Station Area Map with numbers indicating where additional features could be located

One issue I’ve been working on for a very long time is getting the illuminated Station Area Maps at the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Station updated to include information I consider to be clear omissions. I began this process in October 2010 and thought I’d made some progress when WMATA committed to include Park View on future maps with updated maps scheduled for installation by March 2011. Well, clearly that did not happen. So, I’ve dug in again and have reopened the conversation with Metro.

While my initial observation was that Park View was inappropriately omitted from the map as Petworth, Columbia Heights, and Mt. Pleasant were all included, upon inspecting the map more closely I discovered that there were several opportunities to make the map better. Below are six significant improvements I noticed.

1. Include Park View to show the location of the neighborhood;
2. Show the location of the MPD 4D Substation at 750 Park Rd., NW;
3. Include the Bruce-Monroe Park at Irving and Georgia Ave.;
4. Show the location of the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School (770 Kenyon Street);
5. Show the location of the Lincoln’s Cottage National Historic Site; and
6. Include Armed Forces Retirement Home on the map to identify its location.

In each of these cases, the type of information suggested is in keeping with the categories of information WMATA currently includes on their maps. I’ll be sure to post follow ups as my conversations with Metro advance.

General Scott statue on the AFRH grounds

Here’s an update – and some exciting news – from the Friends of the Soldiers’ Home group.  At their last meeting on January 12, 2012, they developed a ‘road map’ for how the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) and surrounding communities would collaborate in 2012. This resulted in five concrete events and a number of potential event ideas and goals.

The five major events that will be held at the home in 2012 are:

• A weekend day in May in which the community will be invited to enjoy the grounds with the residents, through a golf scramble, fishing in the ponds, kids’ biking and other outdoor fun!
• June 6, D-Day (details of this event yet to be determined)
• July 4, the community and residents will watch the Washington Monument fireworks together from the best spot in town, the top of the Hill on the Home grounds!
• Oct. 7, at the Home’s annual antique car show, the community will participate
• A date in December, the community for the second consecutive year will co-sponsor the holiday tree lighting

In addition to these events, the Friends group committed to continue volunteering to assist residents during AFRH Bingo nights. Starting in February, the community will supply a minimum of 10 volunteers for a Bingo night once each month. Dates and times still to come.

Other event ideas that were discussed but not yet planned included those listed below:

• having the community help inaugurate a ’50s style food center with a sock hop
• community/residents gathering together on the Home lawn to enjoy a live concert together
• having a film festival/movie marathon
• the community having a role, and a booth, at the annual bike race held at the Home
• having a community outdoor volunteer day where we remove brush and/or do beautification
• hosting a trivia night at one of the local bars/restaurants

Lastly, the Lincoln’s Cottage – located on the AFRH grounds — has also expressed an interest in working with the community in their events. Opportunities to collaborate with Lincoln’s Cottage include:

• activities surrounding Emancipation Day, April 15-16
• Memorial Day weekend events, possibly including walking tours of historic National Cemetery across the street from the Home grounds
• activities in September marking the 150th anniversary of the Presidential Guard, created inLincoln’s time, now known as the Secret Service

To learn more, get involved, or join the Friends of the Soldiers’ Home group, email John Hughes.

If you are interested in additional volunteering opportunities at the AFRH, you can email Carolyn Weber or contact her by phone at 202-541-7627.

This is an important project and I encourage anyone and everyone who is interested in education, the Park View community, and/or historic preservation to attend this meeting. You can review the January 17, 2012 concept plan for the modernization prior to the meeting or wait until the presentation for details.

Appropriately, the meeting will be held in the auditorium — which was built to support community programs and events.

I was recently asked why residents who do not have children at the school would need to care about this project. I’ll list three reasons below and trust readers will come up with a few of their own after they read the concept plan.

• There is a need to coordinate the projects at the school and neighboring rec center to maximize the usefulness of public space in the neighborhood. Currently, the school plans dedicate more school greenspace to playground use rather than use the rec center property.
• The school project hopes to improve parking and trash collection at the rear of the property. This area is adjacent to a public alley and residences on 6th Street, NW. These residents need to be involved in any decisions that impact the alley.
• The school’s auditorium was originally built to serve the greater community as public space for plays, concerts and meetings. There are many in the community that would like to see the auditorium support such activities again. Getting involved now will ensure that any renovations to the school will provide the infrastructure needed to support an active, public use of the auditorium.

This is a unique opportunity to participate in improving the community.  I hope to see you there.
(Cross section of the Park View School — east to west through the auditorium — from the original 1915 plans)

In little more than a week, demolition of the former pawn shop and U-Like carry out on the southwest corner of Lamont and Georgia Avenue, NW, has progressed to an advanced state (see above).

All that remains of U-Like and Famous Pawnbroker

In examining the site yesterday, there was little left that anyone familiar with the properties would recognize. One thing that I did notice that had alluded me before was how much land was fenced off for the project.

