A Couple Quick Wednesday Night Items: For the Dogs

There will be a Grand Opening celebration on Saturday Sunday from 12-3pm for the new dog park at Lansburgh Park, located at Delaware Avenue and K Street. The PAWS of SW Dog Park Group has been working to get this dog park built for several years and it finally opened last month. In addition to a dog park, other recent improvements to Lansburgh Park include a community garden and new basketball courts. A leash-cutting ceremony will be held for the dog park at 12:30pm. Invited VIP guests include Sam the Bloodhound, Bo and Sunny Obama, and Corporal Chesty XIV.

Over at Sky House East apartments, local rescue dogs from Homeward Trails were invited to use the Grroom pet grooming station located in the building’s basement. A promotional video of the pet space is below:

SW Dog Park is Complete

A new dog park at Lansburgh Park, located along Delaware Avenue is now open for use. After several years of fundraising by the PAWS of Southwest, the 10,000 square-foot off-leash Lansburgh Dog Park was recently completed by the Department of General Services and will operate as a Department of Parks and Recreation facility. There are two fenced off areas - a 2,000 square-foot area for small dogs and 8,000 square feet for large dogs; each section has water stations. There are also seating areas for dog owners to relax and watch their canine companions play.

The Lansburgh Dog Park is open from 7am to 9pm Monday - Friday and 8am to 9pm Saturday - Sunday and holidays. All dogs using a dog park must be licensed and registered in the District of Columbia. All dogs are required by law to be vaccinated and registered. All dogs must display a Dog Park Registration Tag, and other tags as required by law. There is a limit of 22 dogs in the dog park at any time.

Lansburgh Park has received several improvements in the past two years.  Last year, the run down tennis courts were replaced with basketball courts and the SW Gardens group received a grant from Fiskars to transform a portion of the park into a community garden. The PAWS of Southwest and the SW Gardens group are both fiduciary subsidiaries of SWNA, which announced that a second grant was recently awarded to the group in order to expand the garden with more raised beds.

Running of the Chihuahuas is Back!

The Running of the Chihuahuas will make its way to the Southwest Waterfront for a second time on cinco de mayo weekend. On Saturday, May 4, the event will be held at 7th Street Landing (located at 7th and Water streets) to help PAWS of Southwest raise funds for a dog park at Lansburgh Park. Check-in for the dogs begins at 11am and the first race begins at noon. Each dog will run in one qualifying heat and the winners of the individual heats will advance to the championship round. The grand champion will take home a trophy and $150 cash. Second place is $100 and third place is $50. Registration is $20 - last year was sold out, so it's better to register early. The races will be for chihuahuas only, but there will be other events that are open to all other dog breeds, such as "Best Dressed" and "Best Trick." Registration for those contests can be done the day of the event. There will be a post-race party at Cantina Marina where dogs are also welcomed.  Rain date for the event is May 11.

Barkley (pictured above) moved from Southwest to New Mexico...que lástima!

Existing Public Parks Finally Getting Some Love

(This post is an abbreviated version of the South by West article that will appear in June's Hill Rag.)

The Southwest Playground Project (SWPP) is projected to receive $250,000 in the District's FY2013 Budget to bridge the funding gap needed to build a playground adjacent to the Southwest Branch Library at 3rd and I Street SW. Budget funds are coming from Ward 6 Council Member Tommy Wells' Committee on Parks, Libraries, and Recreation. The SWPP, a project of the Near SE/SW Community Benefits Coordinating Council, already raised over $100,000 on its own to build the playground, but several infrastructure issues need to be addressed at the city-owned park, such as storm water drainage, broken concrete pathways, and the need for retaining walls. These infrastructure improvements added nearly $250,000 to the budget estimate made by DC-based Landscape Architecture Bureau, who has been hired to design the playground. With the additional funds from the District, design work can proceed and a land survey can be conducted. Since the fiscal year begins on October 1, 2012, the District funds cannot be used until after that date. The first vote on the budget was done earlier this month and final passage is expected on June 5.

There will be a park clean-up this Saturday from 10am - 12pm at the Library Park. SWPP will provide bags, gloves, and refreshments.  Bring shovels, rakes, and of course, your children.

