The Georgetown Metropolitan

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Jack the Bulldog has died.
• Kintaro closes.

As I’ve discussed many times in the past: there are long (long) term plans to finally bring a metro station to Georgetown. This result would not come as a result of WMATA specifically going out of its way to build a station here, but rather be the happy consequence of the agency attempting to solve a separate problem. To wit: the tunnel between Rosslyn and Foggy Bottom cannot accommodate the ridership that is projected to need it, especially after the construction of the Silver Line. A new tunnel between Rosslyn and the District is necessary, and with that would come a new Metro line across downtown, one that could include one (or two) Georgetown stations.

All this has been floating around in the planning ether for decades. But with the pandemic and the rapid change in commuting behavior, the need for the tunnel could be reasonably questioned. To that end, WMATA this week is expected to reiterate the need for the tunnel, even with new ridership projections. As reported elsewhere, the agency’s planners are still contemplating between different options for what a build or no-build scenario could include. The board is expected to hear these options again this week and further public input will be sought later this year.

For a refresher, here are some of the plans that are being considered. The first is above. The new line would be an extension of the Blue line, which would travel under M St. across the city to Union Station, at which point it would head south through Capitol Hill, southeast DC, and then to National Harbor in Prince George’s County. It would then travel across the Potomac and link up with its tail in Alexandria, thus creating DC’s first circle line.

Another option would use the Silver line instead. Under one variation of this option, the Silver Line would run express between Rosslyn and West Falls Church (with one stop at Balston) and then out to Dulles Airport and Loudoun County. It would travel the same route through DC until it hit Union Station. This version would send the line northeast parallel with New York Ave. until hooking through Hyattsville and joining the Green line.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Board of Elections posted the official notice of vacancy for Elizabeth Miller’s former ANC seat. Signed petitions are due by July 31st.
• What Georgetown restaurants won at the RAMMYs.

1227 Wisconsin Ave. appears to have a new tenant. In the materials sent to the Old Georgetown Board this month included a sign mock-up for Zadig & Voltaire for this address.

This space has been vacant since around 2020 when the Ecco store closed. Such a long term vacancy on a prominent block like this was not ideal. As other vacancies near it took hold over the last couple years, it felt like this block was teetering on the edge. But we’re back from the brink. Vacancies along lower Wisconsin are way down, and this addition would be consistent with that theme.

I can’t say I have any experience with the shop itself, but then again I’m not the type of person to buy $100 t-shirts:

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The story of the writer who uncovered the story of GU selling enslaved people to keep afloat.
• Rails clothing store to replace Vans.

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, I’m checking out a scene that has change quite a small amount in the thirty years since the photo was taken. This particular shot, taken in 1993 at the corner of Bank and M, shows that the building was occupied by Kinko’s copy shop. And now it’s occupied by…Kinko’s copy shop.

Technically it’s a FedEx Office store, but that’s only because FedEx bought Kinko’s.

Some things are different, of course. The upstairs is occupied by a kitchen design studio, not a temp agency. More noticeable there’s a large London plane tree shading the block. It’s encouraging to see such a large tree succeed on M St., which can be rough on street trees.

The building itself dates to 1979. As I’ve covered before, this lot was once occupied by the Bank of Columbia, from whom the Bank Alley name derives.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Deb Johns talks about her Scout bag company.
• Lots of good spots to take in the fireworks in Georgetown, what are your favorites? Personally I like to just climb to my roof.

Here’s your July Northwest Georgetown ANC update!

Summer is here! After a spring of marvelously dry air, the wallop of soupy humid air has descended on us like an unwanted down comforter. What better way to get some relief than a dip in cool waters?

We’re spoiled for swimming options in Georgetown. Of course we’ve got Volta Park and Jelleff pools right in the neighborhood. Plus we’ve got Francis pool just across Rock Creek. And a surprising number of homes in the neighborhood have their own pools. But what if you want to swim in nature?

For many years, swimming in the Potomac river was as unsafe as it was illegal. But with tireless effort, the river is getting cleaner. And at our ANC last week, DC Water discussed some improvements that will make the river even cleaner. First, the sewer separation efforts along the Georgetown waterfront are complete. What this means is that during heavy rainfalls, raw sewage is no longer being dumped directly into the river. (While there are two more overflow spots above the Key Bridge, they don’t typically overflow.)

Additionally, a long (long) planned tunnel will be dug underneath the waterfront park down past the Kennedy Center all the way to the Blue Plains sewage treatment plant. This will act like a giant underground reservoir to hold heavy rains and debris and almost entirely eliminate stormwater run-off into the Potomac. Construction is set to finally begin next year, and it will take until at least 2030 when it will become operational.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Fire damages Ristorante Piccolo.
• Executive Director of Black Georgetown Foundation thanks community for support shown after grave desecration.

As the great philosopher, Alice Cooper, once wrote: School’s out for summer, school’s out forever.

Happily that’s not quite true for the ANC. We’ve got one more meeting tonight before the summer hits. And, of course, we’ll be back in the fall (September to be exact). Although for our chair, Elizabeth Miller, she really can stay true to the song; school’s out forever for her as she steps down off the ANC as of tomorrow.

But before she and the rest of us go, there’s the matter of the meeting itself. It will be virtual again (via Zoom) starting at 6:30 pm. (I’m hoping that after the summer break we can start to make the in-person meetings more regular).

Here is the draft agenda: