April 2000 Voice of the Hill This Month May is Capitol Hill Month 7 The House Tour:Agony and Ecstasy 9 Capitol Hill Community Achievement Awards 12 Pen/Faulkner Awards 14 A Century of Friendship House Departments VoiceMail... ....................3 Ask Judith....................17 Spencer Says...............19 Business Bits ..............21 Business Services........24 DownLoad....................26 In The Stars ................38 Kids’ Calendar ............37 Capital Kids .................34 Sports .........................36 Community Calendar ....38 Classifieds...................42 Religion .......................42 Happy Birthday to Us! 666 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE • Washington, DC 20003 • 202 547-2100 In celebration of the Voice’s birthday, we’ve got presents for everyone! 10% Off Any Frame Receive 10% off any frame. Limit one. Not valid with other coupons or extra set promotions. ClubMoto members take 10% off coupon price. Participating stores only. Offer expires in 30 days Celebrate Spring! 25% Off Film Developing Receive 25% off the regular price of processing and printing 35mm color print film. Limit 2 rolls. May not be combined with other coupons or offers. Club Moto* members receive additional 10% off. Participating stores only. Extra Set of Prints Free! when ordering original color print processing. Every Thursday. We accept competitor’s coupons! or to understand the true scope of “growing pains” involved at the Bluestone Cafe. GABRIELLE HILL Note: The references to Ms. Juliano were deleted by Ms. Wolf. Their inclusion was the fault of the editor. This one was marked for writer Jeanne Eck: Dear Jeanne: I want to thank you for your wonderful article on trees (March 2000). The section on Trees for Capitol Hill will be very helpful to us as we try to involve more of our neighbors in caring for our urban forest. Your suggestion that residents buy two Tree Gators and donate one to TFCH is deeply appreciated. Thanks again, MARGARET MISSIAEN TREES FOR CAPITOL HILL To the Editor: On behalf of the community at Congressional Cemetery we would like to thank you for your help in making our annual Volunteer Day on March 25th a great success. Those of us who walk our dogs at Congressional Cemetery know it not only as a National Historic Landmark right here in the corner of Capitol Hill—we know it is our very own community treasure as well. Unfortunately it is also on the list of the Eleven Most Endangered National Historic Landmarks. Despite its name, Congressional Cemetery is not a federal or city facility. It is a non-profit organization, unaffiliated with the government. Every year those of us who walk our dogs at this great community treasure volunteer a day to come by, roll up our sleeves, and make a difference in our city. The community notice you placed in the Voice of the Hill helped to raise the level of community spirit and encourage an energetic attack on all the policing, pruning, chopping and fixing. It is just such warm-hearted neighborliness that turns a place into a community. Thank you again for lending your hand to our community. JIM OLIVER, CHAIRMAN THE ASSOCIATION FOR THE PRESERVATION OF CONGRESSIONAL CEMETERY VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 www.voiceofthehill.com 3 Voicemail The Voice of the Hill is published and distributed monthly to Capitol Hill residence and business locations. The focus is on the community and includes contiguous neighborhoods from Gallaudet University to the Navy Yard and from the Capitol to the Stadium Armory Complex. Publication and distribution is the third Friday of each month. Advertising deadline is the first of the month preceding publication. Voice of the Hill 120 11th St., SE, Rear Washington DC 20003 202-544-0703 Main office 202-544-2557 Editorial 202-547-5133 Fax www.voiceofthehill.com bruce@voiceofthehill.com stephanie@voiceofthehill.com adele@voiceofthehill.com Staff Stephanie Cavanaugh, Editor Bruce Robey WebMaster Adele Robey Graphic Design and Production Jill Silva Robert Shamo Advertising Gene Miller, Church Editor Larry Kaufer, Sports Editor Patty Curran, Kids’ News Editor Shaun Koiner, Circulation Manager Phoenix Graphics, Inc. T/A Voice of the Hill and Stephanie Cavanaugh Publishers Contributing Writers Judith Capen Stephanie Deutsch Kristen Hartke Memberships Printing & Graphic Communication Association Printing Industry of America Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington Barracks Row Business Alliance VOICE of The Hill Claire MacDonald Duncan Spencer Celeste McCall To the Editor: In brief, your newspaper and website are a wonderful addition to the Hill. The articles are literate, in depth when necessary, and timely; and they concern matters of genuine interest. I cannot tell you how much my wife and I appreciate your paper and website. Thank You, Thank You. GENE AND SHIRLEY ROSENFELD To the Editor: I was pleased to read (Voice of the Hill 3/21/00 website) that a couple of Hill folks are opening a bike store at the 8th Street site that for many years housed Metropolis Bicycles. As a bike commuter who regularly used Metropolis for all of my biking needs from 1982 until its untimely closing last fall, I have been at a loss for an adequate replacement during the past several months. I was especially pleased that the owners of the new shop intend to include a full service repair area. I hope that they will seriously consider installing Tony Metropolis’ terrific service manager as their service manager as well. The goodwill enjoyed by Tony from countless past Metropolis users, coupled with his extensive knowledge of bicycles and their repair, would be a strong asset to this new bicycle business as it gets off the ground. BILLY LAZARUS To the Editor: I love your paper and your website it’s a great local resource I am in the process of creating a web site for the Eastern Market community: http://www.easternmarket.net (I am working with the Tom Rall, the flea market manager and several of the local artists will be contributing with logo design, etc.) and saw that you have the EMCAC newsletter on your site. I wanted to get your permission to download and link to it. I also would like to link to your Bluestone Cafe review. Thank you.Great job on the “Voice.” SHANE GAU To the Editor: My ongoing delight with Voice of the Hill received a shock when I read Bonny Wolf’s article on the Bluestone Café in your March issue. There was at least one important factual error and one example of unethical reporting. The second paragraph of this story says that The Bluestone Café is a “7- month-old restaurant she [Robin Rains] owns with Jane Kietze and Suzanne Michel.” My understanding is that the Bluestone has four founding partners, not three as stated in the story—the fourth founding partner is Teresa Juliano. As a founding partner and the chef, Teresa was intimately involved with designing the interior of the Bluestone, and the friendly kitchen open to the diners. In the first few months Teresa was a key player in menu decisions. In her only reference to Miss Juliano in the article, Bonny Wolf states that Teresa Juliano was the “restaurant’s first chef,” and that she departed under less than felicitous circumstances, in a statement that could easily be read as a slap at her reputation as a chef. Ethical reporting requires that any reference that could be considered as negative about someone be source-checked and the individual concerned given an opportunity for rebuttal or comment. It seems unprofessional and dishonorable for Bonny Wolf to insult the founding chef without making any effort to contact her Thanks to Antoinette “Pinky” Brown and Keon Jackson of the Capitol Hill Safeway’s Bakery for producing the Voice of the Hill’s first birthday cake! On the Cover VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 4 www.voiceofthehill.com Whew! Did we leave anybody out? Cinco de Mayo festivities are not confined to restaurants. The Capital Children’s Museum is holding a fiesta May 5-7. At the weekend event, kids will have a chance to smash piñatas, make maracas and sample Mexican treats. They can also get a feel for the culture of Mexico in the museum’s permanent exhibit where they can play in sand imported from the Yucatan Peninsula, climb a Mayan pyramid, whip up Mexican hot chocolate and try on traditional clothing in the plaza. Dates: Friday, May 5, from 10 AM to1 PM Saturday, May 6 and Sunday, May 7, Noon - 4 PM. Capital Children’s Museum is at 800 3rd St., NE, behind Union Station. For more information call 675-4120, or check the Voice’s Children’s Calendar. Friday, May 5 Cinco de Mayo Contrary to popular understanding, Cinco de Mayo is NOT Mexican Independence Day. Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexico’s victory over invading French forces on May 5, 1862. In our neighborhood it’s become something else altogether: a celebration of Mexico’s victory over rival cuisines. (You may have noticed that Mexican/Tex Mex /Latino eateries are to the Hill as deli’s are to New York City.) Virtually all of our local cantinas offer food and drink promotions and sometimes live music for the holiday: Banana Café, 500 Eighth Street SE (543-5906), La Loma, 316 Massachusetts Ave. NE (548-2550), La Lomita, 1330 Pennsylvania Ave. SE (546-3109), La Lomita Dos, 308 Pennsylvania Ave. SE (544- 0616), Las Placitas, 517 Eighth St., SE (543-3700), Las Placitas Cantina, 723 8th St., SE (546- 9340), Red River Grill, 201 Massachusetts Ave., NE (546- 7200), Tortilla Coast, 400 First St., SE (546-6768), Thunder Grill (898-0051), Union Station, the Park Café, 106 13th St. SE (543-7200). Also—check out Tunnicliff’s, 222 Seventh St., SE (546-3663), which never misses an excuse to throw a party. May is when Capitol Hill springs to life. Feeling like kids when school lets out for the summer, we shrug off our sweaters and call out greetings to neighbors as we trot off to Eastern Market for pansies, herbs and thick, juicy steaks. Grills are dragged out of the garage, bags of charcoal hauled home from Frager’s, and weed-whacker’s are oiled for another season of “lawn mowing.” Not surprisingly, May is also filled with all sorts of community activities. So busy is it that about 15 years ago the Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals (CHAMPS) dubbed it “Capitol Hill Month,” in hopes of spawning even more “events.” Boy were they ever successful. Here’s a quick sampler of what’s happening in our little village in May. Please take special note of changes to Market Day and the Capitol Hill Classic— and check the Voice calendar for even more Capitol Hill Month events! May is Capitol Hill Month! BY CELESTE MCCALL VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 www.voiceofthehill.com 5 Friday, May 5 Wizard of Oz, St. Mark’s Players Spring Musical St. Mark’s Players, one of DC’s best small theater groups, will be headed over the rainbow most weekends this month: May 5-6 at 8 PM; Sunday, May 7 at 2 PM; May 12-13 at 8 PM, May 14 at 2 PM, May 19-20 at 8 PM. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students and seniors, $6 for children under 12. St. Mark’s Players perform at St. Mark’s Church, 3rd and A Sts. SE. For more information call 546- 9670. Saturday, May 6 Earth Day Planting and Cleanup Help pretty-up 8th Street! The Earth Day Partnership of Capitol Hill is looking for helpers to plant tree boxes and sweep up litter along the Eighth St., SE corridor, Eastern Market Metro Plaza, and surrounding areas. If you’ve walked around there recently, you’ll realize there’s plenty of work to do! The day starts at 9:30 AM with coffee and donuts at World Cuisine caterers at 523 Eighth St., SE. After lunch (also provided), cleanup will resume until 2 PM or whenever tree boxes are all planted and everything is “spick and span,” as my father used to say! For more information, to volunteer or to “adopt” a tree box, call Christine McCoy at 546-2539 or Geoff Lewis at 546-5310. Or-just bring your gardening tools and gloves, and show up. Rain date is Sunday, May 7 Gallery Talk at CHAW If you still have some energy left after the clean-up, head around the corner to the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop from 1 to 3 PM for a look at the Capitol Hill Art League’s latest juried exhibit, “Still Life with Food,” and a gallery talk. The Art League, now enjoying its 11th season, represents 250 artists from around the Washington area and is one of several arts organizations affiliated with CHAW. 545 Seventh St. SE., 547- 6839. Sunday, May 7 Market Day at the Maples On Market Days past, aromas of grilled bratwurst, North Carolina barbecue, Asian egg rolls and Jamaican meat patties filled the air around Eastern Market, and vendors flowed over the sidewalks onto 7th Street. Not this year. Friendship House, which founded Market Day 38 years ago, is moving the fair to its historic headquarters, “The Maples,” at 619 D St., SE. Billed as “Market Day at the Maples,” the scaled-down event will feature food, children’s games (they have one of the best kid’s playgrounds around) and presentations on Friendship House activities from 11AM to 6PM. “We want to refocus on Friendship House and what we do,” said spokesman A. Jerry Haley. Highlights will include plans for preserving the Old Naval Hospital at 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, for which Friendship House recently received a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Gourmet Vegetarian Feast & Awareness Day Face up to your Tofu Terror in a safe, loving, nonjudgmental environment; that’s what Kamakshi Hart and Kristen Hartke are cooking up for today at the DancingHeart Center for Yoga. The duo has invited area restaurants and chefs to contribute dishes for the feast (you’re welcome to bring a favorite too). There’ll be a recipe and cooking tip exchange, lots of vegetarian cookbooks to chew over, and the chance to learn how to become a healthy, satisfied, well-fed & happy vegetarian. You’ll also learn about all the purely vegetarian & veg-friendly shops and restaurants on the Hill and in the area. DancingHeart Center is at 221 5th St., NE. 544-0841. Cost: $10/person, children under 3 free, under 13: $5 Tuesday, May 9 Julius Caesar opens at the Folger Shakespeare Library “If energy be the food of Shakespeare, then Aquila serves up a smorgasbord.” That’s what the Boston Globe says about the Aquila Theatre Company, the only professional British-American touring theatre company. See for yourself. Aquila is performing Julius Caesar at The Folger Shakespeare Library through June 4 with performances Tuesdays through Sundays, except Saturday, May 13 and Thursday, May 18. The Folger is located at 201 East Capitol. For ticket prices and other information call the box office at 544-7077. Wednesday, May 10 Capitol Classic Cine The Capitol Classic Cine is headed into another season of providing classic films in funky style. May’s gritty and controversial (for 1969 anyway) feature, Midnight Cowboy, landed Oscars for Best Director for John Schlesinger and for Best Film. Co-stars Dustin Hoffman and John Voight both got Best Actor nominations. 8PM’s Showtime in the palatial Market 5 Gallery at Eastern Market. Five bucks gets you in the door. Friday, May 12 Films on the Hill The movie for May at CHAW is The Last of the Mohicans, the beautifully directed 1920 silent version of the James Fenimore Cooper classic, starring Wallace Beery. To enhance the vintage atmosphere, Ray Brubacher will provide authentic, silent-flick piano music. The show starts at 7:30 PM and tickets are $5. The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop (CHAW) is at 545 Seventh Street SE. Saturday and Sunday, May 13-14 Capitol Hill Restoration Society House and Garden Tour The 44th annual House and Garden Tour will be held, as always, on Mother’s Day weekend. This year, as many as 2,500 visitors are expected to traipse through eight participating homes. For “Tour 2000,” the emphasis will be on urban gardens, and how a home’s interior and exterior can be creatively integrated. Among the dwellings on display is a bed and breakfast called the Bull Moose, at 101 Fifth St., with Teddy Roosevelt themedrooms. Another interesting house is at 161 Kentucky Ave. SE, owned by decorator Georgine Reed who also designed another home on the tour, at 513 East Capitol. The Saturday evening “Candlelight Tour” goes from 5 to 8 PM and on Sunday the hours are from noon to 5 PM. The Sunday tour is followed by a reception at the Folger Library, 201 East Capitol from 3 to 6 PM. On both days, a free jitney (mini-bus) service will ferry guests from house to house, and to the reception. Buses will run every 5 to 10 minutes. House and Garden Tour Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 per person on the day of the event. The Restoration Society suggests purchasing tickets ahead of time, since last year was a sell-out. Get yours at the association’s kiosk at Eastern Market, in Hill businesses and real estate offices. For more information call 543-0425. Since participating residences are private homes, most are not wheelchair accessible. Saturday, May 13 PEN/Faulkner Award Ceremony The gala 20TH anniversary of the PEN/Faulkner Awards (the largest juried award for fiction in the United States) will take place in the Great Hall of the Folger Library. Things get underway at 7 PM with readings by this year’s winner, Ha Jin, who took the prize for his novel Waiting, and nominees: Frederick Busch for The Night Inspector, Ken Kalfus for PU-239 and other Russian Fantasies, Elizabeth Strout for Amy and Isabelle and Lily Tuck for SIAM Or the Woman Who Shot A Man. A buffet supper reception will be followed by dancing. Tickets are $85, and can be purchased by phoning the Folger box office at 544-7077. The Folger is at 201 East Capitol, SE. Wednesday, May 17 Capitol Hill Community Achievement Awards. Each year the CHAMPS Community Foundation recognizes three Capitol VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 6 www.voiceofthehill.com Sunday, May 21 Capitol Hill Classic Yet another Hill tradition—though the date has been kicked back two weeks. Last year the Classic netted $17,000 for the Capitol Hill Cluster Schools. Let’s see if that can be topped! As always, races will start and end at Peabody School at Stanton Park. Besides the 10K and 3K runs, kids may race in “fun runs” around the park. The adult course will wind through the Hill’s tree-shaded streets, around RFK Stadium and the US Capitol grounds. Water will be available along the way. The 10K starts at 8:30 AM, the 3K at 9:45 AM and “fun runs” at 10:45 AM. The race benefits area cluster schools, a coalition of Peabody Early Learning Center, Watkins Primary Center and Stuart Hobson Middle School. These three schools serve youngsters from pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade. This year’s Classic co-chairs are Shad and Fran Ewart, who live on Kentucky Ave. SE. As parents of two small children, they have a “vested interest” in the event. Fran teaches at Watkins Elementary, where son 7-year-old Max is enrolled in the Montessori program. Toddler Jack will enter pre-k next year. Runners’ fees are $20 for the 10K ($22 on race day), $15 for the 3K ($17 on race day), and $10 for the “fun runs.” The top three male and female runners in the 10K and 3K races receive prizes donated by local merchants. Everyone else will get the official tshirts, which non-runners may purchase for $10 each. Hill residents for their years of service to the community, and celebrates them at a black tie banquet held in the Folger Shakespeare Library’s magnificent Great Hall. This year’s honorees are Bruce Brennan (an attorney with the DC Corporation Counsel’s office), Michael Kahn (artistic director of the Shakespeare Theatre) and Robbi Scharfe (former children’s librarian at the Southeast Branch of the DC Public Library). The reception begins at 7 PM, followed by dinner at eight. The CHAMPS Foundation expects as many as 250 guests and hopes to net $50,000—all of which will be returned to the community in the form of grants. Tickets are $150 each. Hint: Last year was an early sell-out. The CHAMPS Community Foundation is a separate, charitable arm of CHAMPS, the Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals. Each year it donates more than $75,000 to support nonprofit organizations and schools. “The awards dinner is a batterycharging event,” says Foundation president Nicky Cymrot. “It makes us feel good about our community.” free. You may show up on the night of the parade and wait in line, but a better idea is to call the USMC protocol office at 433-4073 or 433-4075 ahead of time. They will ask for a written request with the parade date desired (plus an alternate), and number of people. While you’re at it, check out the Marine Commandant’s House, also at Eighth and I. On a site selected by Thomas Jefferson, the white-painted brick dwelling is the oldest, continuously- occupied house in Washington, DC. Sunday, May 28 National Memorial Day Concert Held on the West Lawn of the US Capitol, this gala musical event launches the National Symphony Orchestra’s three summer-holiday concerts. (The others celebrate the Fourth of July and Labor Day.) The program starts at 8PM. All you have to do is pack a picnic supper and get an early start to stake your place on the crowded grounds. Suggestion: If you don’t want to hassle with cooking, stop by Eastern Market earlier in the day and pick up a roasted chicken ($5.99 for a whole, $3.49 for a half) from Canales Deli. They’ve also got great sides like Amish-style coleslaw, cous cous salad, Italian potato salad and Oriental pasta salad. This year’s agenda has not been announced, but the NSO format— featuring celebrity entertainers— always includes inspirational, patriotic numbers. Accompanying videos are projected on a giant screen. Recent programs have been quite moving, so pack a few Kleenex! Afterwards, stroll home under the stars along with thousands of fellow Hillites. This is Capitol Hill living at its very best! Celeste McCall is a Capitol Hill freelance writer and a frequent contributor to the Voice of the Hill. For more information or to register, call 301-871-0400 or click on www.runwashington.com Monday, May 22 The Library of Congress Toasts Stephen Sondheim Tonight, the Library of Congress celebrates the 70th birthday of composer Stephen Sondheim in a musical tribute, “A Little Night Music.” Beginning at 8 PM in the Coolidge Auditorium in the Library’s Jefferson Building, the concert will include a selection of favorite songs written by Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, Rogers and Hart, Rogers and Hammerstein Cole Porter and other famous composers. The second half of the program will feature a performance of Sondheim’s 1974 little-known musical, “The Frogs.” The concert is free, but reservations are required. Tickets are available NOW (better call immediately) through TicketMaster (301-808-6900 or 202-432-SEAT), which tacks on a $2.75 service charge. Wednesday, May 24: Preservation Café The Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s popular Preservation Café series moves to the Market 5 Gallery at Eastern Market this month, for a talk and slide show on the social and cultural history of the market presented by Alice Norris. Norris will also be touching on other city markets, past and present. The Café will be at the usual time, 6:30PM, and last about 45 minutes. Friday, May 26 “Sunset Parade” at the Marine Barracks This is it! The kickoff of the Marine Corps’ weekly, summertime, “Sunset Parades”-outdoor displays of patriotism and pageantry so stirring they’d melt the most recalcitrant hippie. Beginning at 8:45 PM, at the 8th and I Barracks, the show runs approximately an hour and 15 minutes. If you haven’t been to one of these you don’t know what you’re missing. The Parades are presented in memory of Marines who gave their lives since November 10, 1775. Featured are: the U.S. Marine Corps Band (“The President’s Own”), the Marine Drum & Bugle Corps with their “Music in Motion,” and the precision rifle handling of the Silent Drill Platoon. The show is And the winners are…Robbi Sharfe, Michael Kahn, Bruce Brennan. A scene from a Classic past. COURTESY GAYLE KRUGHOFF VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 www.voiceofthehill.com 7 If anything, Alice Faison is totally sympatheticwith the local homeowners who are even now busily preparing their houses for the 44th annual Capitol Hill House and Garden Tour. Her former home on 9th Street, SE, which she refers to as “the ugliest house on the block,” was featured on the tour in 1995. “We just did the most that we could do with it, and I guess the House Selection Committee thought it was worth showing to everyone else.” The House Selection Committee is now headed up by Faison, who knows Capitol Hill’s houses really well, since she’s been selling real estate in the area for the last decade with her husband, Tom. It was the real estate community who originally created the House and Garden Tour in the mid-1950s as a fundraiser for the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, according to Charlotte Furness, who works parttime for the CHRS, has lived on the Hill for 30 years, and is—incidentally —married to the current president. “The realtors were really trying to save Capitol Hill as a residential community,” says Furness. “Back then, you could live as close in as 2nd Street and still have houses all around you that were literally falling down.” These days, Capitol Hill houses are hardly falling down. Instead, they’re filling up, as the neighborhood has suddenly become a chic address for people from the Washington region and beyond. Faison says that the housing boom has increased the number of beautifully renovated houses in the area, QHow many homeowners does it take to change a light bulb in a house being featured on the House and Garden Tour? AJust one, but first he needs five years to scrape six layers of lead paint off the baseboards, hire a plasterer to fix the water damage from the upstairs bathroom, order the historically-accurate wallpaper from Bradbury & Bradbury, get another home improvement loan, and wait for the contractors to finish working on the house across the street—which will be on the House and Garden Tour in only four years. giving the Selection Committee a wide range from which to choose. Nearly all the houses featured on the 2000 Tour are either detached or semi-detached, providing a different architectural statement from the rows of attached brick townhouses for which the neighborhood is known. “Part of what people will see on this year’s tour is the kind of impact that a corner house has on its block,” says Faison. “Corner houses have such a responsibility, because people are more likely to notice the garden as they walk by, or even the window treatments because there are so many more windows facing onto the street.” But selecting the eight or nine houses for the Tour itself is no easy task. “It’s a really hard process,” Faison sighs. “You don’t even know what you’re looking for until you get out there. It’s not like there’s a checklist.” Recommendations come into the Selection Committee from Hill residents as well as real estate agents, and that’s when Faison gets to work, surreptitiously checking out the possibilities before making a decision to go in for a full inspection. “We drive around at night, when the lights are on, and peek over the fences and try to get a glimpse through the windows,” laughs Faison. Then we interview friends and neighbors. There has to be a very good possibility that we’d use it before we make a visit.” Even then, the committee has to look at the house with a very critical eye, assessing its location or style in relationship to other houses that might be on the Tour, working out the traffic flow patterns within the house, and rating the house according to Faison’s three prerequisites: that the home must be either inspi- The Agony and the Ecstasy How the house next door made the cut (or didn’t) for the Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s House and Garden Tour 2000 BY KRISTEN HARTKE VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 8 www.voiceofthehill.com around their house that they had put on hold.” This is exactly the experience of homeowners Georgine Reed and Marie Spiro, whose 1903 brick house with a center hall entrance is perched at the corner of Kentucky and Independence Avenues. Reed says that real estate agents started asking them to put the house on the Tour “almost from the minute we moved in and had it repainted.” That