Town Topics

Robert Devaney • April 11, 2016

Ward 2 Councilman Jack Evans, the longest serving member of the District Council and a Georgetown resident, made it official June 8 by announcing his candidacy for Mayor of Washington, D.C., way ahead of the Democratic primary on April 1, 2014. Evans spoke in front of the 14th Street entrance of the new Le Diplomate restaurant, a hot new place on a hot site very characteristic of the city’s booming reputation as an urban hot spot.

Evans had been dropping hints and pretty positive signs that he would be running for some time now—his talk at the Downtown Business Improvement District’s state of downtown report several weeks ago sounded very much like a campaign speech touting the many project’s and development game changers of which he has been a part: the Verizon Center, the new Washington Convention Center, the coming of the Washington Nationals baseball team to the District, legislation creating business improvement districts and more.

In announcing his candidacy, Evans sounded a richer theme than merely being a high profile mover and backer of major developments, of being a finance and numbers wiz on the council as chair of the finance committee, of being able to claim a large part of the credit—along with the council and three mayors—for the changing physical, demographic changes of D.C. and its budget surplus. On June 8, surrounded by his wife Michele and other family members, he preached the gospel of inclusion mindful of what many observers still see as a divide in the city, especially as evidenced in several recent council election and the last mayoral elections.

Evans has served on the District Council since 1991 and has run for mayor before, in 1998.

Now, Evans joins a field that so far includes Ward 4 Council member Muriel Bowser and Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells.
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Robert Devaney •

We know Georgetown loves its homes, streets and trees. Now, we know that it loves its gardens and parks, too, if not more.
The organizers and volunteers of the Georgetown Garden Tour are to be commended for this year’s event, which delighted many and moved along without a hitch. As for Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy, it won $50,000 to help restore part of the park, which is now not so secret anymore.

The 85th annual Georgetown Garden Tour began to run out of tickets May 11 as neighbors and visitors kept up a steady stream as they went to Christ Church to check in and then to Georgetown back and side yards. Tour volunteers had to write on some tour tickers, “admission for two.”

Although the weather forecast was mixed, the day got busier and warmer with more than 700 tickets sold, a record for the garden tour.

Lovers of horticulture and design had the chance to see seven unique private gardens as well as 27-acre Dumbarton Oaks Park — “America’s Secret Garden” — on R Street.

On Monday, May 13, it was announced by American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation that the Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy would receive a $50,000 grant to repair the garden’s original built structures including viewing platform, stone houses and retaining wall, as part of Partners in Preservation’s multi-million-dollar commitment to preservation.

The tour included gardens that featured spring foliage and a palette of flowering trees, shrubs and perennials as well as the contemporary sculptures in a garden of an R Street home. Aligned with Georgetown’s history and the neighborhood’s close quarters, each garden displayed its own sense of privacy and peace.

All proceeds from the Georgetown Garden Tour will go to the preservation of the historic parks, public spaces, and tree-lined streets of Georgetown, the garden club says, as it should be. [gallery ids="119201,119208" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

The congregation of St. John’s Episcopal Church on O Street dedicated its Casavant Freres pipe organ Sept. 29 “to the glory of God,” as the Bishop of Washington, Rt. Rev. Mariann Budde led the celebration with St. John’s interim rector, Rev. W. Bruce McPherson, and assistant rector, Rev. Sarah Duggin. Among the many at the church were benefactors Frida Burling and John Van Wagoner. The Canadian company which built the organ will also be sending another of its products to the Kennedy Center.
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Robert Devaney •

Tony Cibel knows how to throw a party, inviting old friends and some new ones, offering all kinds of seafood, of course: oysters, clams, lobster tails, soft-shell crabs, and letting the drinks flow. It’s great to have local politicians stop by and give congratulations and even cooler to have a former Mayor of Washington, D.C., sing for you at the end of the evening. Yes, Marion Barry can headline a band, too.

