The NorThwesT CurreNT
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
ANC backs pool at Hearst with concerns
WALTER REED DREAMS
Farmers market set for Cleveland Park debut ■ Business: Critics worry
about possible oversaturation
By KATHERINE SALTZMAN Current Correspondent
Though community leaders are supporting the general idea of an outdoor pool at Hearst Park, they’re asking the city to conduct more evaluations to address neighborhood concerns about the plans. On April 18, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3F (Forest Hills, North Cleveland Park, Van Ness) voted unanimously to support the city’s proposal for the pool but requested additional considerations and evaluations by the Department of General Services and other oversight departments before reaching a final decision. Following a citywide facility assessment in 2014, the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation determined the need for a public pool in Ward 3 and proposed Hearst Park — at 37th Street, Idaho Avenue and Quebec Street NW — as the best location. Meanwhile, in her 2018 fiscal year budget, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser proposed shifting $5 million for the construction of a pool at Hearst Park from 2019 to 2020. As the General Services Department moves forward to pursue the pool construction, some community members have voiced opposition, citing concerns about issues such as stormwater runoff, fiscal practicality and traffic logistics. But other neighbors have supported the idea, pointing to overcrowding at other pools in D.C. and the need for more aquatic space. ANC 3F members arrived at their resolution following months of discussions, community meetings and input, according to commission chair Malachy Nugent. “At the end, the commissioners decided that we support the idea of putting a pool at the location in Hearst Park, but we recognize there are a number of questions that have to be answered related to [the proposal], including the size, location, as well as a lot of environmental and stormwater concerns See Hearst/Page 23
Vol. L, No. 18
Serving Chevy Chase, Colonial Village, Shepherd Park, Brightwood, Crestwood, Petworth & 16th Street Heights
By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Susann Shin/The Current
Saturday’s “Walter Reed Dreams Community Block Party” brought live music, art, children’s activities and food vendors to the former Army hospital, which is slated for mixed-use redevelopment. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Ward 4 D.C. Council member Brandon Todd joined other community leaders in celebration of the site’s history and future.
A new farmers market is poised to appear next month on Connecticut Avenue NW in Cleveland Park for a half-year trial on Saturday mornings, as a broader debate stirs about a possible oversaturation of farmers markets in not only that area but the city at large. Earlier this year, the Cleveland Park Citizens Association and the Cleveland Park Business Association revived an effort from 2013 to add a new farmers market in the neighborhood’s center. The previous proposal had fizzled after management of the brick-andmortar Brookville Market at 3427 Connecticut Ave. NW warned Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3C (Cleveland Park, Woodley Park, Massachusetts Avenue Heights) that a new market would cut into its business and that of other nearby shops. This time, a prospective farmers market earned support from 90 percent of respondents to a citi-
Susann Shin/Current file photo
Farmers markets like this one in Dupont have been widely popular. zens association survey in February that included 522 Cleveland Park residents and 253 others nearby. Planners say they’ve been in frequent contact with local businesses including supermarkets and independently owned shops, and they plan to monitor sales at both the farmers market and the local stores during the trial period. But their efforts haven’t calmed all the dissidents. Several nearby market operators told The Current that they’re not looking forward to yet another increase in competition, and broader concerns remain among some neighbors that the number of farmers markets in the District is unsustainable after See Market/Page 14
Bread Furst owner wins national award as ‘Best Baker’ By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Bread Furst owner Mark Furstenberg was the only D.C. chef to earn a competitive 2017 James Beard Foundation Award, a nationwide honor for outstanding food service, at a dinner ceremony Monday night in Chicago. He beat out bakers from New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Portland, Ore., to achieve the “Best Baker” distinction at the Beard awards. In one case, Furstenberg triumphed over a bakery that bears his handiwork — he helped found Brooklyn’s Bien Cuit, whose owner Zachary Golper was a fellow finalist this year. In the three years since Furstenberg opened Bread Furst at 4434 Connecticut Ave. NW, the bakery has quickly become a local favorite, and a beacon for what community members hope will become a more active business dis-
Photo by Huge Galdones for James Beard Foundation
Beard winner Mark Furstenberg opened his 4434 Connecticut Ave. NW bakery in 2014.
trict in Van Ness in years to come. A longtime Washingtonian, Furstenberg, 78, followed a winding path to find his calling as a baker, originally starting his career with several decades in politics — including a stint in John F. Kennedy’s presidential administration
and a few years as a Washington Post journalist. He broke into the local culinary scene in the 1990s with a chain of Marvelous Market bakeries, the first one in Chevy Chase. He sold the bakeries in 1996, and the next year opened the Bread Line cafe downtown at 1751 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, earning acclaim — and Beard nominations — before selling the establishment in 2005. Next Furstenberg sought a neighborhood bakery, bringing Bread Furst to Van Ness in 2014, less than a week after the last Marvelous Market closed its doors. The newly minted award winner wasn’t available for comment in time for publication — he was traveling back to D.C. from Chicago on Tuesday, after enjoying a ceremony hosted by “Modern Family” actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson. His bakery’s general manager Eun Yim told The Current on Tuesday morning that the See Award/Page 5
NEWS
SPORTS
SHOPPING & DINING
INDEX
Maret traffic
Tigers maul Falcons
Adams Morgan kabobs
Calendar/15 Classifieds/23 District Digest/2 Exhibits/17 In Your Neighborhood/8 Opinion/6
Northwest school seeks relief from monitoring requirement but city agency objects / Page 3
Wilson’s burgeoning girls lacrosse team uses a second-half surge to defeat top rival Field / Page 9
Family-owned Afghan chain set to open first D.C. restaurant on Columbia Road / Page 11
Police Report/4 Real Estate/13 School Dispatches/10 Service Directory/21 Sports/9 Week Ahead/3
Tips? Contact us at newsdesk@currentnewspapers.com