was in 1992, but Reed, an interior designer who previously worked at the National Museum of American Art, had other plans. “For two women, we have extravagant spatial requirements,” laughs Reed, “and I needed to spend time figuring out how to make the house, which fills 98% of a lot shaped almost like a triangle, work for us.” rational, educational, or entertaining. It’s an awkward process, admits Faison, but there’s just no way to get around it. “First we beg people to be on the Tour, then we get into their house and we’re judging them. What’s amazing is that all the owners are really nice about it, even if their house is not chosen for that year’s tour.” According to Faison, however, the biggest headache to the whole selection process is that a lot of homeowners just aren’t ready to be on the Tour and ask to be reconsidered for another year. “It seems to take about three years before homeowners are ready to have 2400 people come tramping through their houses. It definitely gives them an incentive, a deadline, to finish some projects previously been asked to put their house on the Tour, but wanted to do a big renovation of the master bedroom and bath first. “Our house is not traditional,” says Marilu Sherer, “but it’s also not a super-modern contemporary. It’s the kind of house you can slouch in.” Sherer feels their house demonstrates how to get a more contemporary feel in an older Capitol Hill house while still retaining some original elements. In the final days before the Tour itself, all the homeowners seem to be intent on getting ready for the masses. “$20 worth of mulch will cover a multitude of sins in the garden,” says Sherer, who is also hoping that she and her husband learn how to use their brand-new carpet cleaner before May 13th. Faison says she’s caught quite a few homeowners in the act of a little redecorating and spring cleaning — take note of the new curtains at the Reed-Spiro home, as well as the lack of clutter at the Sherers, who donated a lot of old paperbacks and oddsand- ends to the Capitol Hill Chorale yard sale. For Faison, the Selection Committee chairperson’s job is a tough one by the end of the day. “You spend all this time going into other people’s gorgeous homes, and sometimes it gets a little depressing. I’ll just go home and think ‘I hate my house!’ and then I start getting rid of things. I just had someone take away all the furniture in one of my living rooms, because I decided that I just couldn’t stand it anymore. Which is fine, except that now I don’t have any furniture.” Of course, Faison is a House Tour veteran and just needs a little time to get her new house in Tour shape. Give her three years, then we’ll all start lining up to take a peek. Kristen Hartke is a Capitol Hill freelance writer and frequent contributor to the Voice of the Hill. Before Reed and Spiro would even dream of putting their house on the Tour, they wanted to renovate their kitchen to something that more deeply reflected their own aesthetics and lifestyle. Reed even brought in a ceramicist from Richmond to create unique tiles which were used in lieu of a traditional backsplash: the oblong tiles feature an ivy pattern through which the images of Reed and Spiro’s two cats and pug dog can be seen jumping. The kitchen is so special that it was featured on the cable network Home and Garden Television (“Our seven minutes of fame,” quips Reed); the segment, according to Faison, “was almost like a love story, because the show reflected how personal and unique that kitchen is to the homeowners.” You probably won’t find any imported ceramicists at the Tennessee Avenue home of John Nammack, who has spent the better part of six years renovating his traditional Victorian rowhouse almost completely by himself. “I was asked to put the house on the Tour last year,” says Nammack, “but I was right in the middle of doing the kitchen. The house isn’t totally finished now, but it’s pretty much there.” Meanwhile Nammack’s neighbors on the block are spiffing up for the expected hordes come Mother’s Day weekend. This is serious stuff. One neighbor found herself roundly denounced when she joked that she might just fill her tiny front yard with play sand for her kids rather than tax her own limited gardening skills. While Nammack’s house is a showcase of original woodwork and turn-of-the-last-century details, the house being featured on 3rd Street NE near East Capitol Street tells the story of how a contemporary interior can fit fluidly inside a 125-yearold Italianate facade. Peter and Marilu Sherer had also GABRIELLE HILL Spiritual Coach 202/544-4386 hillhouse@erols.com lign your body, mind and spirit PERSONAL GROWTH AND SPIRITUAL MENTORING CORRIN BENNETT, M.S., ADTR Experienced Personal Growth Coach and Spiritual Mentor since 1976 202/543-5825 BY APPOINTMENT PA To Find Your Voice This is serious stuff. One neighbor found herself roundly denounced when she joked that she might just fill her tiny front yard with play sand for her kids rather than tax her own limited gardening skills. VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 www.voiceofthehill.com 9 Each spring, the CHAMPS Community Foundation honors three people who have made Capitol Hill a better place to live and work. This year’s awards will go to Bruce Brennan, a lawyer and high spirited community volunteer; Robbi Scharfe, the longtime “guiding light” in the Southeast Library’s popular reading room for children; and Michael Kahn, whose solid commitment to this neighborhood has brought the Shakespeare Theatre offices to a new location on Eighth Street Southeast, bringing actors and theater staff to live and work among us. Each of these people is attracted by something special in our community; each has made unique contributions to it. Bruce Brennan When Bruce Brennan and his wife, Louise, came to Capitol Hill in 1977, they wanted to “see the big world for a little while,” then move to the kind of small town where each had grown up and that would be a good environment for the family they hoped to have. They planned to stay three years, then head for the Shenandoah Valley. To their surprise, they found a small town community right here. And three children have grown up in the red brick Brennan home on East Capitol Street. Bruce, an attorney with the DC Corporation Counsel, is being honored for his zestful participation in and thoughtful contributions to many neighborhood activities. It all started, he says, with the babysitting coop. “That was our network for getting to know people back then,” he remembered recently. It was also an introduction to volunteering; parents babysat for each other, taking turns doing the scheduling and no money ever changed hands. For several years he and Louise (“It’s always me and Louise”) helped plan the Capitol Hill Classic, the popular annual mini-marathon benefiting the Cluster Schools, and Bruce chaired it once. “I worked my way up,” he says, starting in the early years when things often didn’t run quite as smoothly as they do now. One year it rained and the police didn’t show up on time to close down the roads, leaving 1200 eager runners and Bruce standing on a the back of a police cruiser with a bullhorn “doing a schtick for ten minutes ’til they came.” In recent times, he’s run the annual giving campaign at Capitol Hill Day School and he serves each spring as the auctioneer at the school’s annual auction costumed as, among other things, a policeman, a sheik and a space man in a “big blue Buck Rogers outfit.” When the youngest Brennan child, Thomas, wanted to join a Cub Scout den that was in need of a leader, Bruce took that on too and led the troop for five years. “I can’t say no,” he says. Back when the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop was in the Presbyterian Church on 4th Street, Bruce and Louise studied tap dancing there with Sally Crowell. “That was when Kathleen was a baby and we’d take her to class and I’d dance with her on my hip,” he remembers fondly. Kathleen, who graduates from Yale this spring, and her sister Beth, a sophomore at Washington & Lee University, were in lots of classes and shows at CHAW over the years too, joining the hordes of Hill girls playing orphans in Annie. Bruce has trod the boards as well playing, among other things, small parts in Oliver! and Our Town. “CHAW has been nice for me and my family,” Bruce says. “It’s always been there for us to dip into when we wanted to. That’s why I think it’s so important to support it.” Support it Bruce has, serving several stints on the Board of Directors. Bruce, who often rides his bicycle to work down East Capitol Street or walks barefoot to the corner store, describes himself as a “New Hampshire boy.” He spent part of his childhood in the “quite idyllic” town of West Wilton, with a population of 1800 and three families that have been there a hundred years. His dad worked for Sun Oil, though, and when he was in the 8th grade, he moved to Fairfax, Virginia and a school the size of the town he’d just left. He remembers adjusting to that as “pretty tough.” Two years later, his family was back in New Hampshire, moving to Peterborough, where Bruce’s parents still live. It’s the place that Thornton Wilder made emblematic of America in Our Town. What is that makes Capitol Hill like small town America? For Bruce, it is “that stability and familiarity of an extended family around you, knowing they’re there for you.” A lot of the people Bruce is talking about are folks he has met doing volunteer projects. Bruce describes one person he has worked with a number of times but doesn’t see very often as “part of the warm symphony in back of me.” An important part of it goes right back to the babysitting coop. “A lot of these kids on the Hill have no idea how many people care about them,” Bruce says. “We care about the children we’ve watched grow up.” Robbi Scharfe Another person who has watched Hill children grow up is Robbi Scharfe. Robbi is being honored with a Capitol Hill Community Achievement Award for her 22 years of service in the children’s reading room at the Southeast Library. In that time she has helped a generation of young people find books, do research, and learn to love reading and stories. Many of them remember Robbi for her sympathetic interest in them, her long brown hair, perpetual smile and slight German accent. Robbi was born during World War II and grew up in the small town of Bad-Homburg. Her father disappeared in the war and she spent much of her childhood with her grandmother, a solitary girl but not a lonely one. “Actually, I was a wild child,” she explains with a laugh. “I CAPITOLHILL Community Achievement Awards Honoring One Terrific Trio BY STEPHANIE DEUTSCH as well as the company’s increased emphasis on community outreach and a growing variety of educational programs. These, unlike the performances, have not moved downtown but have stayed firmly anchored on the Hill. When Michael came to the city thirteen years ago, he never considered living anywhere but Capitol Hill. The mixture of architectural styles, the scale of the buildings and the profusion of plantings all appealed to him. He found a charming townhouse with a double lot and a garden that ran its whole length. And, of course, it was close to the Folger Theater, the much-loved institution he was brought down from New York to save. While he shared the widespread affection for the Folger’s Shakespearean stage, Michael was very aware of its problems for both performers and audiences. “It was clear we had to have more space.” The Board was determined to keep the Shakespeare Theatre on Capitol Hill and Michael remembers Board member Becky Dye taking him to tour the old Capitol Hill hospital building to see if that might work. It didn’t, and ultimately the company moved to a new theatre in the Lansburgh building downtown. The move resulted in what one staff member called “a very good divorce” between the Folger Library and the Shakespeare Theatre which now have no institutional link. Though the company left the Folger in the middle of a season, Michael remembers, “we lost just one subscription and in the new space we’ve always sold out.” Some feared that the move downtown would mean the end of the Shakespeare Theatre’s presence on the Hill. But it has not. A year ago, the theater’s administrative offices moved into the imaginatively renovated building at 516 8th Street SE. This new home, a tall, gray Italianate structure that Michael VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 10 www.voiceofthehill.com was always out playing in the woods or riding horses. I would collect mushrooms and herbs or flower bouquets to sell for a few pennies.” It was a “chaotic” time in Germany, she says, but “kids adapt.” She didn’t have much but she never felt deprived. One thing the young Robbi didn’t have was access to a public library. “I read my books ten or twenty times,” she remembers. She liked adventure stories, Greek classics, fairy tales and the “Just So” Stories by Rudyard Kipling. In 1964, Robbi came to Washington for a brief stay and fell in love with the city. After a return trip to Germany and a teaching course there, she came back to the US to live. Her first job was with the DC Public Library’s schools division making up boxes of new books to send out to various schools. It was a wonderful opportunity to read in English and get “a good core of knowledge” about children’s books. Next came a stint working on the Bookmobile, going all over the city “gypsy-like” as Robbi puts it. “I loved it. We would arrive and the kids were outside waiting, excited because someone was coming to see them.” Robbi loved to play with them, even the boys she describes as “tough.” “I told them ‘I can kick and play ball too’ and we got along.” When the Bookmobile closed, Robbi came to the Southeast library. She was immediately attracted by the architecture and feel of the neighborhood. The children’s room at that time was “sad and crummy and quiet,” she says. She “loved the Palladian windows” so she took down the shades to let the light flow in, put up posters and began bringing in cuttings and plants. Soon the room took on the cozy ambiance that has become part of its appeal.The books and Robbi’s warm personality did the rest. “It’s my nature to like to help,” she admits. for her mother, who