Serving Foggy Bottom & the West End
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
Vol. IX, No. 32
The Foggy BoTTom CurrenT
Agencies pledge modernization fixes
MUSIc MAN
■ Schools: Reforms respond
to auditor’s scathing findings By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
Officials responsible for modernizing D.C. Public Schools facilities are pledging to make a series of reforms following a damning audit that found serious mismanagement in many recent school projects.
At a D.C. Council hearing last Wednesday, officials with the Department of General Services and D.C. Public Schools said the city will more carefully review the private firms hired to oversee school projects; develop precise cost estimates earlier in a project’s process; and more clearly define who’s in charge at what stages of a project. Furthermore, they intend to eliminate inefficient accelerated scheduling as well as phased moderniza-
tions, which they said often result in last-minute increases to a project’s scope. They also said they will more readily refuse costly community requests, and they will develop and adhere to a formal procedure for selecting which schools are modernized when. However, officials defended their reliance on “DC PEP,” the partnership of two companies that is tasked with overseeing the city’s school See Modernization/Page 9
ANC opposes revised Meridian project By DEIRDRE BANNON Current Correspondent
Brian Kapur/The Current
“¡Uno, Dos, Tres con Andrés!” featured a chance to sing, shake and dance while learning about Spanish and Latin American culture at the West End Interim Library on Tuesday morning. The interactive event included guitar and clarinet playing.
The latest proposal for a new development at the Meridian International Center campus along 16th Street faced continued opposition last week from the Adams Morgan advisory neighborhood commission. Commissioners said the plan fails to address previously raised concerns over the height, scale and massing — among other characteristics — of the planned ninestory apartment building, which critics say is incompatible with the Meridian Hill Historic District. But the developer and architect argued that their current plans were in fact significantly scaled down from the original proposal. After an hourlong discussion on the project at 1624 Crescent Place, the commission’s unanimous vote of opposition drew loud applause from the standing-roomonly crowd. Commissioners cautioned, however, that their body
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
critics say the new building would block views of historic structures at Meridian International center.
has little power in the decision-making process and urged residents to voice their opinions at a July 23 Historic Preservation Review Board meeting, where a decision could be made to approve the design concept. See Meridian/Page 16
Donations pour in for owner of Woodley bar
City initiative targets alleys across the District for repair
Current Correspondent
■ Transportation: Selection
By MARK LIEBERMAN
Zoo Bar owner Steve McKinney, 61, has run his Woodley Park establishment every night and almost every day for the last 15 years, and he worked there with its former owners even before buying the place. His daughter Lindsay, now 34, has been hanging around the bar since she was 12. During his first bout of cancer two years ago, Steve kept working. But in early June, Steve got a more serious diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia. The outlook is unclear, and treatment has been consuming much of his time and energy. The future of the Zoo Bar looked grim, until his daughter stepped in. Steve told Lindsay McKinney about his diagnosis
NEWS
process, fanfare questioned
Brian Kapur/The Current
An online fundraising campaign has netted more than $17,000 for the Zoo Bar’s owner as his cancer battle threatens the establishment’s future.
during her birthday dinner with him in early June. A few weeks later, on a whim, she launched a donation campaign on the website GoFundMe. Modeled after Kickstarter, the site allows users to mark a goal for fundraising, with donors giving as much as they choose, anonymously or not. Lindsay helped her dad calculate the cost of keeping the bar open short-term while also paying See Zoo Bar/Page 4
THEATER
council to consider new rules governing bar, nightclub noise — Page 3
Studio 2ndStage to present parody of 1990s horror film — Page 21
By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Correspondent
Last week marked the launch of the District’s first-ever “AlleyPalooza” campaign, which promises to repair and improve eight alleys in each of the city’s eight wards over the next eight weeks. The $3.7 million initiative, introduced by Mayor Muriel Bowser, is run by the D.C. Department of Transportation. It’s meant as a com-
panion to the “Potholepalooza” campaign the agency runs each spring to bring concentrated attention to pothole repairs. The Transportation Department selected the alleys for the campaign based on analysis of 311 calls, a review by the department’s engineers and consultation with the mayor’s office, according to spokesperson Michelle PhippsEvans. But some leaders across Northwest caution the mayor’s office not to get complacent once the alley campaign’s 64 sites have been checked off the list. See Alleys/Page 16
INDEX
NEWS
Mayor establishes new penalties for synthetic-drug sales — Page 4
Calendar/18 Classifieds/25 District Digest/2 Exhibits/19 Foggy Bottom News/13 In Your Neighborhood/6
Opinion/10 Police Report/8 Real Estate/15 Service Directory/23 Theater/21 Week Ahead/3
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