Lincoln Memorial Improvements Approved

I've been meaning to do a post about this since I heard about this earlier this month from the Washington Business Journal, so here it goes. In their September meeting, the National Capital Planning Commission approved the plans made by the National Park Service to improve areas adjacent to the Lincoln Memorial, including the reflecting pool and West Potomac Park. Renderings of the improvements can be found in the WBJ article. An excerpt from the article:

Designed by Sasaki Associates, the project will add more pedestrian and bike-friendly paths around the reflecting pool and on the elm walk, improve the Reflecting Pool’s water quality and structure and relocate benches and trash cans.

In their October 1st meeting, the NCPC will discuss improvements to the DC World War I Memorial. Back in April, the DC World War I Memorial received funding for its restoration, thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. As a part of the restoration, the memorial will once again become a band shell and the landscape will be restored to its original configuration. The completion date has been pushed back to September 2012.

SWNA Forum Tomorrow

SWNA will be hosting a community forum on Monday night with Council members Tommy Wells, Kwame Brown, and Michael Brown at St. Augustine's Church @ 7pm. The first 15 minutes of the forum will be an informal "meet & greet" session, followed by a five minute speech from each Council member on their vision for the SW-Near SE neighborhood. Afterwards, there will be a question & answer period. Those of you who want the Waterfront-SEU Metro name changed, for instance, or want to know what's going on with the Consolidated Forensics Lab, should attend the forum and ask your elected officials.

Emelina Back in DC

She’s BAAAACK. This morning, I noticed the yacht Emelina was docked at the Capital Yacht Club along the Southwest Waterfront. She was last in DC in June, but since then, readers from DC to Maine have been tracking her progress along the Eastern seaboard. As of Sunday, she was in Philadelphia, making her way back south from spending the summer in New England. When I saw the yacht today, there were five MPD vehicles lined up along the shoreline at East Potomac Park near where she was docked and I found that to be strange. Later, I checked out DCist and they reported that a body has been found on a boat at the Capital Yacht Club. More details to come.

Update: The AP is reporting a man's body was found under a dock this morning around 9am near the Capital Yacht Club and police are investigating.

Update #2: I heard on WTOP radio that the body was that of a 50-year old woman whose father owns a yacht at the Captial Yacht Club. So far, no foul play is suspected.

Greenery Arrives Outside of Constitution Center

Yesterday, I noticed some trees and shrubs were starting to get planted in a large planter box at the corner of 7th & D Street in front of Constitution Center. While the interior courtyard landscaping has been in place for months now (see August photos here), this is the first indication of what kind of green space will be visible to passersby on D Street. (Above is a photo of the D Street frontage of Constitution Center looking west from the L'Enfant Plaza Metro entrance.) Planter boxes will be located on all four sides of the building. It also appears from my quick drive-by that the façade of the 7th Street entrance to the office complex is nearly complete. In addition, a new work of art commissioned for the project, a light painting called Transformation by artist Stephen Knapp, is now partially visible as you leave the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station entrance on D Street. The official unveiling of the light painting and the Legacy sculpture in the interior courtyard will be on September 30th.

Here is a photo of the trees recently planted at the corner of 7th & D Street.

CVS Opens at The Portals

CVS is now open at The Portals, the large mixed-use development project along Maryland Avenue. The store actually opened a week ago, but I noticed the Grand Opening signs yesterday when I drove by the site. Back in the Spring, we reported that CVS was slated to open at the Portals, after Madison Retail Group signed the tenant to a 10,000 square foot space. I'm sure the workers in the office buildings and the neighboring Mandarin Oriental Hotel are happy to see the opening of CVS, the largest retailer to open to date at The Portals. CVS is located in the 3rd phase building, as seen in the above photo. Other retailers at The Portals include Starbucks, Potbelly's, and a pay-by-the-pound food provider, as well as the restaurants at the Mandarin. Here are the hours of operation for CVS:

Monday - Friday: 7am - 9pm

Saturday - Sunday: 9am - 9pm

Road & Metro Station Closures

- DDOT announced streetcar tracks are being installed on parts of South Capitol Street on the east side of the Anacostia River. As a result, traffic at the intersection of South Capitol Street and Firth Sterling Avenue, SE will be reduced to one lane on each side, which began on September 16th and will last until September 30th. The Anacostia segment of the streetcar network is supposed to be operational in late 2012.

- DDOT is scheduled to close a lane on the Southeast-Southwest Freeway (I-395) this Sunday to conduct a field survey in the roadway. The far right lane on the eastbound side of I-395, west of the Francis Case Memorial Bridge, will be closed from 8 am to approximately 2pm. Additional work will be conducted next weekend on the opposite side of I-395. On Sunday, September 27, the right westbound lane will be closed from 8am to 2pm.

- Fox 5 News reports that some Metro stations will be closed during Columbus Day weekend, including L'Enfant Plaza and Waterfront-SEU. Metro is replacing four rail switches at L'Enfant Plaza. The stations will be closed October 9th starting at 9:30pm and re-open Tuesday October 13.

Groundbreaking at CNG Facility in DC Village

According to this press release from WMATA, the transit agency broke ground on Wednesday for a new Metro Bus garage at DC Village. Back in May, WMATA's board agreed to purchase 16 acres for $6.45 million to build a compressed natural gas facility that will store anywhere between 114 and 250 Metrobuses. The new bus garage will be located at Shepherd Parkway and Blue Plains Drive and replaces the Southeastern garage near Nationals Park. Funds for the new garage came from the sale of the Southeastern garage and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The new garage is slated to open in 2012 and is aiming for LEED-Silver certification.

SEU Loses Accreditation

The Washington Post reports that Southeastern University lost its accreditation with the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools after August 31st. It's still not clear whether the University will merge with the GS Graduate School, which is located at L'Enfant Plaza, but there won't be a fall session, according to SEU's website. A couple weeks ago, we were asking what should be done with the SEU campus building if it no longer housed the University. I think it's worth asking again, since there's a possibility it could become another vacant building or site in the neighborhood, joining the former MPD District 1 headquarters, 1101 South Capitol Street (now demolished), the St. Matthews Church site, and others. What should replace Southeastern University at 501 I Street?

Scenes from Southwest: The Waterfront

Clockwise (from upper left): (1) Houseboats along the Southwest Waterfront esplanade. (2) The Titanic Memorial near Fort McNair. (3) The historic Thomas Law House and Harbour Square Co-ops. (4) Children playing near the waterfront.

Road Closures This Weekend

According to DDOT, the ramp for Westbound 395 toward Maine Avenue will be closed to traffic from 7am to 1pm on Sunday for the Nation's Triathlon 2009. Alternate routes will be the 14th St Bridge, 9th & 12th Street Tunnels. Also, the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge will be closed to traffic on Sunday from 4am to 9am for the monthly test of the swing span.