The NorThwesT CurreNT
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
D.C. activists sound off on constitution
Hearst pool plans still draw ire over location
TENLEy TuNES
■ Recreation: Neighbors
oppose loss of green space
By CuNEyT DIL
Current Correspondent
Hundreds of Washingtonians turned out for two constitutional convention events over the weekend to give their say on how the District should function as a state, completing the final round of public comment in the re-energized push for statehood. The conventions, intended to hear out practical tweaks to a draft constitution released last month, brought passionate speeches, and even songs, for the cause. The events at Wilson High School in Tenleytown featured guest speakers and politicians calling on the city to seize recent momentum for statehood. Many residents agreed the 51st state should have a larger legislature, and others suggested diluting certain proposed powers of the executive, such as the lineitem veto. On the other hand, a sizable portion of residents took issue with the convention process, which instead of using elected, voting delegates gave any attendSee Statehood/Page 5
By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
In a few years, Hearst Park could be filled with the cheerful sights and sounds of a community pool. But this weekend, a much different sound filled the air at the North Cleveland Park spot: community frustration. At a contentious vision meeting Saturday morning, held under a tent on the Hearst tennis courts, residents blasted city agencies for
commencing a pool project at the park without first consulting neighbors. Officials representing the Department of General Services and the Department of Parks and Recreation at the meeting said they had no involvement in that decision and repeatedly implored attendees to focus on what a pool might look like, rather than whether one will exist. “There is going to be a project. What that project is, is to be determined,” Jackie Stanley of the D.C. General Services Department said in her introduction. “Once we have money in the budget that the See Hearst/Page 2
Shelter site neighbors seek greater study, public input ■ Homelessness: Cheh
Brian Kapur/The Current
Despite stormy conditions, Tenleytown Main Street held its first Make Music Day festival yesterday. The day’s events included a variety of performances along Wisconsin Avenue as well as inside Middle C Music and other area businesses.
defends selection process
By BRADy HOLT Current Staff Writer
Resident pitches mural for Tenley building By DANIEL BOWES Current Correspondent
A Tenleytown resident has teamed up with a local artist to design a mural for one of the neighborhood’s oldest buildings. Stephen Voss, a 10-year resident of Tenleytown, intends to apply for a public art grant from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities in order to create a mural on the south facade of Han Cleaners at 4425 Wisconsin Ave. NW. He obtained support for the grant from Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3E (Friendship Heights, Tenleytown, American University Park) at its June 9 meeting. Before moving to Tenleytown,
Vol. XLIX, No. 25
Serving Chevy Chase, Colonial Village, Shepherd Park, Brightwood, Crestwood, Petworth & 16th Street Heights
Brian Kapur/The Current
The mural would go on the upper level of 4425 Wisconsin Ave. NW.
Voss lived in Dupont Circle, where he appreciated the murals and artwork dotting that neighborhood. He said he wanted to bring more projects of that nature to his current community. Voss decided on the Wisconsin Avenue site for its
highly visible location and because the building owner gave him permission, he said. He’s working on the project with local artist Jarrett Ferrier, who has completed a number of other murals throughout the District, including one at Child’s Play on Connecticut Avenue and one at Rocklands Barbeque. Ferrier, a former president of the Glover Park Citizens Association, is also responsible for the “Welcome to Glover Park” signs there. “We hung out with him and really connected with him and liked his ideas,” Voss said. Voss later posted a survey on community listservs for neighbors to suggest ideas for what the mural See Mural/Page 14
Residents near the proposed Ward 3 homeless shelter location are increasing their criticisms of the D.C. Council’s site selection process. A new citizens group and the area’s advisory neighborhood commission are both calling for further study of the plan for 3320 Idaho Ave. NW. The council approved the Idaho site — now a parking lot behind the Metropolitan Police Department’s 2nd District Headquarters — after rejecting Mayor Muriel Bowser’s original plans to lease land at Wisconsin Avenue and Edmunds Street NW. Council members concluded that it was fiscally imprudent to enter into costly leases with private developers and instead chose to use the government-owned police site. The effort is part of the broader push, widely supported in principle, to close the D.C. General family shelter and distribute shortterm homeless services to smaller
Brian Kapur/The Current
The shelter would replace the parking lot behind the station.
facilities around the city. But in several neighborhoods, the specific sites selected have come under fire for various reasons. Ward 3 Council member Mary Cheh said the deciding factor for Bowser’s Ward 3 site proposal was its price tag, not community fears about the shelter’s impacts. “When you want to put in a facility for homeless families, wherever you’re going to put it, it seems it’s inevitable there will be some who object,” Cheh said in an interview. “The key factor was See Shelter/Page 5
NEWS
PASSAGES
SPORTS
INDEX
Hotel reopens
East meets West
Pitching ace
Calendar/16 Classifieds/22 District Digest/4 Exhibits/17 In Your Neighborhood/12 Opinion/8
Glover Park Hotel boasts fresh renovations, Southern Italian restaurant / Page 3
Exhibit at Hillwood showcases artwork from Japan’s little-known art deco era / Page 7
St. John’s senior strikes Gatorade gold, winning D.C. player of the year after stellar season / Page 11
Police Report/6 Real Estate/13 School Dispatches/10 Service Directory/20 Sports/11 Week Ahead/3
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