Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Serving Chevy Chase, Colonial Village, Shepherd Park, Brightwood, Crestwood, Petworth & 16th Street Heights
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Vol. XLVIII, No. 37
The NorThwesT CurreNT IDE
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Pope’s visit to alter traffic patterns
RAIN DANCE
■ Transportation: Officials
also plan bus-route changes By MARK LIEBERMAN Current Staff Writer
As Pope Francis makes his first visit to the United States next week, his two-day stop in the District of Columbia brings anticipation, crowds — and traffic changes. Though most of the pope’s activ-
ities will center around the White House and downtown, Upper Northwest D.C. will also see a number of impacts, particularly along and near Massachusetts Avenue. Pope Francis arrives in the District on Sept. 22 at 4 p.m., but restrictions at the Vatican Embassy at 3339 Massachusetts Ave. NW, where he’ll be staying, begin the morning of Sept. 21 and last until he leaves at 4 p.m. Sept. 24. And a variety of road closures will be in place in the area
for the duration of his visit, with detours suggested, such as one diverting Massachusetts Avenue drivers to Rock Creek Parkway. (More specifics are listed on page 5 and available at pope.dc.gov/ node/1110904). More than 70 D.C. Department of Transportation officials, with backup from the National Guard, will be patrolling impacted streets and managing traffic patterns during See Pope/Page 5
Sibley debuts new emergency department By DEIRDRE BANNON Current Correspondent
Brian Kapur/The Current
Despite persistent rain, Saturday’s Chevy Chase DC Day featured a moon bounce, face painting, a scavenger hunt, ice cream, music, community information, and free books from the Chevy Chase DC Friends of the Library. The wet weather moved most of the event inside the Chevy Chase Community Center, but the show went on.
Sibley Memorial Hospital opened the doors to its newly constructed $9 million emergency department Monday, boasting an array of state-of-the-art tools that officials say will enhance patient care. The Johns Hopkins-affiliated hospital located at 5255 Loughboro Road NW showed off its new facility at a Sept. 9 ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Sibley’s president Richard “Chip” Davis and the hospital’s board of directors, which was followed by a tour for community members. The new emergency department has expanded to 23,000 square feet from 14,000 — it’s now about the size of five basketball courts. Inside are 22 private rooms, including two large resuscitation rooms, which surround a central nursing station that will enhance visibility and responsiveness from the medical team. An additional “quick look” area is used to assess and
Deirdre Bannon/The Current
Sibley cut the ribbon on the $9 million emergency department last week before opening it Monday.
release patients rapidly when appropriate, and a sixroom “fast-track” area is used to treat minor issues that wouldn’t require a patient to use a bed in the main emergency department, such as those requiring stitches or See Sibley/Page 5
Spring Valley grocery eyed for development
Notion of Confederate statue by D.C. border sparks anger
By CUNEYT DIL
By MARK LIEBERMAN
Current Correspondent
Current Staff Writer
Plans are underway to bring a grocery store back to Spring Valley at the site of the former Fresh & Green’s — along with 200 new residential units and other ground-floor retail spaces. Will Lansing, principal at Valor Development, said last week that his firm is trying to court Harris Teeter to join the new mixed-use project at 4330 48th St. NW. Though there is “nothing in writing,” Lansing said, developers have met twice with the chain’s officials. Other companies, including Trader Joe’s, have also expressed interest in opening shop, he said. Overall, Lansing said, the development will likely take a bare minimum of three years. Bringing groceries back to the neighborhood will
Some District residents are protesting a plan that could move a controversial Confederate statue from outside a courthouse in Rockville, Md., to a Silver Spring park adjacent to the Maryland/D.C. line. Officials from the Rockville and Montgomery County governments are in the planning stages of moving the statue, which depicts an unnamed Confederate soldier, from outside the Montgomery County Circuit Courts in downtown Rockville to one of five Maryland parks.
BUSINESS
Recent grad finds way to new career as personal chef — Page 3
Current file photo
The site has been vacant since 2013, but it’s now eyed for a five- to six-story mixed-use project.
likely please many residents, as the last supermarket to occupy the site, Fresh & Green’s, abruptly closed in late 2013. Before that, the space had hosted a grocery store since 1964, including Superfresh, which closed all of its D.C.-area stores in 2011. Valor’s plans to construct a new five- or six-story building, however, drew some criticism from residents at See Superfresh/Page 8
FALL REAL ESTATE GUIDE
Realtors cite mixed effects of living near institutions — Page RE1
Among the options is Jesup Blair Park, located on Blair Road in Silver Spring near Georgia and Eastern avenues NW, though county planners recently recommended against this location. Discussions about moving the statue began after the nationally publicized shooting at a historically black church in South Carolina in June, according to Montgomery County Council member George Leventhal. He has worked actively with County Executive Ike Leggett to set the relocation of the statue in motion. On July 27, the phrase See Statue/Page 2
INDEX
SPOR TS
St. Albans teams win first games on new playing field — Page 9
Calendar/38 Classifieds/45 District Digest/2 Exhibits/39 In Your Neighborhood/8 Opinion/6
Police Report/4 Real Estate/Pullout School Dispatches/12 Service Directory/43 Sports/9 Theater/41
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