Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park
Vol. XXIV, No. 40
The GeorgetownChancellor Current defends cut
Bowser ally Todd wins council seat
band ja m
to Wilson High budget ■ Schools: Henderson says
class sizes will not ‘balloon’
By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
At forums across Ward 4 this spring, a slew of D.C. Council candidates had a common element of their platforms: criticism of Brandon Todd, a former aide to Muriel Bowser who received the mayor’s endorsement and support from her donors and volunteers. Todd’s opponents hammered him as a weak, underengaged puppet of Bows- Todd er who would merely rubber-stamp her agenda. Todd pointed to his years of public service working for Bowser, and he said Ward 4 would benefit from a council member who’s on good terms with the mayor. It will be hard to know whether Todd’s promise to continue Bowser’s legacy in her former seat was what resonated with voters, or if more credit goes to his vastly superior campaign resources — much of See Election/Page 7
By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson defended her proposed budget yesterday in a hearing that featured pointed questions from several D.C. Council members. Henderson also sought to assure council members that Wilson High School won’t face the extreme effects of a tightening budget that some stakeholders have feared. The total school system received
Preservation board rejects landmark for heating plant Brian Kapur/The Current
The Blues Alley Jazz Society’s annual “BIg Band Jam!” festival featured a slew of performances by local bands — including one from the Duke Ellington School of the Arts — last week at Pershing Park.
By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
NEWS
Brian Kapur/The Current
The alley is now smoothly paved and connects to the storm sewer. tions, securing repeated commitments from the city that led nowhere until last spring, according to 32nd Street resident Dale Curtis. “The neighbors just kept at it for several years, and we wouldn’t go away, and the merits won out,” Curtis said. “This will be an improve-
Jewish Primary Day receives $20 million for middle school — Page 3
Wilson girls lax completes season sweep of Field — Page 11
faces multiple design reviews Current Staff Writer
ment to the neighborhood for many years.” As The Current reported four years ago, Curtis had already been prodding the D.C. Department of Transportation for solutions to the alley in 2011. “They’ve shown good intentions, they’ve shown good responsiveness with a phone call and a meeting here and there,” Curtis said at the time, “but this is taking forever and we have no permanent solution in sight.” Now, Curtis said yesterday, the alley is smoothly paved, and a new connection to the storm sewer keeps water from collecting there. “I’m not afraid to walk my dog out there anySee Alleys/Page 16
SPOR TS
■ Development: Project still
By ELIZABETH WIENER
Georgetown residents celebrate alley fixes Most city projects to repave an alley are pretty low-key affairs. But off R Street in Georgetown, an organized group of neighbors is basking in a hard-fought victory to get an upgrade to the patch of roadway behind their homes. And that, they said, calls for a party. About 15 or 16 residents of the 1600 blocks of 31st and 32nd streets gathered Monday evening to celebrate the recent completion of their long-awaited alley project, which transformed an unpaved potholestrewn space that would flood neighbors’ homes. They had complained for years about the alley’s condi-
a 3.4 percent increase in local funds under Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed budget even as other agencies saw decreases, but it faces pressures from rising enrollment and decreasing federal assistance, Henderson testified. The city’s largest high school quickly emerged as a hot budget topic this spring, after Henderson proposed that Wilson receive what’s effectively a $1.8 million cut. The Wilson community says the reduction will increase class sizes and eliminate key positions like full-time college counselors. At yesterday’s hearing, though, See Budget/Page 5
The DC Preservation League wants the West Heating Plant to be recognized as a national landmark. Some Georgetowners want the vacant industrial building gone from their waterfront. Meanwhile, developer Richard Levy wants to demolish and rebuild most of its outer walls to make way for luxury condos. After hearing all those arguments, the Historic Preservation Review Board voted 4-3 last Thursday against individual landmark status, leaving the fate of the plant as cloudy as ever. The 1948 plant is already considered a “contributing structure” in the Georgetown Historic District, and some witnesses and board members said that individual landmark status would not provide additional protections. Levy, who has been working for several years to find a new use, said his firm is still running the gauntlet of design review panels that
SHERWOOD
Trip to Cuba reveals island counterpart to District’s ANCs — Page 8
Brian Kapur/The Current
The 1948 plant is a contributing structure in the historic district.
could approve or prevent substantial demolition and reconstruction of the massive masonry and metal building at 1055 29th St. “This is a protected building, and any demolition requires a hearing by the mayor’s agent” for historic preservation, Levy said in an interview later. “The path is the same.” The preservation league’s Tisha Allen described the building as “monumental, streamlined … Art Deco stripped of detailing,” and said it is significant not only for its architecture but for the role it played in the growth of the federal government. “For a city with little industrial architecture, the plant stands out. It’s See Plant/Page 12
INDEX Calendar/18 Classifieds/25 District Digest/4 Exhibits/19 In Your Neighborhood/10 Opinion/8
Police Report/6 Real Estate/15 School Dispatches/22 Service Directory/23 Sports/11 Theater/21
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