Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Vol. XLIV, No. 3
Serving Communities in Northwest Washington Since 1967
THE NORTHWEST CURRENT
Feds weigh growth for Nebraska site
City agency finishes study of Klingle trail
K I N G ’ S B E AT
■ Transportation: Project to
By CAROL BUCKLEY
include full creek restoration
Current Staff Writer
Residents worried about a proposed overhaul to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security campus on Nebraska Avenue have the comfort of knowing that any change will be a long time coming: Even with the rosiest of congressional funding scenarios, building at the site would get started no sooner than 2016, according to the project’s manager. When groundbreaking does occur at the 37-acre site, the highsecurity facility could double in size and could hold nearly twice the number of employees it does now, according to the options proposed in a newly released draft environmental impact statement. That level is the most intense of the three alternatives outlined in the document, which is available for public comment at gsa.gov/ncrnepa and at a meeting Feb. 8 at Mann Elementary School at 7 p.m. But even the less dramatic development scenarios add employees to the site — which now hosts 2,390 workers — while slightly decreasing the number of parking spaces in the closed-to-the-public facility. The See Homeland/Page 7
By CAROL BUCKLEY Current Staff Writer
The D.C. Department of Transportation has settled on a path forward to convert a controversial section of Klingle Road into a 10foot-wide hike/bike trail with lighting and a newly built connection to the nearby Rock Creek Trail. The project will also restore and stabilize about 1,600 feet of Klingle Creek.
Firehouses could win historic designations ■ Preservation: Fire officials
back status for pre-WWII sites
Bill Petros/The Current
The African Heritage Dancers and Drummers performed during Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day tribute at the Washington National Cathedral.
Friends hope for long-awaited erosion work By BRADY HOLT
trees, said Michael Putzel, who Current Staff Writer organizes a group of volunteers to do annual cleanups of the park. “We’ve tried to keep it in the best A lack of funds continues to repair we can, but the problem is delay plans to resolve erosion issues with all that water rushing through at Spring Valley Park, but a D.C. ... the storm water runs off into the Department of Parks and path and erodes the creek bed and Recreation planner said residents the paths, so we’re getting to the interested in jump-starting the point now where we’re losing the process could incorporate a formal Bill Petros/The Current path,” Putzel said. group to handle community donaVolunteers have struggled to “There are places where there is tions. no path anymore,” and the trees The small park, which follows a keep up Spring Valley Park in the could fall on a neighboring home, he creek just south of Quebec Street absence of sufficient city funds. said. between 49th Street and Fordham Speaking at last week’s Palisades/Spring Valley Road, has suffered erosion issues that are eating away at See Park/Page 7 its walking trail and threatening the stability of its large
NEWS ■ D.C. police officials offer assurances on 2nd District resources. Page 3. ■ Dupont package thief nabbed in sting. Page 3.
The options selected from a menu presented to the public last summer will total about $6.8 million to convert the 0.7-mile section of road and restore the creek, according to a final environmental assessment released last week. Although the options did not include restoration of the longblocked roadway — which, when open, funneled drivers across Rock Creek Park — the release of the department’s final assessment has sparked advocates of both road and trail to take up battle stations once again. See Klingle/Page 7
SPORTS ■ Gonzaga wins big in key WCAC contests. Page 11. ■ Beard-Fails leads Georgetown Day to win. Page 11.
By ELIZABETH WIENER Current Staff Writer
Five more of the city’s historic firehouses could win landmark designation this month, even as the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department scrambles to expand and update outmoded facilities for modern use. The Historic Preservation Review Board will consider landmark nominations this month for fire stations at 4930 Connecticut Ave. and 5760 Georgia Ave., along with two in Northeast and one downtown. All were nominated by the Capitol Fire Museum, which has documented the history of the 30 already-designated pre-World War II firehouses in the city. The fire department supports the nominations, said deputy chief Christopher Jordan. “We have no problem with them being landmarked. We work closely with Historic Preservation Office.” At the same time, the department
PA S S A G E S ■ Hebrew goes digital at Wisconsin Avenue synagogue. Page 13. ■ GWU pitches in on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Page 13 .
Bill Petros/The Current
The Georgia Avenue fire station is among the city’s oldest. is working to update two alreadylandmarked firehouses in Northwest. The historic firehouse in Cleveland Park has been closed down for desperately needed renovations, already approved by the preservation office, and the Palisades station is preparing to move to a prefab structure being erected at the Washington Aqueduct’s Dalecarlia Reservoir site while the old firehouse at 4811 See Firehouses/Page 10
INDEX Business/5 Calendar/20 Classifieds/29 District Digest/4 Exhibits/23 In Your Neighborhood/18 Opinion/8
Passages/13 Police Report/6 Real Estate/17 School Dispatches/14 Service Directory/25 Sports/11 Theater/23