'Red Hot Patriot' Begins New Season at Arena

The third season at the new Arena Stage has begun with Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, starring Kathleen Turner, written by Margaret Engel and Allison Engel and directed by David Esbjornson. Red Hot Patriot is a 75-minute performance filled with anecdotes from the life of Molly Ivins, a feisty liberal newspaper columnist from Texas played brilliantly by Turner. If you haven't seen the show yet, make your way down to 6th & M Street.

While Southwest Night has already passed for Red Hot Patriot, here are the dates for the other Southwest Nights during the 2012/13 season where tickets are discounted for residents and workers ($35 for musicals and $25 for non-musicals):

• One Night with Janis Joplin October 31 at 7:30pm
• My Fair Lady November 19 at 7:30pm
• Pullman Porter Blues December 26 at 12:00pm
• Good People February 3 at 7:30pm
• Metamorphoses February 17 at 7:30pm
• Mary T. & Lizzy K. March 20 at 7:30pm
• The Mountaintop March 31 at 2:00pm
• Other Desert Cities May 26 at 7:30pm

Red Hot Patriot will run through October 28 in the Kogod Cradle and tickets are available here.

Photo courtesy of Arena Stage: Mark Garvin

Wiener Dog Race at 7th Street Landing

Residential Infill Planned at Town Center

A new 3-building infill residential development just to the east of Sky House I at Town Center was revealed in this week's Washington Business Journal (subscribers only). The Bernstein Companies is moving forward with plans to build on their parking lots that currently serve Waterfront Tower condos and 1001 @ Waterfront apartments. According to the Zoning application that was submitted last month, there will be two new 11-story buildings flanking M Street and K Street and a 4-story building between the two existing towers on 3rd Street. In addition, 1001 @ Waterfront will be renovated.  Maurice Walters Architect, PC has designed the new buildings. The article states that 1001 @ Waterfront will remain as apartments after the renovation. Once completed, the proposed development at Town Center will yield 401 new multifamily units with a mix of studio, 1BR, and 2BR units, 128 renovated apartment units, 289 below-grade parking spaces, and 2,940 SF of retail on M Street and K Street. In addition, 20% of the housing will be set aside as affordable (5% to households making 50% or less than AMI, 5% to households earning 60% or less than AMI, 5% to households making 70% or less than AMI, and 5% to households earning 80% or less than AMI). Below is a breakdown of what will be built/renovated (note that the buildings shaded in green are what will be built/renovated):

Here is part of the description of the new buildings from the PUD application:

The new North and South Towers will include a two-story high base that will be enclosed but will feature large expanses of glazing that relate to the open ground floor of the Pei Towers. The main massing of the new towers will rise to a height of 90 feet (9 stories), which is approximately the same height as the Pei Towers. The remaining two stories of  the building will taper with setbacks and terraces to a height of 110 feet (11 stories).

The new North and South Towers will replace existing surface parking lots, creating a more pedestrian friendly experience on both M and K Streets. The new four-story Center Building will replace an existing brick wall along 3rd Street, adding new stoops and entry doors to 3rd Street. These doors and entries from 3rd Street, along with large expanses of fenestration above on the building, will help to activate 3rd Street.

New Middle Building on 3rd Street

All of the parking and loading will be accessed from an alley to the west of the site off of K Street and a circular drive on M Street that's being created in conjunction with Waterfront Station, with only one curb cut on K Street.  The other curb cuts that currently exist on the site (including M Street) will be removed. Town Center will aim for LEED-Silver and will have environmental enhancements such as green roofs, underground cisterns for collecting storm water runoff, and energy efficient lighting.  Some of the public benefits included in the PUD application include:

• a capital contribution to the SW Library
• restoration of the north Pei building
• tree planting on both sides of 3rd Street
• creation of angled parking on 3rd Street

New North Tower motor court

The WBJ article states that there is no construction timetable yet for the Town Center project and each building will be done separately, not concurrently.  If the consolidated PUD application is approved, it will be valid for two years, but the developers can apply for an extension if building permits have not been secured within the two-year window. 

Renderings courtesy of Maurice Walters Architect, PC

A Few Quick Items About Southwest: Safety, Design, and Development

- Last week in The Washington Post, there was an article about how MPD has involved themselves in the design of new developments in the city from a safety standpoint.  There was a focus on The Wharf and its security needs.  From the article:

Last month, [Police Chief] Lanier; Daniel P. Hickson, commander of the department’s First District; and developers met at the future site of the Wharf to pore over a scale model and discuss surveillance cameras and sight lines. Hickson called the model “very impressive” even as he contemplated finding a contingent of officers to patrol an area that, at present, requires relatively little attention.

