Nw 05 25 2016

Page 1

The Northwest Current

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Concept for pool at Hearst faces skeptics

Council site for Ward 3 shelter prompts debate

mural, mural on the wall

■ Homelessness: Cheh to

host community meeting

By CUNEYT DIL

Current Correspondent

The District has more than $5 million budgeted to design and build a new pool outside Hearst Elementary School — but a majority of residents at a recent meeting disputed the area’s need for a pool. What’s more, some neighbors said a pool would mean more traffic and parking woes for their residential streets surrounding Hearst, located at 3950 37th St. NW. The proposed outdoor pool, which would be the first in Ward 3, would be part of a renovated Hearst Park, a 6.4-acre park adjacent to the school that currently has tennis courts, a soccer field and walkways. The $13 million project would include a new playground area, new tennis courts, renovated or replaced soccer fields, a new pool and pool house, and landscaping improvements. Construction on the park would be completed in fall 2017, under the city’s schedule, though the pool portion of the project wouldn’t begin until fall See Hearst/Page 10

By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer

After a unanimous D.C. Council vote replaced Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed site for a Ward 3 family shelter, neighbors of the council’s preferred location — the 2nd District Police Headquarters property in the Cleveland Park/ Cathedral Heights area — have mixed feelings about the unexpected change. The mayor is working to devel-

op a network of seven family shelters across the city able to replace the troubled D.C. General facility by 2018, and identified her proposed locations in February. But some of those initial sites, including Ward 3’s at 2619 Wisconsin Ave. NW, faced resistance from neighbors, and Bowser was also criticized for pricey leases. In response, the council last week put forward an alternative with higher upfront costs to the city but, members contend, a better arrangement long-term: some new locations and plans for the city to purchase Bowser’s other See Shelter/Page 3

Plans for Adams Morgan project put off for revision ■ Development: Proposal

Brian Kapur/The Current

Wilson High School hosted its third annual ArtsFest! on Friday to showcase the creative side of its students. The event featured drama, music, poetry, visual art, dancing, robotics and more.

had faced ANC criticisms By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer

Latest streetcar plan dedicates more lanes By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer

The District’s first stretch of streetcar finally began running a few months ago along H Street NE, following years of delays spread over several mayoral administrations. Officials are now pressing forward with plans to extend that line to Georgetown, and released last week a revised proposal that relies on more dedicated lanes — as opposed to sharing space with other traffic — than past designs did. Under the latest design, the new line would run 3.5 miles along the K Street corridor, from 3rd Street NE to just west of 34th Street NW, and the battery-pow-

Vol. XLIX, No. 21

Serving Communities in Northwest Washington Since 1967

Courtesy of Transportation Department

The line would follow K Street NW east from Georgetown.

ered streetcars would recharge using overhead wires located only under the Whitehurst Freeway and at stations. The goal of the streetcar line is to provide “improved reliability and enhanced mobility” to downtown travelers,” according to the D.C. Department of Transportation.

The streetcar would travel under the Whitehurst Freeway and along K Street past Mount Vernon Square before turning onto New Jersey Avenue NW and then H Street, ultimately reaching Union Station. Under the latest design option, dedicated streetcar travel lanes would be in place for much of that route, aside from within Mount Vernon Square, where it would share the road with other vehicles. Advantages to this alternative include faster service and more reliability, while disadvantages include technological limitations on how long the streetcars can operate without recharging, according to the Transportation See Streetcar/Page 5

Developers of the Adams Morgan SunTrust branch site are revising their designs and have postponed an upcoming presentation to the Historic Preservation Review Board. PN Hoffman had proposed a six-story building at the property, located at 18th Street and Columbia Road NW, that would contain about 55 condo units atop groundfloor storefronts and a 30-space parking garage. The project would replace the SunTrust and its associated plaza, a site that lies within the Washington Heights Historic District. Some community members are welcoming the project as a chance to bring fresh life to an underused site at the prominent corner. But others, including Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1C (Adams Morgan), raised a host of concerns — particularly the new building’s scale, but also its design and the diminution of prized open space

Brian Kapur/Current file photo

Developers hope to replace the SunTrust Bank with condos.

that currently hosts a community farmers market. Several have said the project seems more appropriate for locations like Columbia Heights or Bethesda. “It’s too big; it’s oppressively big; it’s overpoweringly big,” one resident said at ANC 1C’s May 4 meeting. “It’s going to ruin the feel of that intersection. In order to keep the sense of space that we have in that area, it needs to be made substantially smaller.” ANC 1C members said they could likely support something like this building if it were one story lower and less wide, to better match the scale of nearby 18th Street row houses. “It overwhelms See Columbia/Page 14

DISTRICT DIGEST

SPORTS

SHERWOOD

INDEX

SafeTrack schedule

Stotesbury seabirds

Words matter a lot

Calendar/16 Classifieds/21 District Digest/2 Exhibits/17 In Your Neighborhood/4 Opinion/8

Metro maintenance and repair work times adjusted after feedback / Page 2

Gonzaga, Cathedral Eagles rowing teams take gold at prestigious regatta in Philadelphia / Page 11

New poll of Native Americans on ‘Redskins’ could ease way for new stadium in D.C. / Page 8

Police Report/6 Real Estate/13 School Dispatches/10 Service Directory/19 Sports/11 Week Ahead/3

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