Gt 05 06 2015

Page 1

Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Vol. XXIV, No. 41

The Georgetown Current

Delay of Hyde renovation assailed

flower mart

■ Education: Council urged

to restore funding for 2016 By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer

With renovations at their school already partially complete, HydeAddison Elementary parents are urging the D.C. Council to undo a delay to funding for the project’s next phase.

Georgetown advisory neighborhood commissioners added their voices to the chorus at their meeting Monday, where Ward 2 D.C. Council member Jack Evans also assured residents that he is working on a solution. Construction of a new building between the Hyde and Addison wings of the 3219 O St. campus was originally set to begin in 2013. The addition will provide an enclosed connection between the two build-

ings, while also adding space for a cafeteria and facilities for indoor physical education and recess, school assemblies and arts education. The project will also add disability access to the school. After repeated delays, the latest construction start date was pledged as June 2016, part of the upcoming 2016 fiscal year. But Mayor Muriel Bowser’s capital budget proposal pushed the funding back to the 2017 See Hyde-Addison/Page 14

ANC seeks reversal of improper work By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer

Brian Kapur/The Current

The Washington National Cathedral hosted the 76th annual Flower Mart spring festival on Friday and Saturday. Organized by the All Hallows Guild, the event featured vendors, food, gardening demonstrations, art displays, musical performances and children’s activities, including a carousel.

The owner of 3107 Dumbarton St. should expediently undo renovations to the 1898 home that were carried out without permits, the Georgetown advisory neighborhood commission said Monday. Any alterations visible from the street are governed by the Old Georgetown Board, which oversees the neighborhood’s federally protected historic district. The board hadn’t approved permit applications for the Dumbarton project, which included cladding the brick building in synthetic stucco, altering and raising its roof, removing a chimney, replacing the windows and entrance, and creating new window openings. The city issued a stop-work order and a $10,000 fine in January. Any resident who has carried out renovations in the Georgetown Historic District is likely familiar with the scrutiny that the board, part of the U.S. Commission of See Dumbarton/Page 7

Brian Kapur/The Current

A Dumbarton Street homeowner made renovations to the 1898 residence without permits. The Old Georgetown Board will review the case Thursday.

Petworth market sports local teens’ design help

Observatory Circle manor considered for demolition

By GRAHAM VYSE

■ Development: Neighbors

Current Staff Writer

When the Petworth Community Market opened for its sixth season this past Saturday, it did so with the help of some creative teenagers with a passion for art and design. A group of young people from the National Building Museum’s Design Apprenticeship Program helped reimagine the layout of the market this spring, adding signage, seating and a play area for children. Using materials donated by the nonprofit Community Forklift, they spent eight Saturdays designing and constructing benches and chairs out of recycled materials. They also set up a “tic-tac-tomato” game using pictures of vegetables. These portable additions could be set up easily each week at the nonprofit market, where local

NEWS

fear loss of ‘iconic’ residence By DEIRDRE BANNON Current Correspondent

Brian Kapur/The Current

The Petworth Community Market opened for the season Saturday with new seating developed from recycled materials and a revised layout.

farmers, bakers and other vendors sell their goods on Saturdays near the corner of Upshur Street and Georgia Avenue. “This was a really fantastic opportunity for us,” market secretary Bobby Klosowski told program particiSee Market/Page 7

SPOR TS

Northwest residents band together to buy solar energy — Page 3

Visitation thumps Panthers to repeat at ISL champions — Page 13

The pending sale of an Embassy Row mansion to a local developer could result in the razing of the 1926 Spanish-style estate, with some residents fearing a new development trend. Meanwhile, for preservationists interested in saving the house, the clock is ticking. Local development firm Zuckerman Partners is under contract for

SHERWOOD

Democracy fails to bloom this spring in voteless Washington — Page 10

the home at 3400 Massachusetts Ave., and sources say a condition of the sale is that a raze permit must be in place. A raze permit application was filed April 10 for the property by its current owner, the State Central Bank of Keokuk, Iowa, which purchased the home in 2014 from the Park family trust, members of which lived there from the 1960s through 2005. Zuckerman Partners did not respond to The Current’s request for comment. The house sits in a prominent corner location adjacent to the Naval See Observatory/Page 18

INDEX Calendar/20 Classifieds/29 District Digest/4 Exhibits/21 In Your Neighborhood/8 Opinion/10

Police Report/6 Real Estate/17 School Dispatches/12 Service Directory/27 Sports/13 Theater/23

Tips? Contact us at newsdesk@currentnewspapers.com


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.