The Georgetown Metropolitan

Love them or hate them, we can all agree that the 1400 block of Wisconsin Ave. has long been defined by the stretch of shops selling cheap suits, and other somewhat gaudy sundries. It has inspired unproven conspiracy theories about drug dealing and money laundering and angst about why these blocks are being  “held back”. But the reality is that we are probably in the twilight days of these shops.

Spurred on by Robert Bell’s redevelopment of the old Georgetown Theater building, a row of the stores on the east side of Wisconsin has already been vacated and partially renovated. Now change is coming to the west side.

Well actually change came to the west side a while ago. Three of the store fronts of the “old style” were renovated years ago. Now an M & T Bank and the new Boulangerie Christophe operate in two of them (the third is still vacant). Continue reading →

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GM decided not to leave it up to fate and went ahead and bought the Old Georgetown sign he discussed yesterday and donate it to the Peabody Room. It’s already there if you want to check it out!
• NPS approves the plans for new boathouses on the Potomac (but they still have a long, long way to go before they get built).

Dumbarton Oaks

Right now for sale at the Opportunity Shop at Wisconsin and P, is a precious piece of Georgetown history. It’s one of the signs that once graced the street signs across Georgetown marking what what the old names were. In this case, it is for Third Street, which was the name of P St. west of Wisconsin (which was then known as High St.). Continue reading →

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Dean and Deluca closed temporarily for health violations.
• 20 GU students affected by Trump’s Muslim ban.

3200 block of Grace St.

The Dumbarton Oaks Gardens will be closed for significant renovations starting this July. They will remain closed until the following March.

In a letter to the public, the organization explains:

The time has now come to undertake large-scale improvements to the garden’s water supply network, which dates to the garden’s original creation in the 1930’s. We are therefore obliged to close the gardens to the public from July 10, 2017 to March 15, 2018.

This is a bummer for residents and visitors. But the silver lining is that the gardens will be open for this spring’s fireworks. And they will be reopen by the following spring.

Photo by Mike Maguire.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Multiple readers wrote in yesterday to inform GM that the “QP Shops” sign on N St. is actually “PP Shops”. And the PP stands for Prospect Place, the name of the larger development that includes the condos, Cafe Milano, etc. It was supposedly erected in the 1970s.
• Not many details, but it appears that Ralph Lauren might be leaving its current space.

1600 block of Avon Pl.

Last night GM planned to write a story about what the sign that stands near the Sid Mashburn is in reference to. The sign, seen above, appears to say “QP SHOPS”, at least that’s how GM interprets it. Unfortunately after researching the Washington Post and Washington Star databases, he came up empty. So does anyone know what it’s for?

The sign has been there for at least as long as GM’s lived in Georgetown. It was there when Neyla was open (although for a short time it was covered with a sign for Neyla) and it has remained after Sid Mashburn opened. Continue reading →