visits every year from Germany, space for all Robbi’s art projects and an extensive garden. Ultimately, though, Robbi would love to return to the Hill as the mistress of something she calls “The House of Reading.” She has a dream of a place with many rooms, each devoted to a different kind of book. “There would be an attic for ghost and mystery stories,” she says, “a little garden in the back and a kitchen where you could make tea and crumpets.” And it would be open to everyone. “When you love something,” says Robbi, “you want to share.” Michael Kahn What Michael Kahn, the third Community Achievement Award winner, has to share is his vision of classical theater as an essential and ever-living art form, accessible not just to well-educated audiences but to everyone. His leadership at the Shakespeare Theatre has led to season after season of well-reviewed, sold out shows In recent years, the addition of computers changed the mood of the children’s room. Robbi felt it had become a waiting room where young people were more anxious for the chance to send e-mail or visit chat rooms than to browse and read books. “People say I’m a computer Scrooge and possibly I am.” “But I do not believe electronics will replace books.” The changes brought by the computers contributed to Robbi’s decision to retire at 57. Retired does not mean idle, though. Robbi lives in Virginia still surrounded by plants and books. She volunteers at her local library and has plans to take yoga and art classes, to cook, and “to get my house in order.” The house in question is a sprawling, multi-leveled wooden one that she and her longtime friend, patent examiner Terry Fears, built together. “We have shared space and private space,” she explains. It’s an unorthodox arrangement but “it works out very well.” There’s a room Handyman on the Hill Masonry Brick & Stone Concrete Brick Pointing Carpentry Decks & Fences Roof Repairs Painting 202-206-7185 Hey Big Spender! Take Your Mother Out to Eat FREE All Day Mother’s Day, May 14th 2 for 1 Entrée with Coupon Equal or Lesser Value 329 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE C A P I T O L H I L L 202-543-3300 FAX 202-543-2529 At the kickoff reception, Honorees Robbi Scharfe (far left), Bruce Brennan and Michael Kahn are joined by Phillis Jane Young, Awards Dinner Chair VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 www.voiceofthehill.com 11 refers to as “a great big version of Norman Bates’s house in ‘Psycho,’” has all the theater’s administration from the development office to phone banks as well as rehearsal space, a costume shop, a lunch room and an area devoted to a neighborhood outreach program. Beginning this summer, it will also house the new Shakespeare Theatre Academy for Classical Acting, a one year MFA program for twenty students that the company is co-sponsoring with George Washington University. The student lounge on the top floor has an expansive view over the rooftops of Capitol Hill. “We never thought of leaving the Hill,” Michael says. “It’s a wonderful neighborhood.” Michael’s affinity for the city is perhaps natural in one who grew up in Brooklyn Heights, where he lived “in a little mews, above a garage.” His first theatrical effort was a first grade production which he wrote, directed and starred in called Jack Frost and the Snow Flakes. After that Michael never really wanted to act. “I guess I was a bossy kid,” he says, remembering that he had few friends and always wanted to be a director. Going to the High School for the Performing Arts in cal dramas that did. “I couldn’t do what I’m doing now in New York,” Michael said recently. “Washington is a terrific theater town. Where else could I sell out King John? It gives me such courage to do the things that I care passionately about.” At the same time, living on Capitol Hill gives Michael Kahn some of the same pleasures it gives the rest of us. He enjoys walking—to work, to the grocery store, out to eat and around the block, which he does accompanied by Toughi, an affectionate, black stray cat who adopted him and sticks close to him TO SELL YOUR HOUSE CALL… THE “SPOUSESWHO SELL HOUSES” Curious what your home would sell for? Do you have dreams? Is it time to move on? TOM & ALICE FAISON ÒSPOUSES WHO SELL HOUSESÓ ASSOCIATE BROKER, GRI REMAX CAPITAL PROPERTIES FAISON@Realtor.com 202.255.5554 or 202.546.5881 Manhattan finally put him among people who shared his passion for theater and who admired his obvious gifts. He directed his first Shakespeare play (Pericles) while at Columbia University, where he was grateful for the core curriculum courses in history and literature but “couldn’t pass science.” It took him seven years to graduate but by the time he did he was directing off campus as well as on, and he had been discovered by Joe Papp and Edward Albee. Michael realized early that the kind of plays generally produced on Broadway did not interest him, that it was Shakespeare and serious classi- Each of these people is attracted by something special in our community;each has made unique contributions to it. on strolls. In our small town within the big city “Everyone knows me and this cat.” The tall, elegant theater director with his international reputation, his directorship of the Drama Division at the Julliard school in New York, his string of Helen Hayes awards and other honors is also just another neighbor who, in the long, mild, evenings of summer will be out, enjoying walking the sidewalks of Capitol Hill. Stephanie Deutsch is a Capitol Hill writer and frequent contributor to the Voice of the Hill readings at the Folger Library, a series that has become an essential part of Washington’s literary life, and the life of the word on Capitol Hill. Over the past several months such glitterati as E. Annie Proulx, Ursula Hegi, John Edgar Wideman, Nadine Gordimer, and most recently, E.L. Doctorow have all contributed readings. As well as attracting Capitol Hill audiences, the reading series is networked deep into the local community. Pennsylvania Avenue bookstore, Trover, carries the books, and gives 10% to the foundation. The Church of the Reformation, across the street from the Folger, holds some of the readings, and the foundation donates books to libraries (this year to the Martin Luther King library), to community centers and, very importantly, to schools. All PEN/Faulkner writers are offered the opportunity to go into DC schools to give readings and workshops as part of the Writers in Schools program. These are not public events, but intimate occasions when writers can connect with young people who are in the process of developing adult tastes and are planned in liaison with the teacher under whose guidance the books are read. The program gives students a unique opportunity to engage with a writer and her or his work—and take that opportunity they do, welcoming writers in ways which are as diverse and unique as the writers who come, and as the communities that make up Washington, DC. When Lorene Cary visited Eastern High School last fall, she was greeted with a rap song specially written for her by one of her enthusiastic readers; when John Edgar Wideman read at Spingarn High on Benning Road, in March of this year, he was treated to a full scale welcome ceremony put together by the students who had all just read his book of short stories, Dumballah, which touches on voodoo ceremony and ritual. When last year’s prize winner, Michael Cunningham, visited the School Without Walls, he was able to talk to students about the writing process—and about writing as a gay man. Meeting writers deeply affects young people’s lives. The letters they write afterwards are a testament to the depth of their thinking at a time when they are asking questions about their identities, their careers and their sense of who they are going to be as adults. One letter in particular struck me. Writing to Albert Murray, an Eastern High School student says: “As I sat in the classroom and observed how joyful you were I got the feeling that I could do anything I wanted to, and you are the living proof. Thanks Mr. Murray and good luck on your new novel.” This student has suddenly seen his own potential mirrored in this writer’s presence—and that is an eloquent tribute to the program. Janice F. Delaney is PEN/ Faulkner’s Executive Director. She clearly loves her job and the way she tells the story, she fell into the post almost by chance. In 1983, when the PEN/Faulkner Foundation transferred to Washington from Charlottesville, Delaney was the mother of two small children, living on the Hill, and beginning to look for work outside the home. She was invited into the organization by a friend looking for someone to take over while she was on leave, and began working part-time at first, later building the position into a full time job. Delaney is clear, committed and enthusiastic about what PEN/ Faulkner is and does, and she feels that over the past two decades the foundation has been a significant part of developing Washington as a writers’ city. She feels strongly about the special meaning the PEN/Faulkner fiction award has for writers. It is independent and non-commercial and selected by judges that are themselves writers of fiction. Each year the judges read widely among around 300 novels and short story collections in order to select five nominees; from amongst whom one final winner is selected. The award has gained such sup- VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 12 www.voiceofthehill.com It happens every year, but this year it’s just a bit more special—for in May 2000 the Pen/Faulkner Award, the largest juried prize for fiction in the U.S., is twenty years old. On May 13th, during a gala dinner, the honor—and a check for $15,000—will be presented to Ha Jin, for his acclaimed new novel, Waiting. The PEN/Faulkner Foundation was established through the generosity of William Faulkner, who donated his 1950 Nobel Prize money to set up the fund, and is affiliated with PEN (Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists), the international writers organization. The foundation fosters contemporary writing locally and nationally through its fiction award, its reading series and its work in the Washington community—particularly its Writers in Schools program. Since 1983 it has also been located on Capitol Hill, at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and, like many other organizations in this unique neighborhood, is one of those places where the local and the global meet. Throughout the season the Pen/Faulkner Foundation holds PEN/Faulkner on the Hill: Connecting the Local and the Global BY CLAIRE MACDONALD VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 www.voiceofthehill.com 13 port from writers over the years that Delaney says a kind of family of alumni has grown up, many of whom return to events and readings, parties and galas and all of whom donate their time, their readings, their books—and, this year, their essays. When I talked to her in the Folger Library, Delaney and board member, University of Maryland professor Jackson Bryer, were in the middle of reading the proofs of Three Minutes or Less, which will be published in May by London’s Bloomsbury Press. The title takes its name from the three minute talks that writers give at PEN/ Faulkner galas, and contains pieces by the almost 150 people who have been part of eleven galas over the past twenty years; essays donated to support the work of the foundation. We talked about the writers—a list as diverse as it is long—and I asked Janice about what makes a typical PEN/Faulkner nominee. She paused, mused, smiled, and answered me by saying that there is really no such person. Nominations and awards have been given to writers at the beginning, middle and close of their careers; to writers like David Guterson, for Snow Falling on Cedars, or E. Annie Proulx for Postcards, both before they become household names; to long established writers like Philip Roth and Isaac Bashevis Singer; to Rafi Zabor and Fae Myenne; to Richard Ford and Grace Paley, Bobbie Ann Mason and Jamaica Kincaid—in short to all kinds of writers engaged with American life today. But there is a connection amongst them, and it is in the very diversity of voices in which writers speak, and the diversity of backgrounds from which they come. Ha Jin, this year’s winner, who is a native Chinese speaker, writes, in Waiting, about a man’s struggle to free himself from an arranged marriage and marry the woman he loves. This year’s nominated books include Frederick Busch’s historical novel, The Night Inspector; Ken Kalfus’ short story collection, and PU 239 and Other Russian Fantasies; a first novel by Elizabeth Strout, Amy and Isabelle, about a mother-daughter relationship, and Lily Tuck’s third novel SIAM, or The Woman Who Shot A Man, about an American bride in Thailand in 1967. In different ways they each capture something vital in the contemporary public imagination, and they each touch the wider world that comes into this city and this neighborhood. The PEN/Faulkner Foundation is many things: a hub, a connector, a network, a place where writers and readers meet, a Hill institution, a local reading series and an internationally acclaimed fiction award. On April 14th this season’s reading series closed with E.L. Doctorow—the 1990 award winner — reading from his new novel. On May 13th the foundation marks its twentieth year anniversary with a buffet supper reception, a band, dancing, readings by all the nominees and the awarding of the prize for 2000 to Ha Jin. Soon, Three Minutes or Less will be on the shelves at Trover. Janice Delaney, her board and her supporters, her staff, her family of alumni and friends have much to celebrate. (Tickets for this, and all other PEN/Faulkner events, can be ordered at the Folger Box office: 202-544- 7077) Claire MacDonald is a writer and editor who lives on Capitol Hill. On the stage of the Folger Elizabethan Theatre, 1999 PEN/Faulkner Award Winner Michael Cunningham reads from his book, The Hours. Seated behind Mr. Cunningham, l-r: Joanna Scott, judge; Russell Banks, Barbara Kingsolver, Nominees; Sue Miller, judge; Brian Morton, Richard Selzer, Nominees; Lawrence Thornton, judge. COURTESY PEN/FAULKNER FOUNDATION VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 14 