Open Friday for Ice Skating: Washington Harbour, NGA Sculpture Garden Ice Rink
• November 19, 2014

November to March is ice skating season, and the cold of Polar Vortex is showing up right on time. Here are two of the best ice skating venues in D.C.

Both the Washington Harbour Ice Rink and the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden Ice Rink will open tomorrow, Nov. 14, and weather permitting, continue through mid-March.

The Washington Harbour ice rink on Georgetown’s waterfront is D.C.’s largest outdoor skating rink. Admission is $10 for adults and $9 for children, seniors and military. Skate rentals are $5. Washington Harbour also offers six week long sessions to learn to skate.

Washington Harbour ice rink hours:

Monday and Tuesday: noon to 7 p.m.

Wednesday to Thursday: noon to 9 p.m.

Friday: noon to 10 p.m.

Saturday: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Sunday: 10 a.m. 7 p.m.

Located on the National Mall, the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden ice rink is one of the best locations for ice skating. Daily admission is $8 for adults and $7 for seniors, students, and children. Season tickets are available for $195. Skate rentals are $3.

National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden ice rink hours:

Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Friday to Saturday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Latham Apartment Designs Gain Zoning Approval
• November 12, 2014

Developers SB-Urban moved past their last major obstacle to build micro-residential units on the site of the Latham Hotel at 3000 M Street, which closed in 2012.

On Tuesday, SB-Urban was granted a series of zoning variances from the Board of Zoning Adjustments for their project.

According to an Urban Turf article, the requests were a rear yard variance for an addition, a special exception to a parking requirement that would allow the company to provide 42 off-site spaces, a variance for the remaining 74 parking spaces and a variance for a loading dock and delivery space.

The micro-unit project will create retail spaces in the front at the M Street sidewalk and will have 140 furnished apartments with an average size of 330-square-feet. There will also be 11,000-square-feet of shared-living spaces, like kitchens, laundry rooms and living rooms.

The lease agreement will prevent residents from parking on Georgetown streets, but residents will receive Capital Bikeshare and car share memberships.

[gallery ids="101905,136405,136409" nav="thumbs"]

New Non-profit, Georgetown Heritage, Seeks to Replace Canal Boat
• November 3, 2014

Since being decommissioned in 2011, the C&O Canal barge, the Georgetown, has sat atop cement blocks in the canal between 33rd and Thomas Jefferson Streets. Due to cuts in the National Park Service budget, the C&O Canal National Park was unable to afford repairs for the mule-pulled barge that once took visitors along the canal. The walls, locks, and towpath are also in need of constant upkeep.

Georgetown Heritage is being set up as a nonprofit group of citizens and businesses dedicated to promoting and presenting the history of Georgetown. In an effort to preserve the history of this neighborhood, the group’s first priority is to preserve the one-mile stretch of the C&O Canal that runs through Georgetown.

The non-profit will seek to help raise funds to repair the deterioration of the canal and to purchase a new canal boat to replace the old canal boat that has rotted beyond repair. One of the group’s first sponsors will be the Georgetown Business Improvement District, which shares the group’s goals for the canal and new barge.

The group says it will also work with the park service to create an operational plan to preserve the canal and towpath for years to come. Its website is Georgetown Heritage.org, and It is still in the planning stage. More information will be available in late November.

Police to Test Body Cameras, Oct. 1; Ferguson Protest to Hit Georgetown, Oct. 4
• October 23, 2014

On Oct. 1, the Metropolitan Police Department will start a pilot program to test mounting body cameras on officers. The six-month, $1-million program, will monitor 165 police officers as they make their rounds. Officers will be required to begin recording as soon as they receive a call for service until they finish the call. After 90 days, the video will be deleted unless it is being used in an investigation.

The program hopes to increase department transparency and lower the number of complaints with the police department.

The pilot program will use five different models of cameras, costing between $400 and $700, mounted on their head, shoulders or shirt. If the pilot goes well, all 4,000 MPD officers may be wearing cameras within the next few years.

Getting police officers to wear body cameras has gained national momentum since the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 9. Mayor Vince Gray said that this has been in the planning since before the events in Ferguson.

DCFerguson will be holding a march and rally on Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. in Georgetown for police and criminal justice reform. The march and rally are demanding the arrest of Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson, the demilitarization of the police and the institutionalization of civilian review boards of the police with the right to hire and fire. The march will be starting at the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro stop and head to Georgetown.

A press conference will be held on Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. by #DCFerguson that will feature representatives from the #DCFerguson leadership team giving details of the march. They will also be responding to the police departments decision to use body cameras. The press conference will be taking place at the L Street Bridge at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center

Georgetown Gets Widened Sidewalk, Discounted Parking for Parents Weekend
• October 20, 2014

One of Georgetown’s busiest weekends is coming up. Parents and Family Weekend at Georgetown, American and George Washington universities is happening on the same weekend: Oct. 17 to 19.

So, the Georgetown Business Improvement District is doing several things to provide a more enjoyable experience for the increased number of visitors to town: widening a block of sidewalks by placing a barricade between the street and the curb, free D.C. Circulator rides and discounted parking.

Starting at Friday evening until Sunday evening, the 3200 block of M Street between Wisconsin Avenue and Potomac Street will gain eight extra feet of walk space on both sides. This will be the second location to test out the temporary widening of the sidewalks to make the retail spaces of Georgetown more comfortable.

The weekend will also feature free D.C. Circulator rides will be available on the northbound only Wisconsin Avenue segment of the Union Station to Georgetown route.

For discounted parking, PMI will be offering $5 daily flat rate parking at the 3307 M St. garage — its entrance is on Bank Street. Colonial parking is offering a 25-percent discount on parking rates at the Georgetown Park garage at 3222 M St. Discounted daily rates at Colonial parking are $15 and must be booked in advance.

A New Piano Bar Coming to M Street
• September 29, 2014

The Georgetown Piano Bar plans to open its doors Sept. 12 and will be located at 3287 M St., NW, where the lounge bar Modern was.

The team creating the bar is composed of piano player Hunter Lang, former Mr. Smith’s manager Gene McGrath, former Mr. Smith’s employee Morgan Williams and Bill Thoet, according to the Washington Business Journal

The idea for the piano bar started three months ago when the employees heard that Mr. Smith’s – known for its piano bar — was closing its doors, the Journal reported. What they didn’t know then was that another manager from Mr. Smith’s, Juan Andino, was working to reopen the place at a new location. Mr. Smith’s is relocating to 3205 K St., NW, where Chadwick’s once stood for many years.

Georgetown Piano Bar plans to separate itself from the rest by having the piano be the main attraction. The bar will be “built around live piano entertainment,” the new business stated on its website. “The first thing you will notice as you walk down the stairs is our bright red piano.”

There will be no food at Georgetown Piano Bar, only drinks to keep the main focus on the piano and the music. However, the bar acquired Modern’s tavern license and its settlement agreement with the community, which, according to the Georgetown Metropolitan, requires the holder to receive 15 percent of its revenues to come from food and that the holder will not have live music.

There will be lyric books on all of the tables to promote singing along with the piano to keep music as the main attraction on the M Street establishment.

[gallery ids="101845,138684" nav="thumbs"]