Tony’s admirers were at Tony & Joe’s restaurant at Washington Harbour, next to the Potomac, on Sept. 13 to celebrate 25 years of the popular eatery as well as to see the renovations that had to be done after the April 2011 flood. The restaurant has set the culinary bar higher with its new executive chef David Stein, just as the waterfront complex itself is revamping and turning up the place-to-be notch with a lighted, water-spouting fountain that will convert into an ice-skating rink in the winter.

“The post-flood redesign truly puts the word ‘tony’ in our name,” Tony & Joe’s says. “The sleek and airy remodeled dining room has been configured to offer vast event options. Sweeping floor to ceiling windows allow diners to enjoy panoramic views from every seat in the house. To one side, take in the Potomac River and Kennedy Center. To the other, enjoy the Washington Harbor’s new Las Vegas-style fountain. The overall effect is spectacular”

Native Washingtonian Cibel has been a player on the restaurant scene with his other places, such as the Dancing Crab, Nick’s Riverside Grille, Kaufmanns Tavern, Cabanas and the Rockfish. The patriarch of the Oceanside Management Family of restaurants has two sons and two nephews involved in his business operations, “making sure that a family member pays attention to the numberous details so necessary to operating restaurants,” he says.

Councilman Jack Evans got caught up in the evening’s excitement as he welcomed Councilman and former Mayor Marion Barry and said, “He’ll always be mayor.” Tony Cibel added to the quips, saying that Washington Harbour should have a casino instead of National Harbor. Everybody else was just happy to be there to take it all in. [gallery ids="102478,120514,120485,120476,120469,120461,120521,120495,120503,120508" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

Workmen at O and Potomac Streets pressed down the last stones for the O and P Street Rehabilitation Project which began two years ago this September. Depending on Mayor Gray’s schedule, a ribbon-cutting ceremony is tentatively set for Sept. 18, 10 a.m., to celebrate the completion of the work, which inconvenienced residents of O and P Streets for a time. The project closed streets and sidewalks, caused noise and took away parking spaces. All of this is nearly over.

O Street and P Street, west of Wisconsin Avenue to 35th Street, are the last spots in Washington where tracks from the city’s trolley system can be seen. These tracks and street stones have been refitted or replaced, along with street lamps and other curb work. The decision was made to preserve the streets as they were to maintain the historic look of Georgetown. Sett stones were used instead of the original cobble stones which had moved or drifted along the surface of the street, making driving difficult for some.

There is some more work to do. The project’s website—FixingOandPStreets.com—answered about some of the remaining work:

What is the blue/gray dust left on the roadway? Does it serve a purpose?
The blue/gray dust material left on the roadway does indeed serve a purpose. This dust continues the process of filling the gaps between pavers, as the initial filling settles. In this final stage, the dust is repeatedly swept over the area, wet down and swept over again after it dries. This material will be swept off the roadway once it is determined that gaps have been adequately filled. This process also applies to the brick sidewalks.

How about the grout for pavers and the rails?
The area between the rail track and the granite pavers must be filled in with an elastomeric grout. This is needed due to how each of these very different materials behaves under various weather conditions and other physical processes. Temperature and moisture greatly impact how the grout pours and cures. Ideally, the temperature should be between 70 degrees and 80 degrees, with no rain for 12 to 24 hours.

Robert Devaney •

All banks want to attract new customers but this is ridiculous. Less than three weeks in Georgetown, the M&T Bank was burglarized.

Early Friday morning, Aug. 24, a burglar — and perhaps an additional one — broke into the M&T Bank at 1420 Wisconsin Ave., NW, which just opened Aug. 6. Sawing through the wall from 1422 Wisconsin Ave., NW, the burglar made an entry hole, entered the bank and then tripped the alarms at 2:08 a.m., the Metropolitan Police Department told local media. He was likely looking for the automatic teller machine. The MPD also said the crime was similar to two recent ones in Woodley Park. The person or persons who broke into the bank were gone by the time the police arrived on the scene. No cash was taken, according to police, and the bank was unoccupied.

