The C & O Canal
Not So Long Ago: O St.
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Today for Not So Long Ago, GM stops by the little O St. commercial strip. Today there’s the English Rose Garden, Wingo’s, and Prince and Princess. But in 1993, it was what might be Vivian’s, Olympic Carry Out, and the Georgetown Shoe Hospital.
Because GM can’t know for sure what the name of the far left store is, he can’t find any information on it. It looks like it was a gift or clothing store.
GM knows that Wingo’s opened in 2001. GM’s not sure when the Olympic Take Out place closed. It appears to have been a Greek fast food joint (making it the second space to formerly house a Greek restaurant to be featured in Not So Long Ago). It’s funny to see the tree outside Wingo’s not covered in beads.
GM believes that the Georgetown Shoe Hospital, or some version of it, is now the cobbler that’s at 3147 Dumbarton Ave., right next to Big Planet Comics. The space on O St. where is was has been merged with Prince and Princess, a clothing store that occupies the corner of O and Wisconsin.
Finally, the O St. Studio, an exercise and physical therapy provider, appears not to have changed a lick since 1993.
Here are the photos if the above Flash file doesn’t work:
Filed under Not So Long Ago
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by Ehpien.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Tragedy at Yates Field House.
- Do the Circulator routes need more distinctive names?
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
ANC Round Up: Right to a Room With a View?
Photo by BoopBoopBoopBoop.
Last night, ANC 2E met for its spring session. And like last month, a couple of major EastBanc projects dominated the conversation. This time it was just the Exxon and Verizon projects, but two was enough to stimulate some rather interesting conversation.
EastBanc Projects
As described last month, EastBanc is proposing constructing two new condo buildings: one where the Key Bridge Exxon now stands and one on the parking lot next to the Verizon switching building (between the canal and Grace Episcopal). The ANC and the OGB objected to the design of both the buildings, so EastBanc came back with new designs for both.
Dealing with the easier one first: the new design for the Verizon property changed from a stone-clad building to a brick-clad building (stone still clads the base and canal side). Here is what it looks like now (sorry for the bad cell phone camera):
The ANC generally liked the new design and approved the concept. GM asked about the Bikeshare station that is immediately in front of the proposed building. The EastBanc reps said it would have to be moved. The ANC insisted that they be consulted on any change to the station (it would have to go through DDOT anyway, but it’s worth knowing that EastBanc intends on getting it moved, hopefully to a very close new location).
The new building would have a little retail on the first floor. Last month it was proposed to contain 9 units. EastBanc didn’t mention any change to that with the new design.
The far more controversial project was the Exxon project. EastBanc made some cosmetic changes to the project, but it essentially looks the same as last month:
Design-wise, the ANC seemed inclined to approve the building. For one thing, they aren’t even asking for final design approval yet. This is still just the size review. And that’s what was the thrust of the conversation. Continue reading
Filed under ANC
The Morning Georgetown
Photo by M.V. Jantzen.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Gas line ruptured in lower Georgetown, promptly repaired.
- Some more details on the proposed changes to the Circulator.
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy Formed
Dumbarton Oaks Park is an absolutely serene 
treasure that is in absolutely terrible shape. A newly formed group aims to fix that. Named the Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy, this group has ambitious plans to bring the park back to the state it was in when it was first shaped by the legendary Beatrix Farrand. It will be a long, long slog to get to that point, but from what GM hears, the organizers are up to the task.
The History
For those not familiar with Dumbarton Oaks Park, it’s twenty-seven acres of wilderness and Italian romanticism, all hidden away in the northern boundaries of Georgetown. It, along with the Dumbarton Oaks mansion and gardens formed the original Dumbarton Oaks estate.
Robert and Mildred Bliss bought Dumbarton Oaks in 1920. They soon after hired Beatrix Farrand–an influential landscape architect who had already established her reputation with her work at the White House and the National Cathedral–to reshape the gardens and grounds of the estate. Â Farrand, for her part, had studied extensively the Italian renaissance style of gardens and brought that expertise to bear on her work for the Blisses.
While the gardens and grounds immediately around the mansion are quite formal, Farrand’s plans for the land that ultimately became Dumbarton Oaks Park were rustic and natural. In fact, according to Historic American Buildings Survey, much of the natural landscape of the park predated Farrand’s work there. In other words, Farrand made her work accommodate the nature she found there, rather than vice versa.
While Farrand worked around nature, she certainly left her stamp. Walking through the park, one can still see the bridges and waterfalls Farrand planned, as well as the path through the meadow she laid out. Continue reading
Filed under Preservation
The Morning Metropolitan
Photo by DoctorWho.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Washingtonian updates its guide to Georgetown. Could be titled: The Top 50 Things About Georgetown You Probably Already Knew.
- GU cedes ground to neighbor demands, will find 250 more beds on campus (or somewhere off-campus that isn’t in the neighborhood–read: Rosslyn) and lower main campus enrollment, primarily by moving a lot of continuing education students to satellite campuses. GM tried to take a look at the the new submission, but the website wasn’t working for him. Once he gets a chance to take a look at the new plans, he’ll write something up this week.
- If Linda Greenan’s job wasn’t hard enough, now she’s going to have to go before the community and ask to be able to do late night construction on Nevils this summer.
- A ton of people were searching for articles on Serendipity3 over the weekend. GM was up in NYC this weekend, so he hasn’t stopped by, did it finally open?
Filed under The Morning Metropolitan
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
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