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Monday, September 17, 2012

Howard University's Envision McMillan plan opposition letter briefly discussed by Stronghold resident Kirby Vining

DC Watch's Gary Imhoff and Dorothy Brizill sent out today's "The Mail" email -- and I notice that it includes a blurb from Stronghold resident Kirby Vining:
 

   
Kirby Vining, restoremcmillan @ gmail.com

Howard University has joined the fight against the city-sponsored development plan for the McMillan Reservoir site at North Capitol Street and Michigan Avenue, NW. The HU position is contained in a two-page letter from Dr. Hassan Minor, senior vice president, to the District’s Historic Preservation Review Board, which is currently considering McMillan’s future. Dr. Minor states that “the current plan . . . falls short” because it should be “more creative in its interpretation of [the site’s] unique history [with] a much greater opportunity for the public to enjoy its special above and below grade features.” He also points out that McMillan is the “largest slow sand filtration plant in the country built with the dual intentions of reducing the spread of infectious typhoid fever and supplementing the park system of the Nation’s Capital.”
 
Howard thus joins Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 1B, and community groups representing Bloomingdale, Pleasant Plains, and Stronghold in opposing the current plan. Like Howard, Chairman Mendelson asks the HPRB to “reject the master plan and design guidelines [because they would] demolish too much of the site, including structural resources, landscape resources and historic vistas.”

Councilmember Michael A. Brown will hold a community discussion on the future of McMillan on Wednesday, September 19th, 10:00 a.m. in the Wilson Building and the HPRB resumes its McMillan hearing on September 27, 441 4th Street NW, 2nd Floor. The McMillan Sand Filtration Site, designated a DC Historic Landmark in 1991, runs north-south between North Capitol Street and 1st Street and east-west between Michigan Avenue and Channing Street, NW, in the District.

4 comments:

  1. CM Brown's Wednesday Roundtable is at 9am, per the DC Council site. If you plan to attend, you might want to confirm the time.

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  2. For another take, the Coalition for Smarter Growth just came out in favor of the development plans: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/2041/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1226408

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  3. Do we really want this self-important and self-entitled guy representing us? See article below...I hope Mr Brown is not trying to lead by example...shameful behavior! He should not be representing our community...we have to do better than this.

    D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown’s driver’s license has been suspended five times over the past eight years because of traffic violations and his failure to pay for the citations, city records show.

    Brown (I-At Large) lost his driving privileges for a quarter of the time he’s served on the council, according to a 10-year driving record provided by the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles under a Freedom of Information Act request by The Washington Post.

    The documents further illustrate the troubles Brown has had managing his personal and political affairs, which are becoming central to his reelection campaign. Those troubles include revelations last week that his campaign account is missing $113,950.

    Brown, through his spokesman, declined to comment about his driving record or his campaign’s financial troubles.

    The records show that, except for about 30 days, he could not drive from June 15, 2009, through March 8, 2010, after he accumulated 10 points or more on his driving record. Brown’s license also was suspended three times between 2005 and 2007 for unpaid traffic citations — before he joined the council.

    Also, do you think that Dr. Minor truly represents the views of ALL of Howard. Did he even ask the students and faculty for their input or opinions? Perhaps he should represent himself as an individual with an opinion, and not representing the views of an entire University.

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  4. This letter means little. All Howard is doing is looking for a way to get some free stuff. Have they talk to the President, Board, etc...NO. It's just bullshit. This is the Tony Norman, Hugh Youngblood, James Fouriner bullshit fed to HU, it has no real creditably at all. It time for new leadership in Bloomingdale Vote Terry Quinn in Nov.

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