www.voiceofthehill.com grams were day-care for the children of mothers who worked or who were too ill to care for them, a kindergarten, a Mother’s Club, and several organized groups for boys. In 1916, Friendship House expanded again by purchasing the adjoining property at 326 Virginia Ave. SE. More Programs, More Space From an annual budget of $1800 in 1909 to $18,000 in 1929, Friendship House continued to grow. At its 25th anniversary celebration in 1929, the Board set out three major goals for future expansion. First, Friendship House intended to provide services to Washington’s black population. The first major step for this project was made in that year, as Friendship House participated with the Negro Social Workers’ Club and helped to found the Southeast Settlement House at 301 G St., SE. Southeast House operated independently under its own African-American board and administration. The second project was to find new and larger quarters. The Virginia Avenue facilities had been full almost from the outset and Friendship House had grown considerably since moving in. Enrollment figures for 1934 showed that some 120 people per day were served. More than 500 men, women, and children were attending vocational and a vocational clubs and classes. Quick, what do all these have in common: pre-schoolers dashing and tumbling on a newly-equipped playground on South Carolina Avenue SE, seniors sitting down to a hot lunch after a mean game of hearts at St. Monica’s Parish Hall; more than 2,000 school children at their books and computers at three DC charter schools; Market Day; and the rehabilitation of the old Naval Hospital at 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE? If you answered “Friendship House,” you’ve got it. And it’s only a piece of what they do. Friendship House, at 619 D St., SE, is the District of Columbia’s oldest social services agency. At the turn of the 20th century, Jacob Riis, the New York reformer and patron saint of public playgrounds, visited the District and reportedly commented to President Teddy Roosevelt that some of the social conditions he encountered here were worse than anything in New York City. Stung by Riis’s observations, the Misses Adelaide Rochefort and Ida Green from the Southeast Conference of Associated Charities rented a room at 10th and M SE and started Friendship House. The aim was for neighbors to help neighbors in need, whether that neighbor was a Russian Jew who was having a hard time finding a good job, or an Irish chambermaid whose children needed watching while she worked. By 1906, the all-volunteer settlement house program had outgrown that rented room, so they moved into Smallwood House, a twelveroom building at 324 Virginia Avenue, SE. They continued to expand so quickly that within two years, the Board realized that a fulltime paid staff was needed. Miss Lydia A.H. Burklin became the first Director of Friendship House in 1909. The First Congregational Church, where she was a member, paid half her salary. The earliest pro- Roosevelt, came to call, as did the First Ladies of foreign countries. Changing Clients, Changing Needs During the ’50s, profound and longreaching changes were afoot. After 45 years of service as Friendship House’s director, Miss Lydia Burklin retired in 1954. There was also a new law in the land: desegregation. Friendship House’s programs were desegregated along with local public schools and other social service agencies—this at a time when the poor population of Capitol Hill was becoming largely African-American, changing Friendship House’s core clientele. Friendship House began to set off in new directions, such as providing advice to and assistance with public housing projects. At the request of the National Capital Housing Authority, Friendship House furnished a demonstrator apartment for incoming residents at the Arthur Capper Housing Project (adjacent to the Navy Yard). When Project units opened for occupancy, Friendship House had a social worker and other volunteers on site to help the new residents settle in. The late ’50s and early ’60s brought new dreams as staff and board members began to envision launching total community programs centered on education, employment and community improvement. When it wanted to open urban centers, but found funding scarce, Friendship House’s Board President was instrumental in helping to found the United Planning Organization. The UPO became the umbrella group that helped connect metropolitan-area agencies with private and public funding sources. In 1963, Operation Outreach began at Friendship House with a community organizer, an employment counselor and an educational counselor. Four block clubs were created by Operation Outreach to help neighborhoods focus on needs like Nursery school was provided year round, while summer school was available for the first and second grades. Arts and crafts classes were being held in staff quarters. They needed more space. In 1936, Friendship House was able to purchase “The Maples” at 619 D St., SE, which was built in the 1790s as the town estate of William Mayne Duncanson, one of the richest men in the Federal City. A US Senator from Illinois helped underwrite the purchase, along with Board members and friends. The gardens were converted into a playground and the old slave quarters became the day care wing. The grand moving day for Friendship House was November 29, 1937. Southeast House, whose programs had also grown dramatically, took over the Virginia Ave., SE space. The third project envisioned in 1929 was not completed until 1944, when Friendship House purchased Camp Friendship on the Patuxent River. The campsite was used for both week-long and weekend camps. Friendship House continued through the ‘40s and into the ‘50s with traditional settlement house activities. It became a favorite Hill charity, with support from groups like the Congressional Circle, made up of the wives of Senators and Congressmen and their friends. High society benefits and balls became new sources of funds. First Ladies, starting with Eleanor Friendship House A Century of Social Services BY GENE MILLER The Friendship House South Carolina Avenue façade as it appeared in 1951. COURTESY FRIENDSHIP HOUSE VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 www.voiceofthehill.com 15 recreation facilities and solve local problems like clean up. That same year, Circle-in-the- Square, another Capitol Hill support group, sponsored the first annual Market Day as a benefit for Friendship House. Market Day quickly became a highly successful Hill feast and holiday. The first Summer Service Corps began in the mid ’60s with 12 students living in the staff quarters at “The Maples” and working for room and board and $50/month. They served in group work, job registry, resident and day camps, and day care. Revolutionary Changes Friendship House’s pioneering achievements led to its sharing in the first of LBJ’s “War on Poverty” grants in the District of Columbia. Starting in 1965, a neighborhood development program was funded at $225,000 per year. Friendship House’s image as a traditional settlement/ social services house was irrevocably altered as it took a more activist role in community organization and development. Consumer education programs were instituted and a federal credit union was formed to provide financial services to low-income neighbors. A neighborhood advisory council was also formed to provide grass-roots advice to the Board of Directors. Friendship House also opened its Potomac Gardens facility and welcomed its first VISTA volunteers. Notwithstanding this activism, there were deep divisions on the Hill about Friendship House, particularly about community participation in decision-making. Despite the changes in Hill demographics, the Friendship House administration and Board remained predominantly white, with many of the Board members living off the Hill entirely. Tensions peaked in April, 1969: twelve hours after a neighborhood group was defeated in its attempt to win community control over the poverty program, Friendship House headquarters were firebombed. The damage to the building was not extensive, but the message couldn’t have been clearer. By June, key administrators of Friendship House conceded that the situation was untenable and resigned. Mr. Thornell Page became the first black director of Friendship House in June of that year. Despite these difficulties, Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10-9 Friday, Saturday 10-6 Sunday 12-6 522 Eighth Street, SE 202.543.3030 • Drymount & Lamination • Conservation Framing • Pre-framed gifts • Commercial Discounts • Calligraphy Major Credit Cards Accepted Frame of Mine offers custom framing…but we specialize in do-it-yourself picture framing. We cut all the materials and work with you to put it all together. You leave with a picture that’s ready to hang! www.frame-of-mine.com 1101-1115 Pennsylvania Ave., SE • Washington, DC 20003 • Phone 202-543-6157 Fax 202-543-9048 Monday-Friday 7am - 7pm • Saturday: 7am-5:55pm, Sunday: 8am-5:00pm Friendship House continued developing programs throughout the ‘70s and ’80s like a food co-op, and the Friendship House Texaco at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. More community centers were opened, including one for the tenants of the Ellen Wilson Housing Project, and senior centers, such as the ongoing one at St. Monica’s Episcopal parish hall. Currently, Friendship House operates from more than fifteen community locations, including their Hill headquarters at The Maples. They continue to offer programs for children and seniors, for young people and adults seeking job training and apprenticeships, and for small business development. They’ve also launched some brand new endeavors under Donald Hense, who took over as Director in 1996. Refocusing Priorities Coming from a background of managing non-profits, Hense is a superb fundraiser who has put top priority on refocusing Friendship House priorities. “One of the greatest difficulties for non-profits is getting realistic priorities,” he says. “That means looking at the budget. It’s easy to talk about prioritizing, but the budget shows what the real priorities are. Everything else is just talk.” Soon after he took office, Hense formed several task forces to review and refocus priorities at Friendship House. Three priorities were identified: improving educational outcomes for children, increasing the employability of adults, and developing safe neighborhoods. Meeting the first priority has provided Hense with what he considers his most satisfying accomplishment as Director: the launching of the charter school partnership with Edison School. So far, three elementary schools with over 1,300 students are operating: Chamberlain (1345 Potomac Ave., SE), Woodridge (2959 Carlton St., NE), and Blow- Pierce (725 19th St., NE). “We’re opening a fourth school in September, Hense commented with quiet confidence, “and it’s not likely to be our last.” He also noted the deficit of good career training programs in the District. “We’re going to be looking in that direction, too,” he says. Actually, they already have. Last year, Friendship House opened an Apprenticeship and Jobs Training Resource Center, which will ulti- Frager’s VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 16 www.voiceofthehill.com mately be located at the old Naval Hospital at 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. Thumbs Up and Down Hense’s plans for the Naval Hospital have become a lightning rod for his critics, who see him as something of a Lone Ranger. The Capitol Hill Restoration Society, for example, took public issue, saying there was a lack of community input in how the facility was to be used, not to mention environmental concerns about the building renovation process. Hense replied that a public meeting had been held regarding the proposed use, and that the Friendship House programs would benefit the entire community. Friendship House has just been awarded a $2,000 matching grant by the National Trust for Historic Preservation to complete a feasibility study for the preservation of the Hospital. Funding the restoration is another matter. It also remains uncertain what they will do if the District wants to use the property for a mayoral residence. Shrinking to Grow Under Hense’s direction, Friendship House has also branched out in other ways. It now provides school lunches through its Friendship Food Services Systems. It has received a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to establish a 21st Century Learning Center, which is Frager’s True Value 1107 Pennsylvania Ave., SE • Washington, DC 20003 • Phone 202-543-0100 Monday-Friday 7am - 4pm • Saturday: 7am - 4 pm, Sunday Closed VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover aimed at providing the lifelong educational opportunities that are the core of sustainable community development. And, just this past week, it was awarded a grant from Freddy Mac to put computers in the Child Development Program. Hense acknowledges that the refocusing may mean reducing some activities. “We may shrink the more traditional aspects of our social services in order to move our programs into a more concise cluster,” he observes. An example of the refocusing will be seen next month when Market Day, once a Hill-wide celebration/ street fair that drew thousands to Eastern Market, will instead be held at The Maples. According to Jerry Haley, Development Director for Friendship House, recent changes in regulations regarding vendor space at Eastern Market made producing Market Day there more difficult. “People were also forgetting what Market Day was all about,” he added. “The festival itself became the focus. We want to restore the focus to Friendship House.” Clearly, Friendship House is on the move. The Friendship House of the past century established remarkable standards for community development and assistance. The Friendship House of the next century looks to meet and exceed those standards. Gene Miller is the Religion Editor of the Voice of the Hill. Buy what you want. Rent what you need. THE BEST “EXTRA BEDROOMS” ON CAPITOL HILL See our restoration of this turreted Victorianera bed & breakfast on the CAPITOL HILL HOUSE & GARDEN TOUR, 2000 MAY 13 & 14 Corner of 5th & A Streets, NE 202-547-1050 reserve@BullMoose-B-and-B.com Four models ro choose from to fit your needs. Minimum and daily rates. Call for prices …Friendship House is on the move. The Friendship House of the past century established remarkable standards for community development and assistance. The Friendship House of the next century looks to meet and exceed those standards. Mural painted in the late 1940s by Jessie Cary Grange is in the Friendship House ballroom. COURTESY FRIENDSHIP HOUSE VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 www.voiceofthehill.com 17 Ask Judith Mel, Sr. Mel, Jr. MARKET POULTRY Eastern Market 225 7th St., SE 202-543-7470 MARKET POULTRY Eastern Market 225 7th St., SE 202-543-7470 GIANNINA LYNN ATTORNEY AT LAW General and Family Practice Estate Planning • Probate • Domestic Relations • Real Estate • Equine Law Licensed in the District of Columbia and Maryland 1008 Pennsylvania Ave., SE (202) 544-2200 Washington, DC 20003 Atty_Lynn@Sprynet.com Riverby Books is always buying quality used books. Single volumes or an entire library. Call us BEFORE your next yard sale or fundraiser and we’ll pay you the highest prices…for one book or for all the books. Capitol Hill Location! 