Georgetown Breaks Ground on Thompson Athletics Center
• September 25, 2014

Georgetown University broke ground Sept. 12 on a new state-of-the-art athletic facility, named after legendary Hoyas men’s basketball coach John R. Thompson Jr. Although the tennis courts next to McDonough Arena are gone, they will return in the four-story, 144,000-square-foot John R. Thompson Jr. Intercollegiate Athletics Center, slated for completion in August 2016.

Here are more details from Georgetown University about the groundbreaking and the facility:

The $62-million project will be completely supported through philanthropy. The Thompson Center will be constructed adjacent to McDonough Arena and include practice courts, team meeting rooms, men’s and women’s basketball coaches’ offices, and weight-training and sports medicine rooms for all varsity athletes. The new facility also includes a Student-Athlete Academic and Leadership Center, an auditorium, team meeting facilities for varsity programs and a new venue for the Georgetown Athletics Hall of Fame.

More than 500 people – including former players such as Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo, Alonzo Mourning and Allen Iverson, all of whom played for Thompson, Jr., and more recent players ranging from Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert, Otto Porter Jr. and Henry Sims, who played for current Head Coach John Thompson III – came to the site for the official groundbreaking of the facility.

John Thompson Jr.’s name is synonymous with success. From 1972 to 1999, he compiled 596 wins, the most of any coach in the history of Georgetown University. On the court, he amassed league-leading records against all Big East Conference opponents (233-122) and captured 13 Big East Championships, seven regular season titles and six tournament championships. Thompson’s Hoya teams earned 24-consecutive invitations to postseason play, appeared in three NCAA Final Fours (1982, 1984 and 1985) and won the NCAA Championship in 1984.

“Without the help of a lot of people that are in here now, it would’ve been impossible to succeed,” said Thompson, who added that he gains the most satisfaction in seeing the success that many of his players have had off of the court.

BID Transportation Working Group Update
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At the Georgetown Business Improvement District meeting on Sept. 15, the Transportation Working Group updated the community on a number of projects relevant to the neighborhood. First up, the working group updated BID on negotiations with the District Department of Transportation around subsidizing Circulator trips from Union Station and K Street NW to Georgetown. BID expects free service to start in the spring. Next, BID discussed DDOT’s environmental assessment process in Georgetown for streetcars. BID expressed support for an engineering solution that could extend service to Georgetown University. In addition, BID presented consolidated community support for a 2028 plan that would bring Metro to Georgetown by splitting the blue line, building two or more stops in Georgetown and creating a new tunnel under the Potomac. BID also announced that it is nearly finished studying an aerial gondola that would run from Georgetown to Rosslyn. The aerial gondola could be constructed in one year, BID reported. Lastly, the Circulator line that runs between Dupont Circle and Rosslyn will expand service to U Street. The Circulator that runs between Union Staton and Georgetown will also expand, up to the area around the National Cathedral. Another extension will bring the Circulator to the National Mall.

Canal Road: Off-Peak Lane Closures to July 2015
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The District Department of Transportation has begun off-peak single-lane closures on eastbound Canal Road, NW, between Foxhall Road and the Whitehurst Freeway. These single-lane closures will occur on weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. These closures will allow DDOT crews to repair a wall area along Canal Road and install a guardrail along the corridor. DDOT expects the project and associated lane closures to be completed in July 2015.
For more information, please contact project manager James Sellars at 202-391-8207.

D.C. Council Votes to Allow Concealed-Carry Guns
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City Council passed legislation on Tuesday, Sept. 23 that allows for the carrying of concealed firearms in public in the District. The law was crafted in response to an August federal court decision that struck down the city’s ban on concealed carrying on constitutional grounds. Neither lawmakers nor concealed carry supporters are happy with the “emergency law,” which will only be in effect for 90 days. From there, the Council and courts will shape the future of concealed firearm carrying in D.C.

Some Hoyas Given Antibiotics After Infected
• September 24, 2014

Health officials have confirmed that a strain of bacterial meningitis was the cause of Georgetown University sophomore Andrea Jaime’s death. Jaime’s close friends were treated with an antibiotic as a precaution; no one else is infected.
As the student body mourns a classmate, the university sent students an email warning against sharing drinks, cigarettes and food with friends to avoid exposure. Also, the university is working closely with the D.C. Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control to prepare itself in case this isolated event evolves into something more severe. The CDC does not recommend that the entire student body be treated because there are no signs of a larger outbreak.

LED Lighting Under Whitehurst Freeway
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BID is in the early stages of installing artistic infrastructure LED lighting under the Whitehurst Freeway. The new fixtures would replace older, expensive sodium halide lights that do not last as long. BID is touting the plan as a cost-effective way to light the area and bring more business to Georgetown. There are no designs for the lights yet, but BID is hoping to unveil them in a grand opening at the 2015 Cherry Blossom Festival.

Memorial Held for Georgia Shallcross
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A memorial was held Sept. 21 at the George Town Club for Georgia Shallcross, who died suddenly at her home in Marshall, Va., on Aug. 25. Well known around Washington, especially in Georgetown, where she lived with her family for 22 years, Shallcross wrote for many years for the Georgetowner.

Family and friends gathered from different parts and times of her life, sharing intimate, emotional tributes. The lunch was organized by John Arundel of Washington Life Magazine and his wife, Christine. Also attending was Georgetowner publisher Sonya Bernhardt, who met Shallcross in 1992, and gave a heartfelt eulogy.

Shallcross is survived by her parents Barbara and John Dimitri Copanos, her brother John Capanos, and two children from her marriage to Jim Shallcross, James Halsey Shallcross, 19, and Marina Kirk Shallcross, 15. She was 51.

Born on Oct. 9, 1962, Shallcross grew up in Baltimore and attended the Garrison Forest School, later earning degrees at Hollins College and George Washington University. She also studied at the Sorbonne and was a fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where she met her husband Jim Shallcross. They moved to Georgetown and had two children. Upon their divorce, Jim Shallcross moved to Connecticut, and Georgia Shallcross moved to Middleburg, Va., with her daughter Marina.

ANC2E Report Condo Redesign, Ein House, New Exec
• September 12, 2014

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E held its monthly meeting on Sept. 2, as a few problems concerning new construction were worked out to most neighbors’ satisfaction.

• Owned by Mark and Sally Ein, the house at 2920 R St., NW, also known as the Beall-Washington House, got its plans OK’d for a new smaller eastern addition and underground garage by the ANC as well as an approval from the Citizens Association of Georgetown. The Eins’ neighbors due east of their house — Jane and Calvin Cafritz — objected to the designs.

• Meanwhile, the Alexander Memorial Baptist Church condos will have a three-unit repurposed church and a single home for the rectory building. The idea of a newly built third building was dropped with an Italian-style garden planned for the west side and front of the property.

• Liquor license applications or change requests for J. Paul’s (3218 M Street, NW), Myia pizza parlor (1419 Wisconsin Ave., NW) and Yummi Crayfish (1529 Wisconsin Ave., NW) were protected by the commissioners to the Alcohol Control Board.

• Look for the new working intersection at 35th Street and Wisconsin Avenue with its blinking lights soon to be come operational.

• Finally, executive director Melanie Gisler has moved to a new job and is succeeded by Leslie Maysak.

Africa Leaders Summit Slows Traffic, Stops Pedestrians
• August 7, 2014

Washington, D.C., underwent tight security as the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit arrived in the city. The summit was hosted by President Barack Obama. He invited 50 African leaders to discuss the future of U.S.-Africa relations and how they can expand cooperation in building the infrastructure for the continent of Africa.

As the summit unfolded, many of the roads throughout D.C. are closed and restricted parking was enforced causing commuters to take a detour route on some streets. While most of the road closures are happening in downtown D.C., Georgetown was still affected by the summit. In Georgetown, the president of Congo and his entourage — and others — stayed at the Four Seasons Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. VIPs at the hotel caused 29th Street, NW, between K Streets, NW, to close until 6 p.m., Aug. 7. For pedestrians walking or working near the vicinity of hotels where leaders are staying, there were ID checks by the Secret Service.

Neighbors and Duke Ellington School Agree on Rooftop Rules
• August 6, 2014

Another agreement between a big school and its neighbors was signed Aug. 1 on the lawn of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts with Mayor Vincent Gray in attendance.

“A creative, collegial agreement has been reached between the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and the neighboring community toward harmonizing the needs and uses of a renovated school with the legitimate interests of the surrounding residential neighborhood,” reported the Mayor’s office.

The agreement, which creates a new Ellington Community Partnership, addresses uses of a proposed rooftop space at the renovated Ellington High School and other issues of mutual concern for the community and the school.

Parties to the agreement are the school, through its board of directors; the D.C. government, through the D.C. Department of General Services; the Burleith Citizens Association; the Citizens Association of Georgetown; the two homeowners associations at the Cloisters townhouses on Reservoir Road near the school; and Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E.

The agreement covers use of a designated rooftop space to be constructed as part of Ellington’s renovation for some teaching and possibly other activities, under agreed-upon conditions including sound limitations (no audible sound beyond the Ellington property line) and the maximum number of participants (45 students plus teachers for rooftop teaching).

By creating the Ellington Community Partnership, the agreement provides a forum to address rooftop and other possible issues, such as parking during performances. The ECP members will be from Duke Ellington and the neighboring community. The co-chairs will be the head of school and a community member selected by ANC 2E. The agreement is available on the dgs.dc.gov website.