Meanwhile, another $400,000 is reserved in the FY2013 Budget for improvements to Lansburg Park, the large underutilized park located to the east of Greenleaf Gardens along Delaware Avenue. District funds reserved for Lansburg will go towards restoring the overhead lights, as well as installing basketball court to replace the tennis courts that are currently in bad shape. The "Friends of Lansburg Park" group was formed recently to join DPR's Parks Partners program and to use SWNA's 501c3 status to do fundraising. The Friends group is working with the PAWS of Southwest, who is applying with DPR to build what would be the largest dog park in the city at Lansburg, as well as with a group who wants a community garden. An open house was held last month to solicit ideas for the future of Lansburg and a charrette is planned for sometime this summer.

In addition, at the Southwest Duck Pond's annual Volunteer Recognition Event and sign unveiling ceremony yesterday, Council Member Wells announced there will be funding set aside in the FY2013 Budget for improvements to that park. As mentioned previously, there was funding set aside in the FY2012 Budget for park improvements, but since then, the newly created Department of General Services has taken jurisdiction over capital improvements from DPR and nixed the funding appropriation.

A Few Quick Items: Dog Park, St. Matthew's PUD, 7th Street Landing Activities, Capital Bikeshare Expansion, Kastles Roster, Fish Market Restoration, Craft Beer & Food Truck Festival

- The PAWS of SW will be submitting an application to the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to create an off-leash dog park at Lansburg Park since Southwest is the only quadrant in the city without a dog park. They will be working with the newly created "Friends of Lansburg Park" to do fundraising and organize community events, with the support of SWNA. Over $100,000 is needed to build the dog park, which will go towards ground modification, fencing, running water, and to make the site ADA accessible.  A minimum of 5,000 square feet is needed for a dog park, but the proposed dog park will not take up all of Lansburg Park. Other uses are being explored for the large, underutilized green space, including a playground, community garden, and skate park. The PAWS of SW meets at the SW Library on the first Wednesday of every month and they have a Google Group (sw-dog-park@googlegroups.com).

- The development team behind the St. Matthew's church and multifamily housing project met with the Zoning Commission last week to get approval for their PUD application.  There were so many people who wanted to testify at the meeting that it was adjourned until March 19.   Neighbors of the proposed development have created an online petition in opposition to the development. Below is a video of the March 5 meeting in case you are so inclined to watch the meeting. Rendering courtesy of Shalom Baranes Architects

Update: The second half of the Zoning Commission hearing from March 19 is now available (see below). A few follow-up items still need to be sent to the Zoning Commission and they will meet again on April 30 to make their decision on the PUD application.

- Hoffman-Madison Waterfront is proposing to offer wine and beer sales at 7th Street Landing this season on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Last year, beer and wine was sold only on Thursdays during the farmers market. The farmers market will be back on Thursday evenings with jazz performances starting on June 7 for approximately 16 weeks.  Friday evenings will bring community entertainment, while YaLa and yoga will return on Saturday mornings.  New this year will be family-friendly movie screenings on Saturday evenings. Sundays will be dedicated to recreation, including bocce, table tennis, and cornhole.

-  Renovations are planned this summer at Amidon-Bowen Elementary school.  Phase 1 will include a new administrative office suite at the front of the school, a new walk-through from the front to the play area in back, re-sized classrooms, and a new ADA-compliant entrance. All of the renovations will be complete by the end of August.  Last summer, Target donated funds to renovate the school's library. There will be an open house on Tuesday, April 10 from 6-7pm at the school where the plans will be shared with the community.

- Two Capital Bikeshare stations were installed today on the National Mall.  One is located on Jefferson Drive between 14th and 15th Streets by the Washington Monument and the other is on Ohio Drive near the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial.  Three more stations will be installed over the coming weeks.

- The Washington Kastles have completed their roster selection and will bring back most of the team from last season, including Captain Leander Paes, Bobby Reynolds, and Arina Rodionova. Replacing retired player Rennae Stubbs will be Arina's sister Anastasia Rodionova.  The Kastles will have two sets of siblings with the Rodionovas and the Williams sisters, who will also return this season.

