Georgetown BID’s Summer Programs

From free blue sun-and-rain umbrellas to movies in the park, summer programs organized by the Georgetown Business Improvement District will be visible around the neighborhood, as announced at the BID’s June 12 annual meeting, held at Malmaison restaurant on the waterfront.

Parasol Sharing
The BID’s program to provide shared parasols — it’s now okay to call them umbrellas — is back. The handsome shading devices have been distributed to some 65 participating Georgetown stores, restaurants, salons, galleries and hotels to give out to guests and shoppers during the day. They are to be used in Georgetown and left at one of the host establishments at the end of the visit.

This is the third year of the program. There are about 25 percent more hosts this year than last, according to the BID. The number of umbrellas is rebalanced each week and at the end of the season, with the remaining good ones stored until the next year.

Each umbrella costs the BID about $7 each, a bit more than last year, according to Communications Director Lauren Boston. Around 800 of the sturdier models were purchased for this year’s program, which began June 1 and goes through Labor Day.

Waterfront Movies
“Movies That Rock,” iconic movies with a musical storyline, is the 2018 theme of the Tuesday night summer film series. Screenings start at sunset (around 8:30 p.m.) at Georgetown Waterfront Park. The schedule is: “Dirty Dancing” on July 10, “Pitch Perfect” on July 17, “Footloose” on July 24, “Dreamgirls” on July 31 and “Grease” on August 7.Georgetowners and guests usually come early to picnic on blankets they put out on the lawn in front of the large screen.

Delayed: M St. Sidewalk Expansion
What won’t be happening this summer until late August or early fall is the BID’s
expanded sidewalk project, which added six feet of sidewalk out from the curb on each side of M Street from Potomac Street to Wisconsin Avenue. “While most people we talked toloved the extra walking space, almost everyone criticized it for looking like a construction zone with the temporary metal barriers,” said BID CEO Joe Sternlieb.

The other big challenge for BID was logistics — where to store all the barriers and future enhancements in a flat area easily accessible to M Street. The BID is now in the process of talking with D.C. agencies like the Department of Transportation and filing for permits to deal with them all. “We want to make the whole project prettier. And we want to get it right,” Sternlieb said.