The building next to the bank was damaged by the 1424 Wisconsin Ave., NW, building which collapsed on Nov. 24, 2011, and has been condemned. The area behind those buildings — which remain under construction — is secured by wire fencing. The new M&T Bank is located in the building once occupied by the clothing store Commander Salamander. In September 2010, an armored truck was held up in front of BB&T Bank which is across the street from M&T Bank at Wisconsin Avenue and O Street.

By midday, the FBI was also on the scene to investigate as was D.C. Fire & EMS to check the stability of the buildings. [gallery ids="100953,130495,130485" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

Metropolitan Police reported that a woman was walking in the 3200 block of Cherry Hill Lane around 4 a.m. Aug. 12, when “an unknown male suspect approached her from behind and groped her. The suspect then fled.” Police described the man as a white or Hispanic male between 5 feet 9 inches and 6 feet tall, with a slim build, last seen wearing a dark shirt and khaki pants. MPD asks anyone with a tip on this crime to call 202-727-9099 or text 50411. (Cherry Hill Lane is south of Grace Street; located parallel between the C&O Canal and K Street, west of Wisconsin Avenue.)

In a separate incident, the U.S. Park Police questioned a person along the C&O Canal Aug. 13 around 4 p.m. The individual appeared to match the description of a suspect who sexually a woman near the canal in July. The pursuit brought out officers, detectives, members of the SWAT team and a K-9 team as well as a helicopter which circled above the vicinity of Key Bridge and the canal.

After the show of force, most Park Police officers left the scene as detectives continued to question the individual. Officers declined to say whether the “person of interest” was suspected of being involved in the July 25 incident along the Capital Crescent Trail where a female jogger was choked and molested in the area north or Three Sisters Island or the July 7 sexual assault where the suspect led the victim onto the C&O Canal towpath just off of 31st Street and pushed the victim down into the bushes. The victim was able to get away from the suspect.

Robert Devaney •

Luke’s Lobster, which specializes in authentic Maine seafood rolls, opened a Georgetown location at 1211 Potomac Street, NW. It is the same building which housed the ill-fated Philly Pizza & Co. and the Crave.

The young company which has eateries in Penn Quarter and Bethesda, along with its five Manhattan spots, was founded by Luke Holden, who is a Georgetown University business school alumnus. His family owns a lobster-processing company in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Holden opened his first spot in Greenwich Village in 2009.
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Robert Devaney •

On behalf of D.C. Public Schools, the District of Columbia Department of General Services has issued an RFP (request for proposal) to renovate Duke Ellington School of the Arts at 3500 R St., NW. Plans were due yesterday, Aug. 7, and DGS said it is “seeking firms that exhibit design excellence and that are capable of transforming the school building into an icon for the performing arts while respecting the historic character of the existing building. … Representatives of the school community and its stakeholders will be involved throughout the process. “

“The existing Duke Ellington facility was constructed in 1898,” the DGS report stated. “The selected architect/engineer will be required to provide the design for the renovation and expansion of the existing historic school. The existing building is undersized to meet the school’s existing needs and it is envisioned that new space will need to be added as an ‘in-fill’ addition in order to fully meet programmatic requirements, creating a total building square footage of approximately 165,000. The renovated facility will serve approximately 510 students and will serve as a magnet school for the performing arts. … The renovation and expansion must be complete prior to the beginning of the 2015-2016 school year.”
The $82-million reconstruction project will close the school to student for two academic years: 2013-2014 and 2014-2015. During that time, Ellington students will have to go to another school, not yet determined.

Lisa Gillespie •

The National Law Enforcement Museum is expected to open in 2014 in Judiciary Square across from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial (5th and E Streets, NW). The museum will be housed in an underground facility, save for two glass entry pavilions and a plaza. Construction on its physical structure is expected to begin later this year. There will be an interactive exhibit space, a theater, a museum shop and dedicated areas for collections, education and research — all spread over three levels and designed to tell the story of American law enforcement. The museum, an initiative of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund, is expected to attract about 500,000 visitors annually. NLEOMF is privately raising funds for its construction and development and already has collected more than $56 million toward the $80 million campaign goal.