- The Housing Complex blog describes how the Hoffman-Madison Waterfront team will preserve and restore the Oyster Shucking Shed and Lunch Room at the Maine Avenue Fish Market as a component of The Wharf development.  Currently, the white buildings at the market are vacant and in disrepair.  From the post:

The currently unused Oyster Shucking Shed and Lunch Room, a pair of ramshackle buildings surrounded by vending machines and ice boxes, will become a "centerpiece," according to a spokesman for the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. They've submitted an historic landmark application for the seemingly nondescript structures, which were built in 1916 and are now literally falling apart inside. They retain enough integrity, though, to "serve as reminders of the Southwest Waterfront's historic commercial and maritime industries." According to the application, the Lunch Room was home to the Cadillac Restaurant from the 1940s through the 1970s, while fish dealers used the shucking shed to prepare their catch for sale. 

- LivingSocial is hosting a Craft Beer and Food Truck Festival at Kastles Stadium at The Wharf on the weekend of April 21-22 from 12-5pm. There will be 25 craft brewery tents, live local music, 10 food trucks, and backyard lawn games and activities. LivingSocial is currently offering a package for $35 on their website.

A Few Quick Items: New Metrobus Route, CBCC Survey, SW Playground Project Receives $40K Donation, Dog Park Petition

- Starting on September 25, WMATA will introduce a new bus route that will connect Southwest and Downtown. The new route will be called the "74 - Convention Center/Southwest Waterfront" and will run seven days a week from 5am to 1am. During peak periods, headways will be 18 minutes and 24 minutes during other times.  This fall, Next Bus real-time destination screens will be installed at eight bus shelters along the route. The route is shown on the above map. The dotted line portion of the route shows the extension of the line to Buzzard Point during weekday peak periods. This new route was made to replace the SW Waterfront-Convention Center Circulator route that will be discontinued at the end of this month and also replaces the 70-71 routes.

- The Near SE-SW Community Benefits Coodinating Council (CBCC) is conducting a survey of ANC 6D residents to find out what services they would use in a community center. The survey is available online and participants are entered into a drawing to win a $25 Safeway gift card. Surveys must be completed by September 30. On a CBCC-related note, there will be a reception on October 4 at the Capitol Skyline Hotel to discuss The Wharf developers' community benefit commitment to hire CBE's. for more information, check their website.

- The Mandarin Oriental Hotel was able to raise over $40,000 for the SW Playground Project last Sunday at their inaugural FANtastic March 10K walk/run. $10,000 of the funds was a corporate match from the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and the rest came from race participants, nearly 220 people.  Congratulations to race winners Miles Hilder and Sara Vuong, both Southwest residents.

- The SW Dog Park group is passing around an online petition to support bringing an off leash dog park to Southwest, the only quadrant in the city without a dog park. The group has been taking their dogs to Lansburg Park, but the gate at the tennis court is broken so it makes it difficult to enclose the area for dogs to run and play. 

A Couple Quick Items: Reduced Bus Service, SW Dog Park Listserv Created

- WMATA has proposed to change the 70/71 Metrobus routes that currently terminate at Half & O Street in Buzzard Point to instead end at the National Archives at 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, which would eliminate service in Southwest starting this fall. The 70/71 buses would be replaced with a new 74 bus that will run from 5am to 8pm Monday-Friday.  No service will be provided in the evening or on weekends. To supplement the lack of service during these times, the V8 bus will be rerouted to the affected area.  In addition, Metro is considering increasing headways between Metro rail trains on the weekends from 12 to 18 minutes on Saturdays and from 15 to 20 minutes on Sundays. WMATA will have a special hearing on Wednesday, June 8 from 6:30pm - 8:30pm at Arena Stage to discuss these proposed changes.  The hearing is sponsored by Ward 6 Council member Tommy Wells and ANC 6D.  News of reduced Metrobus service comes on the heels of a transit development plan that recommends Circulator service on the Convention Center - SW Waterfront route to be discontinued while The Wharf gets developed due to low ridership.

- For all you dog people out there, a new listserv has been created just for you!  Email swdogpark@gmail.com to join the new SW Listserv dedicated to establishing a permanent dog park in Southwest. The new group will be sponsoring joint dog walks weekly for exercise and community building.