202-544-1925 Steve Cymrot E-mail riverby@erols.com Paul Cymrot 805 Caroline Street • Fredericksburg, Virginia 22401 Dear Judith. Last year we purchased a house that had suffered terribly at the hands of a circa 1960 “do-it-your-selfer.” One of his more charming additions was wallto- wall 9” square parquet flooring tiles. We asked you to look at the house and the three of us agreed that the first project would be replacing the living room floor. Before leaving you suggested that we avoid using polyurethane and, instead, rub the newly installed floors with oil. Well, we fell under the influence of a fast talking salesman from a glamorous downtown showroom. He wore expensive Italian loafers and, between cell phone calls, looked at us as if we were speaking a foreign language when we mentioned oiling the floors. He swore that in his 20 years in the floor business he’d never heard of such a thing. What can we say? It just seemed easier to go with the norm and have the floor coated in polyurethane. We were wimps. Now a year has passed and our once shiny floors are scuffed, chipped and marred. They look terrible. Is there anything we can do? P.S. YES, YOU WERE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! Dear P.S. You are not alone. People think the only question about polyurethane is what kind to use: Swedish, water-cured, whatever….. Short and sweet: polyurethane spells death for wood floors. Now let me support that admittedly contrarian position. First, instead of abdicating our own intelligence, education and common sense, let’s think about what polyurethane is and does. Polyurethane, or any other similar finish, is basically a very tough plastic coating that sits on the surface of your wood floor. However tough that finish is, it’s not tough enough. Go visit friends that have polyurethaned floors, get down on your hands and knees, and look carefully at the finish. You’ll see…. scratches. Are the scratches in the wood? No. They’re in the polyurethane. Plastic scratches. Don’t believe me? Take a look at virtually any piece of plastic stuff that you’ve owned for any length of time. When oak floors become dull and scratched it’s the plastic finish that’s the problem, not the hard oak boards. Pine floors have the opposite problem, being softer than the coating. When you put polyurethane over pine, the pine gives and moves. Then the stiffer polyurethane begins to break up and fail. Our flooring contractor pressed us to polyurethane the kitchen, a recommendation often made for “wet locations.” What with the usual kitchen wear and tear and the combination of a pine floor and a polyurethane coating, the finish lasted about six years. Now we have a penetrating seal that has lasted eight years and only now needs Eggs-traordinary Easter Selection! Capons • Turkeys • Ducks • Cornish Hens Eggs-traordinary Easter Selection! Capons • Turkeys • Ducks • Cornish Hens VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 18 www.voiceofthehill.com another coat of oil, an easy do-it-yourself project. “So what,” you might be saying. “Every flooring company I have ever talked to recommends polyurethane. If it scratches of wears off, I’ll just sand and put down more.” We’ll come back to that “everyone is doing it” fallacy. First, to sanding, the real death of your floor. Most of our homes have one hundred-year-old pine floors, or newer oak floors, all about 3/4” thick. Or they were, until they were sanded. Three quarters of an inch might sound like a lot of wood to go through before you can’t sand anymore, but the actual critical dimension is the quarter of an inch between the top of the floor and the top of the tongue (see sketch). In about two sandings that dimension gets to be so small that it breaks. Then you either have places where whole sections of pine flooring have popped off or creaky little cracks along that piece of wood on top of the tongue. Then your choices are wall-to-wall carpet or a new floor. In other words, when a floor company tells you they only take off a microscopic amount of wood when they sand, ask them if they’d like to take a look at the bridge you have for sale. That brings us back to “everyone is doing it.” Just about every floor company sings a variation of the same refrain, “ we recommend polyurethane,” “all our installations are with polyurethane,” “polyurethane wears well.” Blah, blah blah. I am reminded of how pediatricians forty years ago virtually always recommended the removal of children’s tonsils. A friend even told me about living in a small town without a hospital. A “tonsillectomy van” would come around and all the kids lined up. I can also remember that it was standard practice thirty years ago—and endorsed by FHA— to sandblast virtually all brick on old buildings. We’re living with the terrible consequences of that now. I have wondered and wondered about the dominance of polyurethane and come up with several theories: —Consumers want it: It appears easy to take care of; looks new, shiny fresh; no dreaded wax build-up (which translates to, no hands and knees). —When the floor guys finish slopping on the polyurethane, the floor shines like a new penny. (What does the floor guy care if it’s downhill from there?) —The conspiracy theory: Floor finishers know they’ll be called back soon to sand and put down more polyurethane—and it’s a short step from there to replacing the whole floor. So what kind of finish is best for wood floors? Penetrating seals last more or less forever. The National Oak Flooring Manufacturer’s Association recommends polyurethane only for wet areas: otherwise they recommend a penetrating sealer. Years ago I actually called NOFMA and talked to a front office lady who told me they had oak floors right there in their offices with penetrating seal on them. She estimated that it had been 25 years since they’d been sanded or refinished. Personal experience: we have tried an amazing variety of materials and finishes in our own house over the last 20 years, including polyurethane. We have one oak floor that has never had anything on it but a penetrating oil-seal, and it looks fine. We have a 14-year-old oak floor with a polyurethane finish. The oak itself looks great: tight joints, lovely. The polyurethane however is scratched and there’s one very permanent puddle where the finish wasn’t fully brushed out. A section with bands of walnut which form a sort of “rug” looks particularly bad. The signs of wear are even more apparent on the dark wood surface. Maintenance? People imagine that polyurethane is about easy care. I say dirt is dirt. When a floor with penetrating seal needs renewing, it can be done with soap and water and more oil. The polyurethane floor has to be sanded. (Installers will tell you that you can brush a new coat of polyurethane over the old. This is true if no one has ever put any wax on the floor…. did Marie mop on some wax before that party two years ago? Whoops.) Get the message? Polyurethane: Just Say No! Oh, it just breaks my heart to think of all the Capitol Hill floors that have served us for a hundred years that are only one or two sandings away from demolition. Judith Capen, AIA, practicing restoration architect is the author of many of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s award-winning guidelines for work on Capitol Hill Homes. Let Thom put a SOLD sign on your house. Thom Burns Thom Burns Serving Capitol Hill for 22 years and counting. 202 547-5805 Office 202 543-5616 Home REALTY PROS VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 www.voiceofthehill.com 19 Spencer Says Java No More: The Brew Has Gone Too Far “One more cup of coffee for the road One more cup of coffee ’fore we go to the valley below....” (BOB DYLAN ... DESIRE) Strange how urban life changes one. There was a time when I would go out and ride my bike down to the Eastern Market for a cup of coffee at Tom Glasgow’s Market Lunch, and ride it back home again, paper cup leaking, sugar packet dampening. It was sure to make a ring on my desk where I work, probably on a book I needed to return, or on a piece of copy I wanted to sell. And the coffee itself—it wasn’t all that good. Lukewarm from the ride, it tasted slightly of paper and smelled slightly of meat. Is there nostalgia for this picture? You bet. Today there’s coffee everywhere. There’s coffee in stores, coffee at the Market, coffee oozing darkly out of every crevice, dark shiny bitter beans at every grocery. Special coated cups for flavor. Heat shields. Four different kinds of sweetener. Cinnamon and other herbs. Flavorings. The funny thing is that the “new” coffee—made from better beans, better water, more carefully roasted and costing close to $2 instead of 30 to 50 cents—often isn’t all that good. That is an awful secret that today’s sophisticated coffee drinkers won’t utter. Coffee has become a class thing, spending over a dollar for it almost a religion. The drinkers are in denial though their beverage tastes generally like bitter hot water. They can’t afford to admit it, like the king who has no clothes on. The Hill is under coffee assault and more and more people are asking, “How much coffee can we take?” As a caffeine addict who’s married to another addict who’s so severely hooked that she says lack of coffee causes her migraine headaches, I am ready to go cold turkey on the whole Arabica-Columbia- Turkish-French Roast-Zimbabwe tribe. Today your walk down 7th Street is a coffee shower. Three merchants at Eastern Market offer the brew—the Fine Sweete Shoppe bakery, Jorge Canales’ grocery and faithful old Market Lunch. Canales is the best by far at $1.25, as it is still supplied by the beans of Carla Wing Bravo of Roasters on the Hill, the little 7th Street shop that was driven out of business by the coffee wars. Across the street from the market, Misha’s Deli has Russian Coffee, Prego has coffee, and Georgio’s has many kinds of coffee. Tunnicliff’s Tavern has restaurant coffee, as does neighboring Bluestone Café. At 666 Pennsylvania Avenue, Bread and Chocolate has a coffee bar, and the former Roasters has reopened as Stompin’ Grounds. Counting the three at the Market, that’s nine coffee vendors in two blocks. Walk up the street toward the Capitol and the Java jitters grow even more intense. The hot center of the coffee war is the corner of 3rd and Pennsylvania, where Xando opened its two floor coffee salon a year ago, and where Starbucks, the coffee Moloch with 2,800 outlets in the US plans to open a new shop in the venerable Sherrill’s Bakery, which long prided itself on serving the Hill’s worst coffee. (The only proud challenger was Tony Nardelli at Tune Inn at 4th and Pennsylvania). At that historic Third Street corner we’ll be watching the giants slug it out when Xando and Starbucks do battle for the same caffeine clients. Will Starbucks wage a price war and destroy Xando with a 50-cent espresso? We will see. But for the first time, there is resentment. Some people have said it’s a shame Starbucks is replacing Sherrill’s, and others say Starbucks is too commercial, too dominating, too mechanistic and soulless to invade the Hill with the express purpose of seizing a share of the market from other vendors. Coffee has become a cup of capitalism. In the meantime there is all too much of the stuff around. At Le Bon Cafe, the faux-French sandwich shop on Second St., SE where Library of Congress hot shots repair to dream of Paris, there’s coffee with big lumps of rough brown sugar; it was served in bowls without handles, tres chic until they all got broken. Now it’s back to the standard chrome vacuum bottles with press pumps on their black plastic tops and little signs that warn “hazelnut” or similar threats. Even Hill gas stations are pushing the stuff. How did it happen? I have a theory that it is a generational thing. When the kids of the ’60s gave up smoking dope and doing drugs they needed another ritual to take the place of the measuring, the rolling, the sitting in a circle, the smoke and the time out. They started going straight with early “good” coffee apparatus—the clear glass Chemex, the filtered water, the special brew from Italy or France. The combination of the infusion, measuring, testing and drinking with fellow cognoscenti gave the form if not the essence of forbidden fellowship —and hey, you could do it in front of your kids and the baby sitter. Myriad different coffee machines followed—the French plunger, the home espresso machine, the electric drip. Anything but the dear old percolator, devoid of any visual pleasure or pseudo scientific measuring skills. Then came the various varieties of bean and roast to be nodded wisely over, a whole new coffee snobbery to enjoy. From there it was a simple step to the commercial world, with the late 20th century practice of what I call “market inversion.” This the phenomenon by which items which once were favorites of the poor—like bread, cheese, fish—become the delicacies of the rich and quadruple in price. Inversion has hit all of the above, plus coffee. The real secret is that coffee is so cheap to produce —like pizza—that it’s almost impossible to lose money selling