Fb 07 20 2016

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The Foggy BoTTom CurrenT

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Sculpture on riverfront gets initial support

Historic district may expand from 15th St.

REVOLUTIONARY TALES

■ Preservation: Group cites

heritage of downtown area

By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer

A 41-foot-tall modern sculpture proposed for the Washington Harbour restaurant Sequoia won Old Georgetown Board support this month despite protests from community members and neighborhood leaders about the artwork’s design and size. The New York-based Ark Restaurants firm, which owns Sequoia at 3000 K St. NW, hopes to install the sculpture in front of its riverfront outdoor seating as part of a broader redesign project that will take place between January and April 2017. Early designs call for a colorful sculpture with numerous interlocking parts created by Belgian conceptual artist Arne Quinze. The concept approval means that the three-member board — part of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts — is comfortable with the general direction of the proposal, though the members aren’t entirely supportive of the sculpture’s colors and scale, according See Sculpture/Page 5

By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer

The Fifteenth Street Financial Historic District lives up to its name: a cluster of 19th- and 20thcentury buildings, 20 in all, surrounding and complementing the Treasury Department. The busy downtown stretch covers 15th from Pennsylvania Avenue to K Street NW, as well as a handful of buildings at 14th and G streets NW.

Brian Kapur/The Current

The Anderson House celebrated French Encampment Day on Saturday to commemorate the French-American alliance that helped win the Revolutionary War. The event included re-enactors from the Regiment de Gatinois, tricorn-hat making for children and a concert of French and Frenchinspired 18th-century music.

By LEE CANNON

Current Correspondent

Photo courtesy of William Mills

Peirce Mill this spring debuted its renovated barrel hoist.

a good, old-fashioned dance party as the Friends of Peirce Mill, the National Park Service and the DC Square Dance Collective come together for an outdoor square dance, complete with live band, callers and a glimpse into tradi-

But the DC Preservation League says the history of that portion of downtown extends beyond that district’s current boundaries. Later this month, the Historic Preservation Review Board will consider a proposal from the league to nearly double the number of buildings within the historic district. The amended area would also shed the “15th Street” moniker in order to encompass a wider swath of the downtown area to the north and east of the existing boundaries. “This amended nomination, which adds 18 buildings to the See Financial/Page 12

Pepco plans for substation shift amid landmark push ■ Adams Morgan: Utility to

retain, expand aging facility By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer

Square dance at mill to reflect rich history In a 1903 Washington Times article, an “elderly dame” recalled fondly a September evening at Peirce Mill in Forest Hills, when the community came together for music, dancing and romance. Said the dame, “all the boys and all the girls fell in love and many tender words were said and vows pledged only to be broken.” Apparently, the mill — already historic more than 100 years ago — was a prime spot for neighborhood dances that functioned in those days the way speed-dating and swiping right serve in the modern day. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Peirce Mill will again provide a backdrop for

Vol. X, No. 33

Serving Foggy Bottom & the West End

tional American culture. The event will take place on the lawn beside the mill building. The idea of the dance began with Steve Dryden, the program manager of the Friends of Peirce Mill nonprofit. Dryden heard that the church across from his home — St. Stephen and the Incarnation Episcopal Church at 1525 Newton St. NW — had become the regular meeting place of the square dance collective. Intrigued, he looked into the group and found it was a loosely organized circle of traditional music and dance lovers who volunteer to host public square dances, often attended by hundreds. Dryden, author of “Peirce Mill: Two Hundred Years in the See Dance/Page 18

Local preservationists hope to see a power substation in Adams Morgan designated as a historic landmark, but community sentiments on the possibility of special distinction are mixed. The DC Preservation League submitted Pepco Substation 25, at 2119 Champlain St. NW, for consideration as a landmark earlier this year. This month, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1C (Adams Morgan) voted 6-1 to support the application, despite strong opposition from one commissioner and reservations from several residents. Separately, Pepco now hopes to rebuild that substation for further use, deviating from a previous plan to transfer its operations from that substation to another one nearby on Harvard Street, according to the utility’s Travoris Culpepper. Pepco is already in talks with D.C. agencies, including the Office of Planning and the Depart-

Brian Kapur/The Current

The DC Preservation League says the 2119 Champlain St. NW site has important historic merit.

ment of Transportation, to determine steps for the construction process should the Historic Preservation Review Board grant the distinction. “It’s not anything that we’re set in stone on doing or have the approval to do,” Culpepper said of the construction project at Wednesday’s meeting. “These are our plans at this time.” The announcement took ANC 1C members and the preservation league’s Kent Boese by surprise. They had previously understood that activity on the site would soon be terminated, clearing the way for a smooth landmark appliSee Substation/Page 12

NEWS

PASSAGES

EXHIBITS

INDEX

Liquor store closes

Gotta catch ’em all

Hemphill exhibition

Calendar/14 Classifieds/21 District Digest/2 Exhibits/15 Foggy Bottom News/9 In Your Neighborhood/10

Longtime Petworth shop, hit by single-sale restrictions, has assets seized by city / Page 3

Pokémon Go game sends locals to Northwest landmarks in search of digital quarry / Page 18

Gallery features variety of abstract pieces from three notable artists / Page 15

Northwest Passages/18 Opinion/6 Police Report/4 Real Estate/11 Service Directory/19 Week Ahead/3

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