surrounding neighborhood of valuable green space, disturb a quiet part of the District and threaten the historic character of Dupont Circle. See Zoning/Page 3
Tiny Jewel Box celebrates latest expansion By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
The Washington Nationals held its annual Nats Winterfest over the weekend at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. As part of Sunday’s activities, the team’s ace pitcher Max Scherzer took questions from young fans.
Less than a year after the start of the Great Depression, the young couple Monte and Roz Rosenheim opened a ramshackle jewelry store in 100 square feet of a G Street NW storefront. They called it the Tiny Jewel Box, and it lived up to its name. Fast forward 85 years later, and the Jewel Box isn’t so tiny anymore. As of last month, the six-story shop in the historic building at 1155 Connecticut Ave. NW spread into the storefront next door at 1147 Connecticut. And on Dec. 4, the expanded family-run shop got one of the biggest possible endorsements — a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, Ward 2 Council member Jack Evans and representatives from the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District. “Our goal is to take this part of Connecticut Avenue and make it into Rodeo Drive,” Evans said during the
Brian Kapur/The Current
The decades-old jewelry store once again outgrew its space, and took over the adjacent storefront.
ceremony, organized both to celebrate the jewelry store’s expansion and to reinforce city officials’ commitment to the block. The Golden Triangle Business Improvement District See Expansion/Page 22
Dog photos with Santa ring in holiday season
Wilson High response to gun on campus gets mixed grades
By MARK LIEBERMAN
■ Safety: School tightens
Current Staff Writer
The holiday season is a time for celebrating the ones you love, whether human or not. This month, the Washington Humane Society is offering opportunities for dog owners to get pictures of their canine friends with Santa Claus. On Saturday, a stream of dogs and dutiful owners stopped in at the pet supply store Pro Feed D.C. in the Palisades and waited in a short line to get some face time with the big man in the red suit. Visitors came from across the city and even outside of it for this occasion. Lucian Mattia — an Arlington resident who’s fostered eight dogs from the Washington Humane Society over the last year — brought one of his foster companions, Niffler, an American Staffordshire
NEWS
security after recent incident
By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
Area canines came to the Palisades on Saturday to meet St. Nicholas at Pro Feed D.C.
terrier. Mattia has hosted charity events and donated $10,000 to the society over the last decade. He attributes his love of dogs to a simple truism: “They’re better than people.” On a more serious note, Mattia said the Washington Humane Society does important work and needs all the See Photos/Page 11
EVENTS
Tenley ANC supports outdoor seats at proposed Chick-fil-A — Page 3
GWU gallery fetes vivid paintings by Elizabeth Osborne — Page 15
Two weeks after a student was arrested for bringing a gun into Wilson High School, community members have shared mixed opinions on how the school responded and what the response should be going forward. In the days following the Dec. 1 incident, D.C. Public Schools has tightened security at the high-per-
HOLIDAYS
‘Shop with a cop’ lets local kids meet MPD’s friendly side — Page 11
forming Tenleytown school. Students are required to leave the building immediately after the school day ends at 3:15 p.m., and they have been instructed not to use any side doors when entering or exiting. The school continues to use metal detectors at its front entrance, and school officials have also been checking alarms, ordering repairs for broken locks on doors and assessing security cameras, according to D.C. Public Schools press secretary Michelle Lerner. An additional special police officer has been assigned to Wilson as well, she said. See Wilson/Page 22
INDEX Calendar/14 Classifieds/21 District Digest/5 Dupont Circle Citizen/9 Exhibits/15 In Your Neighborhood/12
Opinion/6 Police Report/4 Real Estate/13 School Dispatches/8 Service Directory/19 Week Ahead/3
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