Chinatown Park Reopens
• June 18, 2013

The Chinatown Park has reopened to the public after undergoing a six-month refurbishment. DowntownDC BID partnered with the National Park Service to replace and realign the park’s interior sidewalks, expand and upgrade the irrigation system, and install new sod, trash-cans, and plenty of benches. In addition, NPS will plant several new trees in the park later this fall. The lawn will remain fenced off for a short time to allow the new sod to establish.

Downtown Observer, November 16, 2011
• June 12, 2013

Public Can Now Search Geographically for Permit Details

The District Department of Transportation announced this month that it has added new features to its Transportation Online Permitting System that makes the program more user-friendly for the public. The changes will make it easier for some businesses to apply and pay for permits, and also enable residents to search online for information about public space permits.

The geographic information system enabled Public Space Permit Lookup Tool gives the public the ability to see permits on an interactive map. The user can enter a specific address or area and pull up all the Public Space Occupancy and Construction permits issued for that location or within that area, and see information including who the permits were granted to and for how long. They can also see permit applications that are pending approval or pending payment, and can export the data for the selected area in spreadsheet format.

“We get a lot of inquiries about permits and this new tool puts the information directly in the hands of our residents,” said DDOT Director Terry Bellamy. “They can now check themselves to see if work being done in public space on their block is permitted, and whether the applicant is abiding by the provisions of that permit.”

Top Downtown Restaurants Released

BISNOW’s Top 40 Power Restaurants were released this month and downtown restaurants include The Source by Wolfgang Puck,Charlie Palmer Steak House,The Capital Grille, Central Michel Richard, Georgia Brown’s, Old Ebbitt Grill and 701 Restaurant & Bar. A few Downtown restaurants made the Washington Post Magazine’s Fall 2011 Dining Guide. Food critic Tom Sietsema picked the restaurants, featured in the Oct. 16 magazine, which he fantasizes about developing steady relationships with. The restaurants were rated based primarily on food quality, although service and ambiance also were taken into account. Included in this year’s guide are Graffiato, Jaleo, andd Rasika.
Italian Restaurants Takeover

Downtown has no shortage of Italian restaurants. Elisir (427 11th Street), a contemporary fine dining restaurant by Chef Enzo Fargione, opens in mid-November, joining Graffiato, Carmine’s and Bibiana Osteria-Enoteca. Elisir will serve a variety of lunch and dinner options, including Italian style sushi rolls and pan seared cubes of tuna loin, and offer an extensive wine list.

Opening just blocks away: Roti Mediterranean Grill, the fast-casual eatery specializing in fresh cuisine. To celebrate its Nov. 1 arrival, the restaurant will offer free food, and not only on opening day. One lucky customer will have the chance to win a free lunch every day for a year. Ten second place winners will receive free Roti for a month, while everyone who enters the food giveaway will be given a free order of falafel.

Also, keep an eye out for Freshii. The nutritious, fast casual franchise that sells customized salads, wraps, burritos and other healthy fare is coming to a space once occupied by Gifford’s Ice Cream & Candy Co. at 555 11th Street. No word yet on a date.

Get Holiday Shopping Done

The seventh annual Downtown Holiday Market kicks off on Friday, Dec. 2 and runs through Friday, Dec. 23, from 12 to 8 p.m. between 7th and 9th Streets, in front of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. This year more than 150 local artisans and exhibitors will sell unique and quality crafts, fine art, jewelry, pottery, clothing and photography. Check back often as the exhibitors rotate, meaning the goods will vary daily. Don’t forget to purchase Downtown Holiday Market Dollars—gift certificates that can be used at this Market—for the picky types on your shopping list.

New Use for Library?

The DowntownDC BID and the D.C. Public Library have partnered to help determine the best use of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library building, long considered to be located on prime Downtown real estate. Both entities have engaged the Urban Land Institute to review and assess the nearly 40-year-old modernist building’s value then recommend how to leverage it to the city’s advantage.
“The city’s central library has served as an invaluable repository since its inception,” said Richard H. Bradley, the DowntownDC BID’s executive director. “It offers books, yes, but also engaging speakers and workshops, and an innovative outreach program for the homeless. However, the library needs to grow along with the city to meet varied and ever-increasing demands.”

ULI, a non-profit research and education organization, will convene an advisory panel of national experts to study demographics and trend data; interview a diverse group of neighborhood stakeholders; and discuss potential building uses and the ideal location for a Downtown central library. The five-day review will culminate on Friday, Nov. 18, at which time the ULI panel will present its findings and recommendations from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the MLK Library. The presentation will be open to the public.

Going Green

One Judiciary Square (441 4th Street), a major building owned and operated by the city and home to several mission-critical D.C. government agencies, has gone green. It’s now outfitted with a new energy management system, digital controls, and upgrades to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system. The energy retrofits, worth $7.5 million, will reduce the 850,000-square-foot building’s energy cost by 20 percent, ultimately saving taxpayer dollars. Funded by the American Reinvestment and Recovery, the project created more than 100 construction jobs.

The Cathedral Reopens

Washington National Cathedral started celebrating its reopening Nov. 12 and festivities last all week. A culminating concert will be held on the 19th featuring the Cathedral’s chamber music ensemble in a program called “East Meets West.” On Friday, Nov. 18, the St. Albans/National Cathedral School Student Concert will showcase more than 400 student musicians featuring five choral ensembles and an orchestra, with music ranging from classical to contemporary. The reopening of the Cathedral will also mark the start of a new single point of entry process for entering the building. Visitors will now be asked to enter through the northwest cloister, conveniently located next to the parking garage. Worshipers and guests will still be able to enter the building through the west front for Sunday services and other major events. For more information, call 202-537-6200

Eating for a Cause

On Nov. 21, Michelle Norris, host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” will moderate a guest panel discussion on farming systems that are capable of maintaining their productivity and usefulness to society and the ecological, economic and social issues surrounding the practice of sustainable agriculture, along with the implications of changing production practices to preserve natural resources. Panelists include USDA Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan, Chief Culinary Adviser for the exhibit “What’s Cooking, Uncle Sam?” José Andrés, and Co-Director of Freshfarm Markets Ann Harvey Yonkers. It will be at The National Archives. Call 1-86-NARA-NARA for more information.

Celebrate Louisa May Alcott

The Library of Congress will celebrate the birthday of American novelist Louisa May Alcott with a reading of her work by award-winning authors Jo Ann Beard and Maud Casey on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at noon. The event, sponsored by the Library’s Poetry and Literature Center, is free and open to the public; no tickets are needed.

Beard and Casey, in addition to reading selections of Alcott’s work, will discuss her influence on their own writing. Beard is the author of a collection of essays titled “The Boys of My Youth” and a novel, “In Zanesville.” For more information, visit Loc.gov/Poetry/ or call 202-707-5000.

Jewelry Maker Grows Business at Eastern Market
• May 14, 2013

Twenty years ago, Leah Strugis decided to take up a hobby outside of teaching in Juneau, Alaska, a community founded on gold mining with a population of 17 people. She enrolled in the local community college in a jewelry-making course, and 20 years later, she produces around 1,000 pieces of jewelry a month, some of which are sold at the Eastern Market outdoor fair each weekend.

Sturgis makes everything by hand, meaning that she does not use any hand or electronic tools to aid in what she calls, “abstract, organic and temporary” jewelry in her Alexandria, Va., home that she shares with her musician husband, Frank Solivan.

Sturgis attributes her success to customers at Eastern Market, where she makes half her sales, she says. Another portion comes from wholesale shows, where small boutiques and art galleries and artists meet to purchase items for regional shops. She goes to around 12 art shows every year, and because of this, her pieces are in shops from D.C. to Alaska.

She made the leap out of teaching into jewelry when her husband began working with the U.S. Navy Band and they moved from Alaska to D.C. ten years ago. She said the first few years she did not make much profit from her art, but she was circulating between local outdoor markets and building clientele. Seven years ago, she was invited to a whole sale show and that’s when she started increasing her volume.

“I went from having two or three stories that carried my work to within a few years, 120 stores,” which she describes as an on-the-floor catalog.

She started as a buyer for Imagine Artwear, an Alexandria handicraft boutique, but going in as a seller “opened my eyes to what was going on in the industry… this is how you get yourself out there and this how you get your jewelry into the hands of people.”
She travels around the country to these wholesale shows, which she would like to rely on, “but it’s so much work to do that. I have that at my fingertips with Eastern Market — it’s fun to be at Eastern Market.”

Steps Sturgis took to grow her business included making business cards and taking a class on “From Amateur to Professional” in Old Town Alexandria. She wants to keep her business small and to continue being the sole creator of her products, but she sees adding employees to handle her website, shipping pieces and financials.

“Still, as much as I want my business to grow, I want to primarily be the full maker. That’s something that I have a lot of integrity in, they know my hands were on it,” she said.

A few years ago, when her husband decided to quit the Navy Band and form a full-time bluegrass band, Frank Solivan and the Dirty Kitchen. She recently created a new line comprising of mandolin and guitar strings, “A perfect marriage of our two worlds,” she said.

To see Sturgis’ work, visit Leahsturgis.com, or visit Eastern Market. [gallery ids="101297,149993" nav="thumbs"]

Downtown Neighborhood Association Closes
• April 11, 2013

The Downtown Neighborhood Association has shut down. The organization started seven years ago by Miles Groves to represent community interests. DNA partnered with Business Improvement District to develop an annual neighborhood survey to help attract new and better retail to Downtown and worked with the the Metropolitan Police Department and others to establish a 10-officer patrol near Gallery Place and the Verizon Center. In 2008. In a parting notice to, the DNA urged all downtown residents to attend ANC 2C meetings, held on the second Monday of each month at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library, in Room 221.

Washington Club’s Patterson Mansion for Sale
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The members-only Washington Club’s historic Patterson mansion at 15 Dupont Circle NW is up for sale at an undisclosed price. The Washington Club, founded in 1891, was the first women’s organization to be incorporated in the District. It was established for “literary purposes, mutual improvement and the promotion of social intercourse.” The club purchased its Dupont Circle location in 1951. The club’s membership — which brings in $2,500 annually per person in dues — has declined significantly in recent years to 62 members. Last fall, the members voted to put the mansion up for sale. The city assessed the value of the property at $12.6 million. Due to a confidentiality agreement, the spokesperson for the Washington Club cannot disclose any prospective buyers at this time.

‘Made in D.C.’ Comes to Local Hardware Stores
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Five locally owned Ace Hardware stores, including Logan Hardware, are teaming up with Think Local First D.C. to spotlight locally made products in their stores. The goal of the program, called “Made in D.C.” is to offer local vendors an opportunity to sell their products in a larger market and to create a sense of community within the stores while supporting small businesses. The stores will choose one vendor per quarter to showcase on an endcap. Vendors must live in D.C. and produce their products locally. Ace is looking for products that fit into one of their departments, and vendors must be able to fill the shelving allotment available. The first deadline for applications was Friday, March 15, but the program will continue to accept applications to bring in new vendors. Locally-made products will hit stores in April.

Glen’s Garden Market Takes Place of Safeway Townhouse
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On Earth Day weekend, Dupont Circle will be home to an independent specialty market dedicated to sourcing locally grown foods. Glen’s Garden Market will open at 20th and S Streets NW — the former location of the Safeway Townhouse store. The 5,000-square-foot space will feature foods from the states of the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which includes D.C., Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New York. “It seemed like the perfect place to nestle our neighborhood market,” according to a release. Glen’s Garden Market has been under construction since December 2012.

BASIS DC Looks for Support
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BASIS DC, a new charter school downtown, is reaching out for support and asking community members to host a supply drive for school or personal supplies for students, or channel your shopping sprees on Amazon.com into real dollars for the school. Thirty-seven percent of the school’s diverse student population—which hails from all eight of the city’s wards—are underserved and lack the necessary supplies to succeed in school. BASIS DC seeks loose leaf paper, red and blue pens, pencils, erasers and expo dry erase markers in addition to personal items such as travel size toothbrushes, toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, and mouthwash. Contact Chris Irvine, the head of operations, at (202) 393-5437. BASIS DC is part of Arizona-based BASIS Schools, Inc., which provides “an accelerated liberal arts education at internationally competitive levels.” The school opened in August 2012 and has 410 students in grades 5-8, and will eventually expand to grades 9-12.

Franklin Park to be Redesigned
• April 10, 2013

The National Park Service, D.C. Government and the DowntownDC BID have come together to transform historic Franklin Park, with nearly five acres of green space. On March 13, the D.C. Office of Planning issued a request for proposals, for the park’s redesign, kicking off a planning process that will extend through the beginning of 2014. After engineering drawings are developed, construction is scheduled to take place in 2015-2016, coinciding with the NPS’s centennial.

Filmfest DC: Playing Movies for Entertainment
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Filmfest DC hits D.C. again April 11 – 21, which showcases a wide range of extraordinary new films from around the world with the theme “Trust No One: Espionage and Thrillers and The Lighter Side,” a series of international comedies. Film highlights include “Midnight’s Children” from Canada based on the award-wining novel by Salman Rushdie, Oscar shortlisted “Kon Tiki” from Norway, “In the Shadow” from the Czech Republic and an entry for best foreign film at the Oscars and “A Hijacking” from Denmark. Festival locations include the Goethe-Institut Washington at 812 7th St. NW, Landmark E Street Cinema at 555 11th St. NW and the National Gallery of Art. General Admission is $11 per person to most films. For more information visit filmfestdc.org.