There will not be a police substation on-site at The Wharf as offered by Hoffman Madison Waterfront because Commander Hickson would prefer that officers patrol the area and not sit in an office. Some differences between MPD and HMW design-wise include curbs and lighting. HMW doesn't want curbs along the Wharf promenade, but MPD has concerns that a runaway car could hit pedestrians on the sidewalk. Ultimately, it was decided that the curbs won't be used, which will make the area easier to patrol by bicycle. While HMW is looking to eliminate dark nooks around the development, MPD wants the proposed lighting to be brighter throughout. HMW wants restauranteurs to have the opportunity to have romantic street lighting.  

Rendering courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront 

-  Last month, the Washington City Paper wrote a feature story on Bing Thom and his influence on design for new development in Southwest. Thom designed the new Arena Stage and will design the Randall School project on I Street.  Several topics were covered in the article, including urban renewal, preservation of existing buildings, reopening the street grid, community benefits agreements, The Wharf, and the SW Ecodistrict. It is definitely worth a read.

- August must have been the month to discuss development in Southwest. In Atlantic Cities, there was an article about how DC can lead the way to a 21st century waterfront and of course, The Wharf development was featured, among other waterfronts around the world that are being re-imagined. From the article:

Looming water-level questions notwithstanding, the question for the 21st-century waterfront is economic: How do planners restore the once-industrial character of the waterfront? Washington’s Southwest waterfront poses one answer: take the zone out of the question altogether, and make it another neighborhood like you’d find anywhere.
"You can’t just do this kind of dense mixed-use urban waterfront everywhere," [EE&K's senior principal Stan] Eckstut says. "It has to be at the center of the city, at the downtown—at the core."

Rendering courtesy of Hoffman-Madison Waterfront

SW ArtsFest 2012

On Saturday, September 29, the second annual SW ArtsFest will join the ranks of other Ward 6 festivals that take place in September, including those on H Street, NE and Barracks Row. This year, there will be 10 events occurring in SW and just over South Capitol Street at Nationals Park and Yards Park. Take a look at the above map for the locations of each event. Over at the SW waterfront, there will be a sock puppet art studio at 7th Street Landing from 11am - 5pm.  St. Augustine's Episcopal Church will host their annual End-of-Summer Fair with music, crafts, face painting, moon bounce, fried fish sandwiches, a bake sale, and a raffle from 9am - 4pm. Across the street at Arena Stage, there will be hand dancing performances and hourly theater tours from noon to 6pm. Westminster Presbyterian Church will have its 11th annual DC Jazz Preservation Festival with music, crafts, and food for sale from noon - 8pm. Across 4th Street from Westminster will be a farmers market and film series at Christ United Methodist Church. The farmers market lasts from 9am - 2pm and the film series from 2pm - 7pm. At the Waterfront Metro plaza in front of Safeway, there will be a Central Art Market with arts, crafts, food, and live entertainment from 10am - 6pm. Also in the vicinity of the Metro station will be two neighborhood walking tours by Washington Walks (Renewing Urban Renewal at 11am and Southwest Waterfront: From Watermen to Wreckers to "The Wharf" at 2pm). Each tour will last 90 minutes. Further down M Street at Second Union Baptist Church there will be a flea market from 10am - 3pm. From 1pm - 2pm, there will be a parade of Decorated Bicycles that will make its way from FIGMENT at Yards Park in Near SE west along M Street to 4th Street. Finally at Nationals Park, Don Giovanni will be performing in Opera in the Outfield - pre-opera entertainment will start at 5pm and the opera will be from 7pm - 10:30pm.  Admission to all events is free!

Southwest BARJ Drop-In Center Ribbon Cutting Tomorrow

On Thursday, the Southwest Balanced & Restorative Justice (BARJ) juvenile drop-in center will have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11am.  The BARJ center is located on South Capitol Street between M Street and N Street, about a block from Nationals Park and the new Camden South Capitol apartment complex under construction. A press release announcing the ribbon-cutting describes the center as:

A multi-faceted facility, encompassing a probation office, learning lab, vocation training center (focusing on food preparation, web design and silk-screening), and offering a host of strength-based services and activities.

The youth that will go to this center will be local residents who are awaiting trail and need a higher level of supervision, as well as those on probation who have not complied with the terms of their probation. The center will be open Monday - Saturday.  Back when the community learned that the BARJ was coming, there was a mixed reaction. While some residents thought it was a positive thing to give youth an alternative to roaming the streets, others living nearby were concerned about the relative secrecy in how the location of the facility was chosen and whether the facility will be secure. BARJ takes the place of Gryphon Technologies, a contractor.

2nd Annual Home Boat Tour

Owners at the Gangplank Marina will host the second annual Home Boat Tour on October 20 where houseboats, housebarges, sailboats, trawlers, office barges, and more will be opened to the public from 10am to 4pm. Tickets cost $20, but residents of the 20024 ZIP code receive a $5 discount. Also on the same day, DC Harbor Cruises will offer discounted 60-minute cruises for $15. Like last year, Cantina Marina will offer a 10% discount to tour-goers. A portion of proceeds from the event will go towards local charities in Southwest.

Amidon-Bowen Opens New Doors

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

While children were enjoying their summer break, crews worked seven days a week to complete a $5 million renovation at Amidon-Bowen Elementary School, the only elementary school in Southwest. Gone are the red walls and window air conditioning units. In their place is a more modern-looking school for a neighborhood that is rapidly changing. Mayor Gray and DC Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson were on hand today to celebrate the completion of renovations and the first day of school.

New lobby area.

 Renovations at Amidon-Bowen include a new ADA-compliant entrance, a new administrative office suite, a new walk-through from the front to the play area, a new air conditioning system, and re-sized classrooms with technology upgrades and moveable walls. Additional improvements such as a water feature near the front entrance were not included as a cost savings measure. Despite the removal of the water feature from the plans, a maritime theme now permeates throughout the school, where creatures found in the Chesapeake Bay such as barracudas and turtles serve as “mascots” for each grade level pairing along with a new color scheme including blue, green, purple, and orange

.

The basketball court will be replaced with a soccer/football field and running lanes.

Shortly after the completion of interior renovations, work on some exterior sections will begin. Funding is already in place for the play areas, which will cost $500,000; however, the $1 million needed for installing new windows has yet to be secured. Improvements to the play areas will include two playgrounds, a turf football/soccer field, and a couple of running lanes. The fence near the front of the property will be pushed closer to I Street to make room for a playground for older children. A second playground for younger children will be placed in the back of the property and will be separated from Amidon Field by a controlled-access fence. Currently, there is a playground located closer to the school building, but the positions of the new playgrounds will help reduce noise into the classrooms. The site of the current playground will be replaced by a grassy area. PTA President Marty Welles would like to incorporate the “mascots” and color scheme inside the school to the new playgrounds to help tie the spaces together. The football/soccer field will replace the basketball court that is currently on site – the court will be rebuilt this fall at Lansburgh Park where a neglected tennis court now stands. Next to the turf field will be two running lanes. All of these areas will be open to the public outside of normal school hours. In addition to play areas, a greenhouse is planned for an area next to the playground reserved for younger children. A greenhouse will be able to grow herbs and flowers in the winter time whereas the majority of the growing season for the raised garden beds currently in place occurs when school is not in session.  

Amidon's recently renovated library.

Other recent improvements to Amidon-Bowen include an upgrade to the school’s library last year, courtesy of a grant from Target with new books, technology updates, new furniture, carpet, and shelves. Also, volunteers from Joel Osteen’s group made some landscape improvements outside of the school last spring when the televangelist held a spiritual event nearby at Nationals Park. Future unfunded phases of renovations, in addition to new windows, include improvements to the gymnasium and all-purpose room, as well as improvements to interior systems, such as the installation of an elevator.

Update: There will be an open house on Saturday, September 8 at the school from 10am - 12pm.

Little Farm Stand Taking a Test Drive at SW Duck Pond Tomorrow

On Saturday starting at 11am, The Little Farm Stand will be stationed at the Southwest Duck Pond for the day. The farm stand sells locally grown fruits and vegetables.  If the farm stand is successful, it may return for the season in 2013. Prior to the farm stand opening, the Neighbors of SW Duck Pond will have their monthly clean-up from 9am to 10:30am.  Last month, Kate Baldwin, star of Arena Stage's recent production The Music Man, stopped by the SW Duck Pond to show her support.

SW Library Event This Saturday