your chance to see the old filtration site!

Tour of the McMillan Sand Filtration Site
June 3, 2009 at 6 pm
or June 6, 2009 at 10 am
Meet at the west gate entrance to participate in the tour.
RSVP by June 1 to John Basile at jbasile @ eya.com
or 301. 634. 8679.
The tour will last about one hour.



my flickr set of this site is HERE


click here to see a big cool photo of the site

and if you go on the tour, add some photos to the bloomingdale pool here

the white and colored playground

crazy thing to call a playground, huh?
according to some posts over at the truxton circle discussion board, thats what the playground at First and New York avenue NW is called.

commenter joycepaul said

According to documents at the MLK Washingtonian, "In 1911 Congress created the Public Playground Department. In July 1951, the Recreation Board voted to change the NY Avenue Playground from a white only to a bi-racial use playground, staffed by the negro division." This was the first playground staffed by the negro division. Neighbors soon designated and began refering to the playground as the White and Colored playground. African American families came from all over the DC area to utilize this facility along with Caucasian family as a intergrated place where all children could play and have fun. Activities were planned for the whole family and this facility won numerous awards and competitions.






reading that reminded me of a conversation i had a a few years ago.

On the 50th anniversary of brown vs board of education, a neighbor of mine, Columbus Rich was interviewed ( and appeared on the cover !) for Washingtonian Magazine. Here's his part in the article:

Columbus Rich, 66, a retired manager for the National Education Association, moved to the Bloomingdale neighborhood near DC's whites-only McKinley Tech High School in 1949, when he was 11.

McKinley's field was beautiful. There was a guy who took care of it named Jessie. We'd go over there to play baseball, and Jessie would come out and run us off.

We got to the point where we said, "Let's stop running away. Let's just all spread out and let Jessie chase us." So Jessie came out: "You get off this field"--he had a very heavy German accent. He'd bring the hose and shoot water at us, and we'd scatter. We figured he wasn't going to catch all of us.


Columbus Rich was a 1957 graduate of McKinley Tech.

Interestingly enough, the article mentions Sidwell Friends School.

The Rest of the article can be seen HERE

Selections From the Barnett-Aden Collection: A Homecoming Celebration

2 mentions in the post about the Barnett-Aden Collection

HERE and HERE.



The Barnett Aden Gallery, the first privately owned black gallery in the United States and one of Washington, DC's principal art galleries, was founded in 1943 by James Vernon Herring (1897-1969) and Alonzo Aden (1906-1961).


more info about the gallery on cultural tourism dc

old eckington

here is a page concerning old eckington and the walking tour that happened on April 27, 2008.

there are some fantastic historic pictures.

more talk about the firehouse..you know.. the martini sushi pizza tapas waterslide place.

a developers agent vlogs about the firehouse on north capitol

Crispus Attucks and the Boston Massacre.

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

TODAY'S LABOR HISTORY: British soldiers, quartered in the homes of colonists, took the jobs of working people when jobs were scarce. On this date, grievances of ropemakers against the soldiers led to a fight. Soldiers shot down Crispus Attucks, a black colonist, then others, in what became known as the Boston Massacre. Attucks is considered the first casualty in the American Revolution (1770).

Bloomingdales very own secret park in named in honor of Crispus Attucks.

President Lincoln's Cottage

something to do just up the street.


Slide show of Lincolns Cottage

website

Tickets

Adults: $12
Children (6-12): $5
National Trust (NTHP) members: $8


Note: Online ticket purchase is recommended. To order individual tickets by phone, please call Etix at 1-800-514-3849. Please note that Etix charges a service and postage fee for orders placed by phone.
Winter Hours (Nov. 1st – March 31st)

Monday – Saturday
Tours every hour, beginning at 10 AM last tour at 3 PM.

Sunday
Tours every hour, beginning at 12 noon, last tour at 3 PM.
Summer Hours (April 1st – October 31st)

Monday – Saturday
Tours every hour, beginning at 10 AM, last tour at 4 PM.

Sunday
Tours every hour, beginning at 12 noon, last tour at 4 PM.

The site is closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.

historic districts

talk of a neighborhood becoming an historic district always seems so contentious. doesn't it seem like there should be some sort of middle ground between a neighborhood that anything can be built as a matter of right ( based on zoning) and the tight and red taped path of an official historic district?


Doesnt it seem that anything that can cause so much rift in a community should be fixed?

here is a link to the historic preservation office.

rain?

MacMillan Res 10-12-07 009
Originally uploaded by hipchickindc

one photo was today, one was a year ago.

"the largest affordable housing project in DC"

metro urban diary has a post about St Martins housing project.
you need to see this one.

thinking about farmers markets

i went down to the Bloomingdale Farmers Market today and now, while i'm enjoying an awesome heirloom tomato, pesto on "flute" sandwich i'm thinking about farmers markets.

When i was a kid we would only go to farmers markets occasionally. We'd make a special trip to the Union Square Farmers Market in New York, or to small roadside stands for seasonal harvests like apples, or corn, and to a few amish markets. But only a handful of times a year.

I was more interested in the adventure than the produce. All i wanted to eat was a tuna salad sandwich and a yoo-hoo. or pizza and soda.

