The Georgetown Metropolitan

This week on Georgetown Time Machine, GM returns to the excellent archive of train photos maintained by Ben Sullivan. This particular photo is of the old Georgetown waterfront from circa 1958.

The view is approximately at the base of Wisconsin Ave. The prominent building in the back is the old Capital Traction Powerhouse. GM has written about this magnificent building before. It produced power for the city’s streetcar network. However, it was no longer used after 1944. It sadly was demolished in 1966. (The massive concrete foundation is sat on was still around last decade and became a huge problem for the construction of the second phase of the park). Continue reading →

Photo by Warren Lemay.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The struggles of independent retail in Georgetown and other neighborhoods.
• Longtime CEO and co-owner of Clyde’s, John Laytham, passed away.

Georgetown University

Wednesday night, the new ANC met for the first time. And while nobody at the meeting noted it, the makeup of the commission this term has reached a notable achievement: half the commissioners are women. That includes existing commissioner Lisa Palmer (who was elected vice-chair), along with newcomers Elizabeth Miller, Gwendolyn Lohse, and Anna Landre.

As recently as 2013 the commission was entirely male. Moreover, for what it’s worth, this commission is far younger than previous commissions were.

(But unfortunately one thing hasn’t changed: the role of secretary has been once again assigned to a student commissioner. And the one female student commissioner at that. This marks the third term in a row that the job of secretary has been assigned to the female student commissioner. And since at least 2005, the role of secretary has always gone to a student commissioner. This can hardly be a coincidence, and it suggests that intentionally or not the students are not being treated as full equals of the commission.) Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• More lost packages finding their owners.
• A couple nice food and drink deals around town. Plus, Chaia is adding a new location, will it take its place among other widespread successes that originated in Georgetown?

1300 block of Wisconsin Ave.

Dawn Price Baby, a provider of fancy baby and toddler goods, is closing this month. The store was first opened on Capitol Hill in 2004. It later expanded to Georgetown by purchasing the former K Baby store in 2007. It later added locations in Vienna and Reston.

The store attributed the decision to close to the fact some of the leases were expiring. Dawn Price, the store’s owner announced the decision on the store’s website:

I wanted to say thank you for 15 wonderful years and that the time has come for us to say good bye. Our store leases have come up for renewal and we have decided to start a new chapter. Dawn Price Baby has been one of the most rewarding, challenging and exciting times of my life.

So, thank you to all who have grown and supported us from the initial concept in Capitol Hill to the opening of Georgetown and finally to the two Virginia locations. Your love, support, involvement and input helped us grow and succeed in being the best version of ourselves.

I also wanted to thank all of the staff that have given their time and effort over the years in helping achieve the goals we set. Without you, it could not have been possible.

Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Glow art will be given away on January 6th.
• GM missed this, days before Christmas MPD arrested a man suspected of being a prolific package thief. The fact he had 13 packages on him at the time was a strong hint. MPD later delivered the packages.

1300 block of 33rd St.

The first ANC meeting of the year is tonight. And it will be the first to feature the five new members of the commission. It will be at the normal time and place: 6:30 at Georgetown Visitation.

A couple of topics could be of interest during the meeting. First of all, the commission will be selecting its new officers. Joe Gibbons served as chair during the last term, but GM hears he will be turning over the gavel to Rick Murphy. Other changes could be in store as well.

Finally, on a totally different front, the ANC will consider that city’s proposal to ban right turns on red off 29th St. at M St. GM personally supports this change (and would frankly like to see right on reds banned throughout DC), but there are always complaints about how this will affect driver movement. We will likely hear both sides tonight.

Here’s the agenda: Continue reading →