If you are familiar with the 700 block of Lamont Street you will know that there is a large lot behind U-Like with an alley separating the two properties. Both the empty lot and alley are currently within the construction fence leading me to wonder if they are also part of the project or merely needed for construction staging. I’ve provided an outline of what appears to be the perimeter fencing below.

(According to the DC Zoning Map, the area outlined in red will become the Heights. The additional area outlined in purple is also fenced in for construction.)

That said, it is still possible to get some sense of area crime by reading the daily crime reports distributed on the various MPD listservs. Also, occasionally, listserv and email chatter indicates that there are particular crimes that are still high. Even though the year is still young, there is every indication that thefts from autos is still much higher than last year. Without the DC CrimeMap up and working, it’s not possible to easily compare monthly crime stats or trends, but I’ve listed the thefts from autos I was able to find for eastern PSA 409 below.

Between January 1st and 19th, eastern PSA 409 has had 12 reported thefts from autos and 1 stolen auto.

According to MPD, they currently have officers patrolling the area, including a segway officer, a foot beat officer, and a patrol car. One thing MPD did last week that I hadn’t seen before is place copies of the fliers below on cars throughout the neighborhood attempting to get residents attention and alert them to what they can do to help reduce crime and not be a victim.

They also state that the community can also help. According to MPD, “the best way to prevent Theft from Auto is to always keep your valuables out of sight. Never leave cell phones, briefcases, suitcases, or electronic devices (IPods, Ipads, GPS, laptop computers) in your car in plain view. Take these items with you, or secure them-all the time, every time.”

On Tuesday, January 17, 2012, SORG Architects unveiled their 33 page conceptual plan to the School Improvement Team (SIT) for comment. I’m still in the process of requesting minutes and comments from attendees of that meeting. I will also be scheduling community meetings to gather neighborhood input and ensure that residents’ concerns and needs are addressed in the modernization process as required by the process.

As one might expect upon initially reviewing the concept package, there are areas that are very good and areas that still need to be reconsidered. I’ll highlight a few of them below.

Issues Still Needing to be Addressed

Since SORG first presented a preliminary assessment on December 20th, it truly appears that there has been no progress on the major issues of the auditorium balcony, ground floor public restrooms, and planned inclusion of additional playgrounds. Additionally, modernizing a 96-year-old building is a lot more complicated than modernizing a building like Harriet Tubman. The building will require significant reprogramming for it to adequately serve as an elementary school for the next century. I’ll focus on a couple important issues here:

• Need for ground floor public restrooms: SORG’s concept removes two substantial public restrooms adjacent to the auditorium and replaces it with a two stall “teachers toilet” across the hall. As one of the stated goals is to return the auditorium to active community use, it makes no sense to have a 700-seat auditorium with inadequate public restroom facilities.
• The site plans continue to show nearly all the school’s greenspace being developed for playgrounds. One need look no further than the rendering above for an example of one of these proposed playgrounds prominently displayed. Again, destroying all of the school’s greenspace for playgrounds is unnecessary with a recreational facility directly across the street.
• Redevelopment of the parking and trash areas: The drawings indicate that the back of the school — including the alley — will be included in the project. The chief concern here is how any reconfiguration of the parking and trash areas will impact the residents living on 6th Street, NW.

Where They Seem to be Getting it Right

One thing that becomes apparent in reading the architectural summary of the project and in looking at details such as the ones below is that the architects do seem to understand the overall concept of preserving the historical integrity of the building during the modernization process. Even so, there are issues that will not be settled until after the Historic Preservation Review Board takes up the school’s historic landmark application. In other areas, such as windows and downspouts, mention of them may merely be omitted at this stage but included in the final concept. Interior details include saving the terrazzo floors and changing out the doors with period appropriate wood panel and glass doors.

(SORG presentation sheet indicating overall repairs planned for the exterior of the building)

volunteers painting a mural at the school

I have a good deal of school news to share this week. So, before I move forward with information on the efforts to modernize the Park View School, I’m going to play catch-up and give a report on the Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service that occurred there this past Monday.

From what I’ve learned, there was a good turnout and things went well. They had about 50 volunteers through DC Cares as well as local neighbors who came to the school to participate.

Among the activities volunteers participated in were painting a César Chávez mural in the entrance hallway to the auditorium, painting flags of different countries from around the world on canvasses to be hung around the school, and a group went around and touched up all the existing murals that were in need of repair. A group of Park View residents washed all the windows and cleaned the doors and moldings throughout the school.

DC Cares also gave some pointers on fire safety and passed out flyers in the community about fire safety. In the spirit of the day, a group of local youth from Park View Kids Zone picked up trash along Warder Street to do their part in giving back to the neighborhood.

I’d like to express my gratitude to all those who became involved and donated their time and energy to make both the school and community a better place for all who are here.

David Do and another volunteer cleaning doors at the school