It wasn't until i went to college that i actually met produce farmers, vegetable gardeners and began to care about the origins of the food i ate. It was then that i began making trips on my own to the few farmers markets that i knew of. and even then, it wasn't that often.

After college, i worked and lived on a Community Supported Agriculture farm in Maryland for 6 months. I ate really really well. We also set up at farmers markets and made deliveries of "shares" of each weeks harvest.

I learned to love farmers markets. After i left that farm, i would often go to farmers markets and roadside stands, but not religiously, more of a ... oh what would i like to do today kinda thing. I used to work at the Shakespeare Theatre and would hit up on the thursday afternoon penn quarter market, and i always encourage my wife to go, since she currently works in that hood.

Now, i try to make it every sunday to the bloomingdale farmers market and want to include it in my regular shopping habits. I love the quality of the produce there and feel that its an important thing to support.

While its pretty small and limited, the stuff available at the market is amazing. the heirloom tomatoes i got today were perfect, and i still can't believe bread line is setting up in our hood. they are simply the best bakery in the city, but the hours and the location of their shop was never convenient for me.

I have hopes that the market will grow and take over the entire street, but in the meantime i'll still do my best to make it every sunday.

I'm glad that establishing farmers markets has been a growing trend
here is the most current list of farmers markets in DC that i could find

History of the Uline Arena

this looks cool:





NE DC Historical Society Meets This Sunday, July 8, 2007

Come join us this Sunday, July 8, 2007 as we continue to explore the history of our Northeast Washington communities- -past, present, and in years to come. We will have an encore presentation on "H Street" including the "History of the Uline Arena" by Richard Layman, historic preservationist, and more.

Place: Laboratory 1 of The Atlas Performing Arts Center
1333 H Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
Date: Sunday, July 8, 2007
Time: 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm
Admission: Free and Open to All


For those unable to attend this meeting, don't miss our next month's meeting to be held from 2:00-4:00 pm on Sunday, August 12, 2007. Our meeting will include our ongoing study of the Rhode Island Avenue Corridor. Speakers will include Dr. Jean Pablo, president of the Tenleytown Historical Society, sharing with us how to do an analysis of the historical and architectural significance of the Rhode Island Avenue Corridor; and Bill Rice, community historian, sharing with us interesting facts of relevance to the history of our city. The meeting location will be the headquarters of the Premier Community Development Corporation at 1309 Rhode Island Ave., Suite B, Washington DC 20018 in the Brentwood Shopping Plaza.

the big bear big bear.

photo by big bear

IMG_7457
Originally uploaded by Scenic Artisan

this is a painting i'm helping to work on. still unfinished.

we were trying to find that combination of making it blend in to the old signage underneath, and making it pop.



i think its coming along well........

North Capitol Street Business District

Charting the Future of the North Capitol Street Business District

Thursday, June 21, 2007, 7pm to 9 pm, at McKinley Tech High School, 151 T Street NE

You spoke out loudly and clearly - Over 200 residents spoke out in the North Capitol Main Street (NCMS) survey

Results are in - Hear what neighbors say are the "key" obstacles to a vibrant business community and learn why:
Neighbors rarely patronize neighborhood businesses
What type of retail and restaurant options are most desired in the community
Talk back to local businesses - Learn what neighborhood businesses say are major challenges to doing business in the community

Learn from small business experts - Michael Shuman is a nationally recognized small business expert ... teaching small businesses how to compete ... helping to create vibrant communities

the 17th street campaign

the 17th street campaign

almost two miles from bloomingdale .. but i thought this was an interesting resurgence of an old.. and in dc, failed... idea.

I'm personally a big fan of pedestrian only areas....I also think that we will see this idea crop up more and more in DC.

here is some text from the website:

17th Street, between Massachusetts and New Hampshire is the ideal location for a pedestrian promenade
in Washington due to several factors:


· The vast majority of people arriving at the businesses in the neighborhood already arrive on foot, not by car

· The area is dominated by independent restaurants and small shops, which would benefit by increased
pedestrian traffic and the ability to use parts of the promenade for additional seating and space.

· The area is bounded on one end by residential areas and the other by dense office buildings, insuring
use of the promenade for both lunchtime and evening/weekend activities.

· Minimal traffic and no metrobus routes currently exist on 17th Street, and traffic could easily be
diverted to New Hampshire, 16th and 18th Streets with minimal disruption.

800k on north capitol.

2 empty buildings on north capitol.

one for 795 in NoMa. in eckington
one vastly larger for 800

Developers bullish on Northwest's Bloomingdale

Washington Business Journal Article on Bloomingdale

Development of the Old McMillan Sand Filtration Site

NCRC info on Mcmillan

This is the short list of developers that will potentially work on the site:
1. Republic Land Develpoment
2.EYA
3. Federal Development

i have pictures from the site HERE

i'm dumbfounded by what i just saw

a street sweeper/ vacuum truck just went through my ALLEY.

and not to just hang out with company as the verizon truck often does, but actually to clean my alley.

i have never seen this before.


thanks dc government.

Form Stone!

here is an interesting article on formstone/permastone/fake stone siding.