The GeorGeTown CurrenT
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Vol. XXVI, No. 34
Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park
Lab School airs plans to close pool
PAW PRINTS
■ Palisades: Neighbors urge
school to reconsider proposal
By KATHERINE SALTZMAN Current Correspondent
The Lab School of Washington’s recent proposal to replace its campus pool with a theater has drawn criticism from community members. As part of the school’s mission
to incorporate hands-on and creative education for students with learning differences, Lab School’s leaders are proposing a larger new theater space to enhance performing arts programming. The theater would replace the existing 25-yard, six-lane indoor pool on the main campus at 4759 Reservoir Road NW. Lab School principal Katherine Schantz, who has proposed the idea along with the school’s board
of trustees, said performing arts can involve the students in a range of different ways. “There are students who are learning to memorize lines, students who are involved in 3-D design, students learning about the technology of lights and soundboard and students learning how to manage a whole group of people and work collaboratively,” she said. “It is a multisensory experience.” See Lab/Page 5
JBG may soon sell Wardman Park site By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
“Tudor Nights: Paw Prints” served up cocktails and animal tales as well as art and objects of special interest to pet lovers at Georgetown’s Tudor Place Historic House and Garden on Thursday night.
Controversial plans to redevelop Woodley Park’s Marriott Wardman Park Hotel and surrounding lawn have become more uncertain, as developer JBG is said to be amid negotiations with a prospective buyer for the site. An as-yet-unknown buyer is currently undergoing a 45-day due diligence period that could result in the sale of the entire property, which includes the hotel, The Woodley apartments and the Wardman Tower condos, according to Woodley Park advisory neighborhood commissioner Gwendolyn Bole. JBG declined to confirm a specific transaction, but a spokesperson told The Current that a “marketing process” for the site is underway. Bole, who has been in frequent contact with JBG for months, said it appears that neighborhood opposiSee Wardman/Page 9
Brian Kapur/The Current
Many Woodley Park residents have resisted plans to develop the site’s open lawn, a proposal that’s been on hold amid efforts to sell the property.
City plans more runoff control in Chevy Chase
Hardy Rec Center set to host summertime children’s co-op
By BRADY HOLT
■ Recreation: Co-op builds
Current Staff Writer
Two years after completing a “green infrastructure” project around 33rd and Quesada streets NW, the D.C. Department of Transportation is returning to that area of Chevy Chase to further reduce stormwater runoff. Termed the Oregon Avenue Watershed Green Streets project, the effort will include some 30 locations in the northeastern section of the neighborhood — not on Oregon itself, which is the subject of its own reconstruction project, but along nearby streets. Preliminary site selections from the Transportation Department include two areas for permeable paving and a smattering of bioretention planters, essentially rain gardens that will be located mainly between the street and sidewalk. The permeable
on popular DPR program
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
Some residents question the effectiveness of existing “green infrastructure” in the Chevy Chase neighborhood that was constructed in 2014.
pavement areas selected so far are a block and a half of 33rd Street NW north from Rittenhouse Street — just beyond the District’s previous project in the area — and an alley paralleling Rittenhouse between 28th Street and Utah Avenue. The Department of Transportation is still in the early stages of design and site selection and will present more information in late April or early May, See Green/Page 5
By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Last summer, Glover Park resident Young Kim set up a co-op program for 13 local children between 18 months and 4 years old, modeled after a similar D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation offering during the school year. The degree of interest was overwhelming, Kim said. “After I closed enrollment, I had a continuing stream of fami-
lies who wanted to find out if there was any space left,” Kim said. “I think it was then when I realized that this was a big problem in the community.” To address the high demand, Kim has tripled the size of the program in its second year. In addition to a group at last year’s location, Macomb Recreation Center at 3409 Macomb St. NW in Cleveland Park, families have the option of nearly identical programs at two other recreation centers: Hardy, at 4500 Q St. NW in the Palisades/Foxhall area, and Hamilton, at 1340 Hamilton St. See Summer/Page 5
SHERWOOD
SPORTS
SHOPPING & DINING
INDEX
Play ball
Statement win
Middle C milestone
Calendar/14 Classifieds/22 District Digest/2 Exhibits/15 In Your Neighborhood/12 Opinion/6
The Nationals prepare for opening day as council plays hardball on police / Page 6
Visitation’s lacrosse team shocks nationally ranked Bishop Ireton on Thursday / Page 7
Beloved Tenleytown music shop celebrates 15th anniversary over the weekend / Page 9
Police Report/4 Real Estate/11 School Dispatches/19 Service Directory/20 Shopping & Dining/9 Sports/7
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