Serving Communities in Northwest Washington Since 1967
Wednesday, November 18, 2015
Vol. XLVIII, No. 46
The Northwest Current lon g bea u tif u l hair
Main Street groups win grant funds ■ Business: Nonprofits to
spruce up Tenley, Van Ness By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
A pair of nonprofit community groups that aim to spruce up the commercial districts of Tenleytown and Van Ness each won $200,000 in city grant money on Monday. These “Main Streets” groups
each see untapped potential in their neighborhoods’ amenities, and both filed applications with the D.C. Department of Small and Local Business Development explaining how they’d use their grant money to bring about improvements. In Tenleytown, Main Street president Anne Wallace said the group will develop cohesive branding that links the neighborhood’s amenities — namely, its variety of appealing restaurants and shops that are well-
served by public transportation. “People often say that Tenleytown is something that people drive through along Wisconsin Avenue going someplace else,” said Wallace. “So the whole idea of branding is to make Tenleytown a destination, to give people a reason to stop here. The branding is about creating that image, what is it that’s going to identify, personify what we have now, and make it attractive.” See Main Streets/Page 4
Planning for Hearst Park work advances By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
Wilson High School is presenting the rock musical “Hair,” which shows the birth of a cultural movement in the 1960s that changed America. The remaining performances will be on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Long-gestating plans for renovating Hearst Park at 37th and Quebec streets NW are moving forward, with a “request for proposals” released last month that seeks designs for a new public pool and other features. The Oct. 14 document calls for design firms to submit ideas for an outdoor pool, a pool house, a playground area, new tennis courts and a dog park. Renovations could also include upgrades for the existing soccer fields and tennis courts, increased accessibility to meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards, stormwater management and other landscaping improvements. Conversations about upgrades to the park began during the planning for the Department of Parks and Recreation’s 2013-2014 master plan. The project originated with the idea of building a new pool, and gradually expanded to encompass a wider range of community See Hearst/Page 16
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
The city is seeking a designer to draw up plans for a pool, a playground, a dog park and additional tennis courts at Hearst Park.
CityDance Dream gets audience with first lady
Zoning Commission closes debate on rewrite proposal
By MARK LIEBERMAN
■ Development: Final vote
Current Staff Writer
CityDance’s Dream program began in 2004 as a small operation that allowed a handful of underprivileged Ward 8 students to pursue dance as a pastime. A decade later, the dance collective’s philanthropic effort has grown exponentially, drawing attention citywide. Yesterday it also earned CityDance’s program the prestigious National Arts and Youth Humanities Youth Program Award, alongside 11 other organizations. CityDance Dream director Kelli Quinn and longtime student Valeria Cruz, a senior at Phelps ACE High School in Northeast, accepted the award from a grinning Michelle Obama at an event in the East Room of the White House Tuesday afternoon. Before the awards were presented, Obama said the
NEWS
on regulations set for January Mark Lieberman/The Current
Michelle Obama presented the award to CityDance Dream’s Kelli Quinn, right, and student Valeria Cruz. recipients, including the Dream program, represented the pinnacle of humanities programs for young people. “Arts education is not a luxury. It’s a necessity,” the first lady said. “It’s really the air these kids breathe. It’s how we get kids excited about going to the school in the morning. It’s how we get kids prepared for their future.” Quinn first encountered CityDance in the mid-2000s, See Arts/Page 17
SPOR TS
Advocates sound off on Pepco-Exelon merger at forum — Page 3
Tigers boot Cadets for first DCSAA girls soccer title — Page 13
By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
The comprehensive rewrite of the District’s land-use laws is drawing to a close, with the Zoning Commission now declining to take further public comment and anticipating only technical corrections to proposed wording. In a 5-0 vote on Monday, the commission took “preliminary final action” on the zoning rewrite, a
SHERWOOD
Questions remain for Mayor Bowser even after FreshPAC — Page 10
thousand-page attempt to make the code reflect modern planning principles in a consistent, coherent way while also protecting existing D.C. neighborhoods. The update of the city’s 1958 regulations has emerged from some eight years of discussion with community members, the development community, the D.C. Office of Planning and other stakeholders. Aspects of the new zoning code were hotly debated by residents and zoning commissioners alike, including reduced minimum parking requirements in parts of the city, an expandSee Zoning/Page 16
INDEX Calendar/19 Classifieds/25 District Digest/5 Exhibits/19 In Your Neighborhood/8 Opinion/10
Police Report/6 Real Estate/15 School Dispatches/12 Service Directory/23 Sports/13 Week Ahead/3
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