it, unless the rent is high and the customers thin out. A pound of coffee, which costs $7, makes 60 cups; you figure it out. But lose money some did. This was the case with Roasters on the Hill, the little hole in the wall that was the first gourmet coffee shop on the Hill. Former proprietress Carla Wing Bravo said Roasters failed because the other venues started offering other items as well. Bread and Chocolate had bigger tables and a bigger menu; Xando had liquor in the afternoon and comfortable couches. It wasn’t the coffee, it was the fringe benefits, she said. But the problem is that coffee was never designed to stand so much pressure. There it is—ground beans and water. It’s not a soufflé, it’s not a steak, it’s not a fresh rockfish in butter and parsley. It’s just a cup of flavored water hyped up to where people are forking over $1.75 for it. And tomorrow, we’ll discover something else to focus on. Opinionist Duncan Spencer is a regular columnist for the Voice of the Hill and The Hill newspapers. His views are occasionally shared by one or another of the publishers VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 20 www.voiceofthehill.com VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 The Blossoming of Barracks Row Barracks Row has not looked good these past few months. So many shop windows have been soaped, boarded or papered that it seemed like the next step would be a banner swagged across the avenue proclaiming a massive going out of business sale. Don’t hold your breath. The opening of Sheridan’s 1824 Steak House in the old Broker/Louisiana Café space on New Year’s Eve was the first sign that spring was arriving on 8th Street. Over the next few weeks there’ll be plenty more businesses blooming. Companion’s Pet Shop will shortly become the new location of Backstage, Washington’s premier theatrical supply shop which is moving to the Hill from it’s long-time home on P Street, NW. The Metropolis Bicycles sign will soon read Capitol Hill Bikes. Hill residents Denise D’Amour and Laurie Morin leased the space and expect to be open in a few weeks. Just down the block, Miller Reporting, a courtreporting firm that has been a fixture on Stanton Park since 1980, has purchased 735 8th Street, and will be moving their 50+ employees in this May. T’s Boutique is now The Chiropractic Nutrition Center, Powell Attorney’s is about to change hands, and the One Stop Food Shop will once again be a 7- 11. Barracks Row Business Alliance (BBA) Treasurer, Maurice Kreindler, who owns the Payless Shoes and Last Stop for Jeans buildings, is planning to build a line of shops on D Street, facing the Eastern Market Metro Plaza, and hopes to win approval to fill the space between the Last Stop and Popeye’s with another storefront. There’s also a serious whisper that Fresh Fields is looking at space near the Navy Yard. We haven’t even mentioned the possibility of a Mayor’s Mansion being created a block away at 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, have we? And that’s still not all. Two remarkable projects are snuggling up to make the Hill’s most historic, and historically troubled, commercial strip our crown jewel: The Barracks Row Main Street Project and the Capitol Hill BID. Main Street The Barracks Row Main Street Project (which emulates the highly successful Main Street Projects of the National Trust for Historic Preservation) has been in the works for several years now, and was actually launched to the public with much hoopla back in December, 1998. The idea is to restore this oldest street in Washington’s Federal City, making it a “gateway” to Capitol Hill from the commercial area that’s fast developing along the Southeast waterfront. Says Linda Parke Gallagher, Main Street’s president and executive director, the board of directors has been working with DC Department of Public Works (DPW) Planning Director, Ken Laden, on a wish list for the corridor. DPW has lined up federal funds that will be used to provide about $4 million in goodies like brick sidewalks, granite curbs, cobblestone courtyards, and new lighting for the 5 block strip that runs from Pennsylvania Avenue to M Street, SE. Apparently the funds can even be used for frills like banners and hanging flower baskets, as well as studies of parking and transportation. Gallagher says she wants to arrange a few workshops this summer so that the community can have a say in the plans, and hopes that the dust of progress will be in the air by early next year. Main Street has also received word that they can apply for up to $2 Million in Community Block Grant Development (CBGD) funds; federal grants that are channeled through HUD and then distributed locally. Organizers have requested a first installment of $240,000 to complete a comprehensive streetscape study that will include a recommendation for how each building on 8th Street should be remodeled or restored and the cost estimates. Future CBGD funding requests could be for grants, loans, or some combination of grants and loans for construction. “People are really excited about this project,” says Gallagher. She’s particularly pleased with a $30,000 grant from the Arcana Foundation, and a $25,000 grant from Fannie Mae. Both of these grants can be used for administrative support: renting an office on 8th Street, hiring staff and purchasing office equipment. This type of grant is particularly difficult to get since Foundations typically prefer to fund projects not rent and salaries. Gallagher sees it as an example of the excitement Main Street is generating. Beyond prettification of streets and facades, the Main Street program will be concentrating on “economic restructuring,” which includes working with new businesses to make sure that they toe the esthetic line. “Every business change is an opportunity to upgrade 8th Street’s image,” says Gallagher. 7-11, which will soon open at 8th and E Streets, SE, is a case in point. Gallagher says she and Barracks Row Business Alliance president, Cissy Webb, met with the snack and slurpee purveyors as soon as they heard the company was eyeballing 8th Street. The result is that instead of plastic signage and flashy neon, www.voiceofthehill.com 21 Business Bits JAZZ! ON THURSDAY & FRIDAY NIGHTS FROM 8:30PM UNTIL CLOSING. 424A 8TH STREET, SE ON CAPITOL HILL • 202-546-8308 WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY 6:30PM THRU CLOSING SUNDAY 12-4PM A CHAMPAGNE LOUNGE AND GARDEN CAFE H&W Contracting, Ltd. MAURICE HILL, CEO Home Improvements Don’t let your house get you down. Let H&W Contracting keep it up. We can take care of it all. Home Improvements Kitchens and Baths • Painting • Plumbing • Doors & Locks • Drains and Downspouts • Drywall and Plastering • Brickwork • Carpentry • Ceilings • Concrete • Roofing • Fences General Cleaning and Repairs Windows • Appliances • Blinds and Shades • Linoleum Tile • Hot Water Heaters • Exterminating • Landscaping 202 398 7117 Roses Sprout among the Weeds VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 there’ll be a green cloth canopy that will wrap the corner, tasteful screening of the dumpster, and a professionally maintained garden—with irrigation yet. (This 7-11, by the way, will be corporately owned until it is well established, then a franchisee will be sought to run it.) Capitol Hill Business Improvement District (BID) George Didden, president and CEO of the National Capital Bank and chair of CHAMPS’ Capitol Hill Business Improvement District (BID) committee, also happens to serve as the Main Street project’s treasurer. By way of explaining how the BID will link with Main Street, Didden said, “for Barracks Row to work, it needs to be clean and safe.” BID’s, in very brief, are areas of a city that decide to assess themselves a tax for services over and above those provided by the city. They can hire street cleaners and security, provide publicity, and sustain beautification projects—whatever the businesses in the area decide will most improve the commercial sector for the price they are willing to pay. CHAMPS (the Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals) is well along in the planning for a BID on the Hill. Over $40,000 has been raised from local businesses for development, a proposed area is being defined, key legislation is with the City Council, and a budget is being refined. The BID’s main purpose will be to clean and beautify the streets, and enhance the feeling of safety throughout the Hill’s historic district (which will probably, at least initially, be the BID area). Uniformed street cleaners and security personnel will be hired, banners will be hung, new trash cans put in place, and tree boxes will be planted and maintained. The extent of this project depends on the amount that commercial property owners agree to pay. Didden stresses that BID organizers don’t want Capitol Hill “to look like anything but Capitol Hill,” meaning they would like to retain a mix of small businesses. He sees 8th Street as an area that should be attractive to artists, particularly when the courtyards are cobbled and, perhaps, loft space created. “8th street will ideally evolve into a destination for visitors.” Even if retaining a small business mix on Barracks Row is desired, both Main Street and the BID will mean rising commercial rentals on 8th Street, SE. But, says Cissy Webb, “questions of what to do about the homeless, and the mess, have concerned us forever. Main Street and the BID are Godsends. Maybe it means more rent—but maybe that’s an OK thing.” More News from Barracks Row Guess who’s coming to dinner? Bringing the Dinner Trade. Miller Reporting, a fixture on Stanton Park since 1980, has purchased 735 8th SE, the doublewide office building directly across the street from the gates to the Marine Barracks. Steve Miller, the company’s president, says he’s very excited about the move, which should take place sometime in May. The Stanton Park offices have been tight for too long. Miller, a court reporting and transcription firm, employs 50 to 60 people, depending on whether Congress is in session. They provide transcripts for both House and Senate committee meetings, handle court reporting, depositions, arbitrations, and international meetings and events. Steve Miller says he has a team headed for a financial conference in Prague this September. The new building will require a good bit of renovation, and Miller says his immediate concern is the interior. “The move is expensive, so we’ll do what’s necessary first: painting, carpeting, roof and other repairs. I’m not sure yet how it all works; we’ll see how everything fits. The outside will come later.” In the meantime, he expects this influx of office workers will have quite a positive impact on the neighborhood, particularly the restaurants. “Court reporting is not a nine to five job, many people work evenings on rush transcripts; they go out to dinner, then come back to work.” Different Spokes. Shortly after May Day, Hill resident’s Denise D’Amour and Laurie Morin will be opening a new cycling shop in the old Metropolis Bike store at 709 8th Street, SE. Denise says they’ll be carrying many of the same high-end bike lines that Metropolis used to stock, and some new designs, like bikes designed for women. These are not “girls bikes,” the funny old jobs with the swoop in the middle so your poodle skirt would stay down, these models are designed to accommodate women’s physical differences: Hand brakes have a smaller circumference, making them easier for smaller hands to grip; and shorter top tubes that mean less of a stretch from seat to handlebar. They’ll also be carrying more cycling clothing— 22 www.voiceofthehill.com stocking many items that bikers usually have to go to suburban malls to find, or buy through catalogs. And there will be a full service repair area. Though the lawyer owners, recreational riders both, intend to have plenty of expertise in the shop (they’ve already hired Mark Noecker to manage the operation) and will stock all the extras that can satisfy the real enthusiast, they want everyone who comes in to feel comfortable. Says Denise, “a lot of bike shops are intimidating, ours won’t be.” All in the Family. Szechaun House is hardly a new face on 8th Street, it’s been a neighborhood favorite for years—though the evening business has always appeared to be more carryout than sit down. That may just change once folks get an eyeful of the restaurant’s redesign, and sample some of the items coming from the gleaming new open air grill and noodle bar. Tak Chu, Szechuan House’s manager, and brother- in-law of owner TH Cheung, is the magician behind the sizzle. The Hong Kong-born chef grew up on Cantonese noodle soups, but says they’re hard to find outside of Chinatown. Maybe because they’re a little tricky to prepare. You have to be very careful “not to overcook.” Noodle selections at Szechuan will include Me Fun and Ho Fun (thin and thick rice noodles), and wonton that are fatter, “more like ravioli,” and stuffed with shrimp, pork and vegetables. Tak will also be stirring up teriyaki on the bar’s grill, another crowd-pleaser that’s difficult to find locally. Three variations will be on the new menu: shrimp, chicken breast or salmon, all served with bean sprouts, broccoli and carrots. Szechuan House, 515 8th Street, SE. 546-5303. One Last Barracks Row Bit: TEAM, Inc., at 723 8th Street, SE, has just been awarded a contract to supply computer support services for 18 DC agencies Tuesday-Fri 11-6, Sat 10-6, Sunday 12-4 ¥ Eastern Market Metro 705 North Carolina Ave. S.E. On Capitol Hill (202) 546-3040 Spring is just around the corner! Check us out for new Flax clothing arriving for spring and summer. Plus sizes too! GALLERY OF ART, CLOTHING & UNUSUAL STUFF lax Is Back F ! 