WBJ guest commentary on Bloomingdale getting its "deserved historic status"

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Past is Present: At long last,Bloomingdale gets deserved historic status

At long last, Bloomingdale gets deserved historic status

Aug 9, 2018, 6:00pm EDT 

After years of community-led effort, Bloomingdale is D.C.’s newest historic district. The Historic Preservation Review Board voted unanimously July 26 to designate most of the neighborhood, recognizing Bloomingdale’s significant social and architectural history.

This was, in no uncertain terms, a tremendous community effort. Regardless of the blogs, the emails and the testimony, this was an earned historic district. Residents who sought recognition and protection for their community saw how D.C.’s new zoning changes didn’t protect their interests — pop-ups, turret removals, mansard roof alterations that were approved by the Board of Zoning Adjustment just set the tone that the new “special exception” process wasn’t so “special” after all. An historic district was the means to preserve the historic and built integrity of this very hot urban neighborhood.

When DCPL was approached about the historic district in 2015, we knew it was something to be fought for. We acted as fiscal sponsor, accepted donations on the community’s behalf and received grant funds from the National Trust for Historic Preservation that were applied for by the community. This was not an effort on behalf of just a few NIMBYs, but that of a well-organized coalition that perceived threats to their neighborhood — and acted accordingly.

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Rebecca Miller is executive director of the D.C. Preservation League and writes the Past is Present column for Real Estate Inc. Extra.