American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial is Open

 The newest memorial in the District opened earlier this month at 2nd Street and Washington Avenue – the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial. President Obama and other dignitaries attended the dedication ceremony on October 5. Below are some photos of the memorial:

A Few Quick Thursday Afternoon Items: Masala Art, AVDLM Progress, Streetcar Meeting, Kastles to GWU

Interior build-out continues at Masala Art, an Indian restaurant on the ground floor of 1101 4th Street at Waterfront Station. According to a Facebook post by DC Waterfront Gateway, the grand opening is currently planned for some time in July. This will be the second location for the restaurant, which already has a location in Tenleytown. According to ABRA public hearing notice, there will be seating for 133 with the option for a sidewalk café. Masala Art is described as a “new fine dining Indian restaurant with full bar service to patrons dining in the restaurant.” The requested hours of operation are: 

Sunday 10am – 2am
Monday – Thursday 11am – 2am
Friday – Saturday 10am – 3am 

The restaurant will likely not open that late, but it would be allowed to do so if the liquor license is approved. The hearing date is on June 23. 

Construction of the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial is coming along at 150 Washington Avenue and a dedication ceremony is scheduled for October 5. The AVDLM will contain the following components: a star fountain with eternal flame, triangular reflecting pool, granite paving, stone and glass walls, sculptural elements, trees, landscaping, lighting, and parking on the south side of the site. Glass walls planned at the memorial (also known as the Voices of Veterans) will include quotes of disabled veterans and seven images showing wounded and disabled soldiers and veterans and images of care givers. The "Wall of Gratitude" that will run along the middle of the memorial will contain quotations from George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower when they were generals. 

Rendering courtesy of Michael Vergason Landscape Architects

The third and final round of public meetings for the North – South Corridor Planning Study will be taking place during the week of June 9. DDOT will report back on what the agency has heard from the community, present analysis for potential streetcar routes and provide an overview of the next steps in the process. These routes have been evaluated using criteria such as ridership potential and traffic. The meetings will be open-house style and will include two opportunities for participants to hear an overview presentation. The South Sub Area meeting (which includes Southwest) will be on Tuesday, June 10 from 3:30pm – 8:30pm at 1100 4th Street in the 2nd Floor community room. There will be two presentations – one at 4pm and another at 7pm. 

The Washington Kastles have decamped from Southwest entirely and are moving indoors this season to the Smith Center in Foggy Bottom, says the Washington Business Journal. Kastles Stadium at The Wharf lasted for three years and was dismantled after the end of last season to make way for phase one of The Wharf. The team was considering a move to a vacant lot at Waterfront Station, but after an extensive amount of due diligence, the site did not work out. While tennis won’t be played at Waterfront Station, there will be some bocce, at least for a day. DC Bocce will have their Bocce-N-Beers Charity Tournament and End of Season Party on Saturday, June 14, featuring 20+ kegs of beer, live music, and an all-day bocce playoffs tournament.

A Few Quick Items: DC United Stadium Buzz, Bible Museum Coming to SW, Constitution Center Sale Pending, Equity Stake at L’Enfant Plaza for Sale, Veterans Memorial Financed

 - There was an article last week in Sporting News that gave an update on the prospects for DC United’s push for a new stadium.  The new ownership group is starting to have conversations with the city to get them on board with funding infrastructure improvements and assembling land for a soccer stadium. Buzzard Point remains the likely site in the District for the new stadium, although DC United is also in talks with Baltimore officials to possibly relocate to that city. The Buzzard Point site is only a few blocks southwest of Nationals Park and the two facilities would be linked together by Potomac Avenue.

- Vornado is selling two office buildings it owns near the Federal Center SW Metro and one of them – The Washington Design Center at 300 D Street – will most likely be the new home of a bible museum, according to the Washington Business Journal (subscribers only).  From the article:

An affiliate of The Museum of the Bible, a nonprofit organization, has a contract to buy the design center to display its multimillion-dollar collection of sacred texts, artifacts and other items known as the Green Collection, according to sources familiar with the deal…It could take four or five years to open the museum because a large portion of the items to be displayed are now part of a traveling exhibition and will not be available for display immediately.

- Constitution Center, the massive 1.4 million SF office building on top of the L’Enfant Plaza Metro that went up for sale last year is close to finding a buyer. According to citybizlist, MetLife is nearing a deal to purchase the building for somewhere in the vicinity of $750 million.

- According to an article in Capital Business, an equity stake in L’Enfant Plaza is up for sale by JBG, the owner of most of the complex. The equity stake for sale is only for the existing office buildings, not the improvements underway and planned. Those improvements include a new Homewood Suites extended-stay hotel planned for the southeast corner of 9th & D Street, an expansion of the existing retail center, as well as an office building planned on the southeast side of the complex. Eventually, another office building is planned for the plaza area.

- The proposed American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial has received over $6 million in grant money from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Public Lands Highway Discretionary Program according to the BeyondDC blog. The 2.4-acre memorial is planned for the triangle formed by Washington Avenue, 2nd Street, and C Street. Back in 2010, the National Capital Planning Commission approved the design of the memorial, but infrastructure funding was still needed. With funding now in place, construction will begin next year with dedication planned in early 2014.

Rendering courtesy of the National Capital Planning Commission

Street Closures for the State of the Union Address

The following streets will be closed by the Capitol tomorrow evening at 7pm for the State of the Union address:

• D Street, NE between 2nd Street, NE and Louisiana Avenue, NW
• C Street, NE between 2nd Street, NE and Louisiana Avenue, NW
• Constitution Avenue between 2nd Street, NE and Louisiana Avenue, NW
• Delaware Avenue between Columbus Circle and Constitution Avenue, NE

• New Jersey Avenue, NE between Louisiana Avenue, and D Street, NE

• Pennsylvania Avenue between 1st Street, and 3rd Street, NW
• East Capitol Street between 2nd Street, and 1st Street, NE/SE
• 1st Street between Columbus Circle, NE and C Street, SE
• 1st Street between Louisiana Avenue, NW and Washington Avenue, SW
• Maryland Avenue, SW between 1st Street, and 3rd Street, SW
• Independence Avenue between 2nd Street, SE and Washington Avenue, SW 
• C Street between 1st Street, SE and Washington Avenue, SW

• Delaware Avenue between Washington Avenue, SW and C Street, SW

• New Jersey Avenue between Independence Avenue, and D Street, SE

• South Capitol Street between Independence Avenue and D Street, SE/SW

The streets will reopen at the conclusion of the event.

NCPC to Approve Final Plans for Veterans Memorial

At the National Capital Planning Commission's upcoming meeting on July 1st, it is expected that the agency will approve final site and building plans for the American Veterans Disabled for Life Memorial (AVDLM), planned for the intersection of 2nd Street and Washington Avenue. The memorial is being built by the Disabled Veterans' LIFE Memorial Foundation, Inc. and was designed by Michael Vergason, Landscape Architects, LTD. Currently, the two-acre site serves as a pathway between Capitol Hill and the SW Federal Center. The AVDLM will contain the following components: a star fountain with eternal flame, triangular reflecting pool, granite paving, stone and glass walls, sculptural elements, trees, landscaping, lighting, and parking on the south side of the site.

The glass walls planned at the memorial (also known as the Voices of Veterans) will include quotes of disabled veterans and seven images showing wounded and disabled soldiers and veterans and images of care givers. The "Wall of Gratitude" that will run along the middle of the memorial will contain quotations from George Washington and Dwight Eisenhower when they were generals. A full description of the components of the AVDLM can be found in NCPC's Staff Recommendation. Utility work is supposed to get started this summer, with construction of the memorial to begin in June 2011, and construction complete in mid-2012.

Images courtesy of the National Capital Planning Commission.