The NorThwesT CurreNT
Wednesday, March 30, 2016
Vol. XLIX, No. 13
Serving Chevy Chase, Colonial Village, Shepherd Park, Brightwood, Crestwood, Petworth & 16th Street Heights
Murch trailers to use UDC field site
EGG-CELLENT HUNTER
■ Schools: Parents still seek
$10 million more for project By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Murch Elementary School students will spend two years in trailers on the University of District of Columbia campus while the school undergoes its long-planned $78 million renovation, D.C. Pub-
lic Schools announced at a community meeting Thursday. Meanwhile, parents and community members continue to raise concerns about the specifics of the interim space as well as design changes for the renovated school building prompted by a $10 million budget shortfall, announced last month. During construction, which is slated to begin this fall, Murch students will occupy trailers on
one NCAA-sized athletic field on the UDC campus, Patrick Davis of D.C. Public Schools told residents. Murch’s space on the campus will extend into an adjacent field by January 2017, after the university finishes installing a turf setup there, Davis said. In the meantime, Murch students will have access to one of the university’s gymnasiums for physical education classes and recess. See Murch/Page 16
Sidwell consolidation wins zoning nod By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
The National Zoo’s annual “Easter Monday: A Washington Family Tradition” festivities included a traditional Easter egg hunt, field games, special animal demonstrations, educational booths and a visit from the Easter Panda.
Sidwell Friends School’s proposal for a unified Wisconsin Avenue NW campus won unanimous support from the Board of Zoning Adjustment yesterday. Board members applauded the school’s commitments to minimize traffic and to fund $100,000 worth of safety improvements on surrounding streets — which addressed the primary concerns of most neighbors. Sidwell has a contract to purchase the Washington Home and Community Hospice property at 37th and Upton streets NW, which backs to Sidwell’s middle and upper school campus at 3825 Wisconsin. Sidwell plans to renovate and expand the Washington Home building to accommodate its lower school, which will move from Bethesda. The project, slated to begin in summer 2017, also includes constructing an open See Sidwell/Page 9
Brian Kapur/The Current
The D.C. Department of Transportation is studying possible changes to Upton Street at Wisconsin Avenue in conjunction with the Sidwell project.
At Pinehurst Tributary, a return to natural glory
GDS scales back heights of mixed-use Tenley buildings
By MARK LIEBERMAN
■ Development: Revisions
Current Staff Writer
Sheila Macdonald was sitting in her Beech Street NW home in Chevy Chase four years ago when she saw an unusual sight out her front window: Her neighbor John Burwell was chopping down weeds from the trees along the Pinehurst Tributary across the street. “I came roaring out of my house. I’m the block captain,” said Macdonald, 77. “I came out and said, ‘Sir, you cannot do that because it’s a national park.’” Macdonald wasn’t wrong — the National Park Service indeed prohibits private citizens from tampering with the land it controls. But Burwell was several steps ahead of Macdonald. He’d signed on to the Park Service’s Weed Warrior program, which trains participants before sending them out to park-
drop plans for ‘Ellicott Park’ By BRADY HOLT Photo courtesy of John Burwell
Saturday’s tree-planting event included dozens of volunteers helping to improve the environment in the Chevy Chase area of Rock Creek Park.
lands for conservation and beautification work. Intrigued, Macdonald learned more about the program and then joined it herself. Burwell and Macdonald inspired a neighborhoodwide effort that culminated Saturday morning with a tree-planting event at the Pinehurst Tributary, which See Pinehurst/Page 15
Current Staff Writer
Georgetown Day School has once again scaled back its plans for two new mixed-use buildings at Wisconsin Avenue and Davenport Street NW adjacent to its campus. The revised building heights — 65 feet south of Davenport and 68.5 feet to the north — are in line with the scale that some community members have demanded.
However, the latest plans eliminate a proposal to convert a stretch of 42nd Street NW near Ellicott Street into a public park. “During this process, GDS worked hard to consider the very diverse interests of all stakeholders, and our most recent submission reflects that while still maintaining viability for the project,” Georgetown Day spokesperson Alison Grasheim wrote in an email to The Current yesterday. “We look forward to continued discussions with the community as we move toward the formal process with the Zoning Commission.” See GDS/Page 5
NEWS
GETTING AROUND
SPORTS
INDEX
Zoning process
Toward zero deaths
Bound for Final Four
Calendar/20 Classifieds/29 District Digest/4 Exhibits/21 In Your Neighborhood/12 Opinion/10
Adams Morgan permit issue may lead to changes, board members say / Page 2
D.C. agencies advance toward goal of eliminating traffic-related fatalities, serious injuries / Page 6
Former Sidwell and Gonzaga basketball standouts lead Villanova to Houston / Page 13
Police Report/8 Real Estate/17 School Dispatches/26 Service Directory/27 Sports/13 Week Ahead/3
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