THE FOGGY BOTTOM CURRENT
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Vol. XI, No. 10
Serving Foggy Bottom & the West End
Franklin School set to be museum
HAPPY HOMECOMING
■ Development: ‘Planet
Word’ targets 2019 opening By CUNEYT DIL
Current Correspondent
After sitting vacant for years, the historic Franklin School will undergo over $30 million in renovations to house a new museum dedicated to language, which District leaders hope will inject activ-
ity into a prominent corner of downtown. The museum, called “Planet Word,” will be led and financed by philanthropist and former teacher Ann Friedman. The idea was hatched three years ago after she learned about the National Museum of Mathematics in New York City. “If you can take math and abstract concepts, how about trying the same with words and lan-
guage,” she wondered. She pursued her idea with consultants and her husband, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, and gathered favorable feedback from experts and focus groups. The concept beat out nearly half a dozen other proposals submitted for the building at 13th and K streets NW after Mayor Muriel Bowser early in her term nixed See Franklin/Page 5
Agency adopts concept for boathouses By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
George Washington University students, alumni, faculty, staff and friends gathered Friday evening for the annual homecoming bonfire celebrating the birthday of the university’s namesake and the country’s first president.
A long-gestating plan to build new non-motorized boathouses along the Potomac riverfront in Georgetown was finalized Monday by the National Park Service, though detailed design and implementation remain a long way off. The Park Service has essentially formalized an iteration of the plan presented to the community last summer, which establishes a maximum development envelope for possible facilities. With this overview in place, the next step is to create detailed designs for each piece and seek community feedback, agency spokesperson Jeremy Barnum told The Current. He couldn’t provide a detailed timeline or estimated cost for the project, but finalizing the initial plans represents “significant progress,” he wrote in an email. “What we have to do now is reach out to the variSee Waterfront/Page 5
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
Plans call for expanded Potomac River access.
Foxhall farmhouse gets landmark designation
Georgetown dropped from ‘green infrastructure’ plans
By MARK LIEBERMAN
■ Environment: Residents
Current Staff Writer
An 1865 Foxhall farmhouse was designated a historic landmark on Thursday, providing another obstacle to property owners who are hoping to build a new home on the property. The Historic Preservation Review Board was unanimous in its decision that the two-story, 1,600-square-foot Scheele-Brown house at 2207 Foxhall Road NW is historically significant. Chantal Attias and Andreas Kotzur purchased the property in 2013 for $1 million in hopes of replacing the farmhouse with a new home for themselves, their two children and Attias’ elderly mother. The board has reviewed the farmhouse several times since December 2014, but preservation concerns have repeatedly upended the couple’s plans.
had feared project’s impacts
By BRADY HOLT Brian Kapur/The Current
The owners of 2207 Foxhall Road want to relocate the 1865 farmhouse to construct a new home.
In September 2015, the preservation board approved a plan to demolish a non-historic part of the structure and relocate the rest 12 feet west and 40 feet north, making room for the family to build their home. But at Thursday’s board hearing, Attias and her architects indicated they’ve abandoned that plan and are now anxious for another option. They repeatedly implored the board to grant them the ability to See Farmhouse/Page 12
Current Staff Writer
Controversial plans to add permeable pavement to some Georgetown streets have been postponed indefinitely as the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority focuses its efforts on Burleith and Glover Park, agency officials told community leaders last week. DC Water’s “green infrastructure” work, aimed at reducing stormwater runoff, involves con-
verting some alleys and parking lanes into permeable surfaces, and constructing vegetated curb extensions. But Georgetown community leaders have pushed back against the plans, with concerns about construction disruptions and impacts to the area’s historic aesthetic, along with doubts the project would yield significant environmental benefits. “This is one of the situations where there was some dispute, but it appears … that we have a winwin situation for both DC Water and the neighborhood,” said Rick Murphy, a member of Advisory See Green/Page 12
SHOPPING & DINING
PASSAGES
EVENTS
INDEX
Restaurant relocates
‘Painted City’
Southwestern art
Calendar/20 Classifieds/29 District Digest/4 Foggy Bottom News/9 In Your Neighborhood/18 Opinion/6
Heritage India moves up the road from Glover Park to storied spot near Cathedral Commons
New documentary premiering at local film festival showcases the murals of D.C. / Page 11
Museum of Women in the Arts exhibits eye border crossings, cultural heritage / Page 21
Passages/11 Police Report/8 Real Estate/15 School Dispatches/13 Shopping & Dining/19 Service Directory/27
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