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The GeorGeTown CurrenT
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park
Circulator line may extend to National Zoo
BOO AT THE ZOO
Vol. XXVII, No. 12
Heating plant proposed for historic designation ■ Preservation: Application
brings community objections
By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer
By GRACE BIRD
As the National Zoo’s visitation surges and its planned $50 million parking garage advances, officials are considering extending the DC Circulator service a halfmile with a new stop directly outside the park. One DC Circulator route currently runs from 14th and I streets NW through Adams Morgan to the Woodley Park-Zoo Metro station, some five blocks south of the Zoo’s Connecticut Avenue entrance. The Zoo and the D.C. Department of Transportation are reviewing the idea of an extension, representatives told The Current. “DDOT has discussed the possibility of DC Circulator extending to the Zoo,” Transportation Department spokesperson Maura Danehey wrote in an email. “This would be dependent on having access to a turnaround. Right now the Zoo is in the planning phase for capital improvements that See Circulator/Page 10
Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
The annual “Boo at the Zoo” festivities over the weekend featured animal encounters and colorful decorations along with candy and other snacks from over 40 treat stations.
Have lunch on us!
Plans to redevelop Georgetown’s vacant West Heating Plant into a luxury condo building may face further delays, with the DC Preservation League launching a second bid to grant landmark status to the 1940s industrial facility. The Historic Preservation Review Board considered a previous application from the group in April 2015, but voted 4-3 to oppose a landmark designation for the building at 29th and K streets NW. Turnover on the board could change the outcome of the scheduled Nov. 2 decision on the latest application. Developers are hoping to largely demolish the old heating plant and reconstruct the building as modern residential units with an adjacent public park. The project team has argued that the structure is deteriorated and was never designed to support enough weight for housing.
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
The West Heating Plant has been nominated as a historic landmark. “I would hope that the board reaffirms the position it took in 2015,” said developer Richard Levy of The Levy Group. “The community is very much behind this project, and the community’s take is that it is an annoyance and an interference. ... We’ll take it one step at a time.” As a contributing building in the Georgetown Historic District, the heating plant is already protected against demolition or major alteration. However, a property owner can appeal to the Mayor’s Agent for Historic Preservation to argue that the change would result in a project of “special merit” that See Plant/Page 8
Shop Made in DC features locally built items By ZOE MORGAN Current Correspondent
Come see us this Saturday from 12 to 3, and receive a free lunch! 4629 41st Street, NW in Tenleytown *text “loveyobi” to 578277 register
www.YobiFresh.com
Shop Made in DC — a store and cafe selling only items made in the District, with offerings ranging from stationery to pottery to jewelry — opened last week at 1330 19th St. NW. The shop is operating as part of the city’s broader Made in DC program, which means that the creators they partner with have a District business license, and live and produce within D.C. The store’s creative director Stacey Price told The Current that the items offered are similar to those sold in a boutique, except that all of the products are made by District residents. “We’re just becoming the clubhouse for that creative, maker class,” Price said. “I think the consumer can always have a little bit of an element of discovery when they come in.” The shop has the space for two years as part of a partnership with the Golden Triangle Business Improvement District and Boston Properties, which is
Brian Kapur/The Current
The store, located at 1330 19th St. NW just south of Dupont Circle, hosted Mayor Muriel Bowser last week at a preview event prior to its grand opening.
subsidizing the space. The D.C. Department of Small and Local Business Development, which oversees the Made in DC program, is also one of the store’s partners and provided seed funding. Price said that the city helped with fast-tracking the project so that the See Shop/Page 13