The Northwest Current
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
Push for LED street lighting sees resistance
Wilson High budget sees local objections
FÚTBOL DREAMS
■ Education: Council funds
may not reach Ward 3 school
By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
Amid the city’s plans to replace its more than 71,000 streetlights with energy-saving LED bulbs, widespread disagreement remains between involved agencies and some neighborhoods about the most prudent approach. The D.C. Office of Public-Private Partnerships, established by Mayor Muriel Bowser in 2015, has been working with the city’s Department of Transportation and Office of the Chief Technology Officer since January on a project that would retrofit all of the city’s streetlights with LED bulbs and incorporate “smart city” technology that includes Wi-Fi internet access, broadband cellphone service and other built-in features. At least seven advisory neighborhood commissions and five citizens association groups citywide have already requested that the city only install lights at a color temperature of 2700 Kelvin or less. That figure is in line with recommendations from a task See Streetlights/Page 10
By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer
Frustrated by what they saw as an underfunded education budget, D.C. Council members cobbled together $11.5 million to add funding for city public schools. But advocates are worried that Wilson High School won’t see any of that money, despite three years of funding cuts and more than 30 layoffs. For the upcoming fiscal year,
Wilson — the largest high school in the District — saw $340,000 in cuts, advocates say, adding that they’d consider the sum to be closer to $1.3 million when the salaries of laid-off employees are accounted for. About nine Wilson teaching and administrative positions have been eliminated even as the school’s enrollment of about 1,800 students has fluctuated by a few dozen at most. While Wilson’s academic reputation is relatively strong — 88 percent of its students graduated in 2016 — it is classified as a “focus” school under the Elementary and See Wilson/Page 4
Iconic Uptown sign to stay after neighborhood outcry ■ Preservation: Cleveland
Brian Kapur/The Current
Mayor Muriel Bowser and FC Barcelona vice president Jordi Cardoner commemorated the new partnership between D.C Public Schools and the renowned European soccer team at Roosevelt High last Wednesday. See story, page 9.
Park fought removal request
By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer
Neighbors battle over vacant foreign missions By GRACE BIRD Current Staff Writer
When Alan and Irene Wurtzel purchased a Sheridan-Kalorama town home in 1993 next to a vacant building owned by the government of Argentina, they were assured their neighbors would return soon. Twenty-four years later, neighbors are nowhere to be seen and the once-opulent home at 2136 R St. NW has fallen into a state of disrepair. It’s a surprisingly common sight in the highly desirable neighborhood, where abandoned diplomatic properties sit starkly juxtaposed with sprawling mansions and elegant gardens. “The Argentine property is an
Vol. L, No. 31
Serving Chevy Chase, Colonial Village, Shepherd Park, Brightwood, Crestwood, Petworth & 16th Street Heights
Brian Kapur/The Current
The Argentine-owned property at 2136 R St. NW sits abandoned in tony Sheridan-Kalorama.
eyesore and a health hazard,” Alan Wurtzel told The Current. It’s infested with rats, he said, and he fears the crumbling facade could easily collapse onto his property. Similar issues have swirled around properties owned by Ser-
bia, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Pakistan, among others, and are a source of frustration for neighborhood leaders. When the Wurtzels complained to Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2D (Sheridan-Kalorama) in May, commissioner Ellen Goldstein expressed little optimism based on fruitless meetings with U.S. State Department and D.C. government officials about a Serbian-owned property at 2221 R St. NW. “[The officials] just keep saying, ‘We’ve talked to them and they say they’re going to fix it up.’ I know that’s not going to happen, and even the State Department probably knows that’s not going to happen,” Goldstein said at the See Vacant/Page 22
Cleveland Park preservationists celebrated a victory Monday afternoon, after successfully pressuring AMC Theatres to back down from its plan to remove the historic “Uptown” sign from its iconic single-screen movie theater. After a resident learned of the proposal to remove the historic sign when reading a notice posted outside the 3426 Connecticut Ave. NW cinema Thursday, a groundswell of opposition bubbled on Cleveland Park listservs and social media posts. Four days later, AMC Theatres withdrew the application for Historic Preservation Review Board approval of the 81-year-old sign’s removal and replacement. “AMC will maintain the Uptown signage, with an upgrade to LED lighting for better energy efficiency and to ensure the sign remains in good working order,” AMC Theatres spokesperson Ryan
Brian Kapur/The Current
Owned by AMC Theatres, the Cleveland Park cinema is part of the local historic district.
Noonan wrote in a statement to WTOP. Although Cleveland Park has divergent opinions on many local issues, residents were unified about the theater sign — with loyal patrons of the theater who live outside the neighborhood weighing in as well. “People who never agree with each other about preservation issues or anything else are saying the sign is iconic, it’s a symbol of Cleveland Park,” Carin Ruff, See Uptown/Page 15
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Summer conservation
Locals win title
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Local youths work in Rock Creek Park for conservancy’s growing program / Page 11
Capitol City, Northwest Little League all-star teams capture respective championships / Page 9
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