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Citibank FSB Capitol Hill’s Electrical Specialist Your home is my business Safety and Satisfaction Guaranteed MIGUEL Telephone 703-256-5961 Cellular: 703-798-3200 VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 including the Department of Administrative Services, the Department of Public Works, UDC, the Metropolitan Police Department, the DC Lottery, and “it goes on,” beams company president Mary Short. Mary will be assisted by new VP of Operations, Joe Turner, who was previously with McGraw Hill. Joe, says Mary, “is gonna make it all work.” TEAM already handles a number of Federal contracts, including the SBA. The DC contract, which will run for 5 years, is the company’s first with our city. Results the Gym Coming to the Giddings School. Keep your eye peeled for something extraordinary; this is a company that gets a big charge out of making (good) news. In 1997, Results at Dupont Circle was named the Best Designed Gym in the Country by Fitness Management Magazine, and this past summer, W Magazine named it One of the Five Greatest Gyms on the Planet—now there’s a boast. Owner Doug Jeffries has every intention of making the new Hill location just as fabulous. Originally plans called for gutting the building, but Jeffries fell in love with the old woodwork, tile and marble, and decided to preserve it. Architect Mike Stoneking, who also designed the Dupont Circle location, will be playing some clever tricks with original details, like turning the blackboards into mirrors—the drawings should be finalized in the next 3 to 4 weeks. Beyond top-of-the-line gym basics, Jeffries says we’ll be getting lots of neat cardio toys, a 35-foot climbing wall, cutting edge fitness programs like Pilates and classes like “ballet for toning.” The school’s gym and auditorium will be converted to courts for volleyball, basketball, racquetball, and squash—or as many of those activities as will fit. “It looks like a big space, but it shrinks very quickly.” They’re also planning to build a glass atrium to enclose a lap pool on the west side of the building. There’ll be a day care center, a day spa for massage, hair and nail care, and a café for a light bite and a smoothie after the workout. Beyond that, Jeffries says, it’s up to us. He expects Results to be “a chameleon to the community.” Though the club won’t be ready until early next spring, Jeffries will begin offering memberships in the next couple of months. He says he’s contemplating giving the first 1000 members a “voting membership,” which would give them a greater say in how the gym develops. For many residents, one of the biggest issues is how responsive the gym will be to the community. Jeffries, who lived on the Hill for 5 years, is aware that the Hill is very different from Dupont Circle; it’s a far more family oriented place. He says he definitely plans to make the club’s courts available to local schools for games and practice, and the auditorium available for community meetings—but how this will be worked out is still sketchy.” Uptown Bakers Moving to NE. Last month we mentioned the possibility of a fancy schmancy baker moving to the Hill’s Northeast rim. We’ve since been given leave to make the announcement that Washington’s original artisan bakery, Uptown, will soon be moving downtown, to 318 I Street, NE (former home of Ace Hardware). Uptown Bakers made plenty of headlines when they first opened at 3313 Connecticut Avenue, NW in 1991. The papers were full of photos of ecstatic bread lovers who often waited on line for an hour or more for the joy of crunching on a crusty loaf. Even with plenty of competition from the likes of upstarts like Firehook, business has continued to boom for the baker, and they quickly moved into a much larger facility in Arlington, Virginia. They now distribute bread and pastries all around town, all over the Washington-Baltimore area and around Northern Virginia. Company president Andrew Maniscalco says that the company will be moving 95% of the company’s operations—including bread and pastry production, sales, distribution and executive offices to the new facility—and there’s a chance, just a chance, that they’ll have a retail counter. Honored, and Honored and Honored Again (And Rich to Boot). ReMax realtor, Jackie von Schlegel (who also sponsors the Voice of the Hill children’s calendar each month) had a bang-up 1999. The lady placed second for both gross commissions and total transactions in the Central Atlantic Region (an area that takes in DC, Maryland and Virginia). Those honors earned her membership in the company’s Platinum Club, the highest honor that ReMax bestows upon a sales associate. If that’s not enough, Jackie also reeled in a Platinum Award from the realtor organization WDGCAAR. That prize goes to agents who have ten million or more in gross commissions. Jackie came in at a cooooool 13 mil, and with a Cheshire cat grin says, “and I’m gonna do it again this year!” Help the poor girl out will ya? Call her at 547-5600. Slim Pickings. Washingtonian Magazine’s April issue zooms in on “Where to Find It,” their annual guide to buying whatever for the home and garden. Just a handful of top picks haled from the Hill: wonderful Oriental rug bazaar Woven History on 7th St., SE, Pennsylvania Avenue’s resource du craft, Art and Soul, and the Sunday Flea at Eastern Market. Art Walk. That same issue of Washingtonian also carries a feature on local art galleries, and nary a one is on the Hill. That’s something that’s due for a change. The Hill’s gallery owners and artists, inspired by the sell-out “Art Walk” that was held last December, and the regular gallery openings that have become a hot (free) ticket over in Northwest, are conspiring on a monthly gallery hop called 2nd Saturday to begin this June. The idea is that galleries, real estate offices and other venues that mount regular art shows in the community, would open new exhibits on the 2nd Saturday of each month, and show them off to the public from 5PM to 7PM. To make the tour more tempting, galleries will be encouraged to serve wine and hors d’oeuvres, and maybe include other entertainment, like chamber music. Restaurants are being contacted to see if they’d like to offer special discounts for gallery goers. Eventually, organizers would like to turn the event into something of a three-ring circus, with a wide range of arts activities promoted for the evening—perhaps music or other performances in the Eastern Market Metro Plaza, and theater or literary events in other locations. A map and list of participating galleries and restaurants is now being created. If you have a gallery or studio, or a business that holds regular art exhibits, contact Michele Taylor at 546-0021. To be included, you must agree to be open from 5PM to 7PM on the 2nd Saturday of every month and roll out the red carpet for visitors! Sam’s Goes Chi Chi. Sam’s, the mom-and-pop corner store on Lincoln Park at 11th Street is about to get new owners. Jim Simpson and Ross McWilliams (who have each served several terms as president of the Sousa Neighborhood Association, and are well known for their concern for the community —not to mention good taste), along with business partner Chris Ballard, are now negotiating the purchase of the building. Simpson says they’ll be turning the second and third floors into apartments, and completely renovating and upgrading the ground-level store, giving it more eye-appeal. “First thing, those soda machines and phones have gotta go,” says Simpson, referring to the jumble of eyesores that that line the side of the building. Simpson and McWilliams are also in the process of turning Bordow’s Liquors at the corner of 7th and G Street, SE, which was long a neighborhood pestilence, into a small apartment building. That project should be completed in the next few months. Just Say You Know Andrew. Lincoln Park Neighbor Andrew Glasow was recently named the new director of marketing for the Washington Design Center, just a roll down the Hill in Southwest. Glasow will be overseeing the Center’s to-the-trade and public programs, including the bi-annual Design House— which happens to have just opened a spring show, ten model rooms that showcase the work of ten prominent design firms, while showing off the latest color trends and furniture designs. The Design Center, which used to be closed to all but architects and designers, now puts out the welcome to all. Admission to the Spring Design House is free. Washington Design Center, 300 D Street, SW. 554- 5053. Business Bits is written by Voice editor Stephanie Cavanaugh. www.voiceofthehill.com 23 Banana Cafe & Piano Bar Serving the Best Cuban, Puerto Rican, & Mexican Food in the City! Lunch, Dinner and Sunday Brunch 7 Days a Week Patio Now Open No Cover! Piano Bar Upstairs Every Night! Happy Hour Tues-Fri 5-7:30 Monday-Friday Drink Specials with Free Hors d’oeuvres 500 8th St, SE 1 block east of Blue/Orange Eastern Market Metro / 202-543-5906 VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 24 www.voiceofthehill.com Jeffrey A. Love, Loan Officer Federal Funding Mortgage Corp 202-21--7106 jlov@ffmcorp.com Pet Supplies Doolittle’s Pet Supply 224 7th St., SE 544-8710 See our ad on page 31 Photography Asman Photo 924 Penn. Ave, SE 547-7713 See our ad on page 13 Motophoto 666 PA Ave., SE 547-2100 See our ad on page 2 Picture Framing Frame of Mine 522 8th St., SE 543-3030 See our ad on page 15 Newman Gallery and Custom Frames 511 11th St., SE 544-7577 See our ad on page 10 Plumbing & Heating Leakbusters Plumbing & Remodeling 202 544-5000 Real Estate Valerie M. Blake Prudential Carruthers Realtors 5025 Wisconsin Ave, NW 202-362-1348, x111 www.DCHomeQuest.com Thom Burns Coldwell Banker Real Estate 109 8th St. NE 547-5805 Larry C Pardoe Real Estate 605 PA Ave., SE 546-7000 Tom & Alice Faison REMAX Real Estate 220 7th St., SE 547-5881 Antiques Antiques on the Hill 701 North Carolina Ave., SE See our ad on page 27 Attorneys Davis & Gooch 920 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE 543-3600 Rick Halberstein & Karen Byrne 705 D St., SE 543-1110 Arts Center Capitol Hill Arts Workshop 545 7th St., SE 547-6839 See our ad on page 35 Association CHAMPS 621 PA Ave., SE 547-7788 Bank National Capital Bank 316 PA Ave.,SE 546-8000 See our ad on page 31 Books Capitol Hill Books 657 C Street, SE, 544-1621 Good Used Books Bought & Sold. See p. 42 Riverby Books 419 E. Capitol St., SE 547-3228 See our ad on page 17 Chimney Cleaning Winston’s Chimney Service Washington DC (301)571-8546 See our ad on page 25 Church Christ Church Washington Parish 620 G St., SE 547-9300 See our ad on page 40 Clothing & Gifts Art & Soul 225 PA Ave., SE 548-0105 See our ad on page 22 The Village 705 N. Carolina Ave., SE 546-3040 See our ad on page 22 Computer Consultant Better Computer Solutions 623 N. Carolina Ave., SE 546-8084 See our ad on page 39 Drug Store Grubbs Care Pharmacy 326 E Capitol SE 543-4400 See our ad on page 33 Electric Repairs Bob Willett / K&W Electric 301-283-4004 Service work small jobs Garden and Landscape Gingko Gardens 911 11th St., SE 543-5172 See our ad on page 18 Ornamental Garden 544-7831 District Cityscapes, Inc 202-544-4886 See our ad on page 33 Grocery The 8th Street Market 419 8th St., SE See our ad on page 31 Hardware Fragers Hardware 1115 Pennsylvania Ave., SE 543-6157 See our ad on page 15 Health & Fitness GI Jane 645 Pennsylvania Ave., SE 547-7906 See our ad on page 27 Home Furnishings Woven History 311 7th St., SE 543-1705 See our ad on page 26 Home Repair Federal City Iron 321 K St., NE 547-1945 See our ad on page 25 Handyman on the Hill Washington DC 206-7185 See our ad on page 10 H&W Contracting, Ltd. 398-7117 See our ad on page 21 Income Tax Services Jackson Hewitt Tax Service 8th St., SE 554-8840 See our ad on page 30 Mason Michaliga Masonry 321 C Street, SE 544-4484 Mortgage Lenders Apex Home Loans 1-800-914-8475, ext. 2075 See our ad on page 11 Business Directory Listings: Voice of the Hill is including a yellow-pages style directory of businesses and services that cater to the Capitol Hill community. To be included in the directory businesses must commit to a one-year contract, payable in advance by check, Visa or Mastercard. The annual fee is $250. Display advertisers on annual contracts will be included in the directory at no additional charge. Each business will be given three lines in the directory; two must be used for the company name, address and phone number. An extra line is available for your name, a description of your business or service, or a direction to see your ad. Additional lines may be added at an annual cost of $60 per line (per year). If you would like to be included in the next directory, please fill in the following form and send it, along with your check or payment information, to: The Voice of the Hill, 120 11th St., SE, Washington, DC 20003. If you have questions please call Bruce Robey at 544-0703. Your Name:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Company Name: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Business Description: (30 character maximum) _____________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please charge my Mastercard or Visa Name on Card:__________________________________________________________________________________________________ Card Number: _______________________________________________________________________Expiration Date:____________ John C. Formant John C. Formant Real Estate 225 PA Ave., SE 544-3900 Pardoe Real Estate 605 PA Ave., SE 546-7000 See our ad on the back cover Jackie von Schlegel REMAX Real Estate 220 7th St., 547-5600 Phyllis Jane Young Pardoe Real Estate 605 PA Ave., SE 546-7000 Real Estate Settlement Capital Home Title 703 D St., SE Washington DC 544-4300 See our ad on page 25 Congressional Title 650 PA Ave., SE 544-0800 See our ad on page 31 Eastern Market Title 210 7th St., SE 546-3100 See our ad on page 21 Restaurants 2 Quail 320 Massachusetts Ave. NE 543-8030 See our ad on page 32 Banana Café 400 8th St., SE 543-5906 See our ad on page 23 Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream 327 7th St., SE 546-CAKE See our ad on page 27 Bluestone Cafe 327 7th St., SE 547-9007 See our ad on page 12 Business Services VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 www.voiceofthehill.com 25 Business Services Caffe Italiano 1129 PA Ave., SE 544-5500 See our ad on page 28 Ellington’s on 8th 424A 8th St SE 546-8308 See our ad on page 21 Hawk ’n’ Dove 329 PA Ave., SE 543-3300 See our ad on page 10 Park Café 106 13th St., SE 543-0184 See our ad on page 39 Sheridan’s Steak House 713 8th St., SE 546-6955 See our ad page 33 Stompin’ Grounds 666 Pennsylvanai Ave., SE, 546-5778 See our ad on page 28 Salon RPM Salon 225 PA Ave., SE 543-6481 See our ad on page 25 Social Services Capitol Hill Group Ministry 421 Seward Sq., SE 544-0385 Schools Capitol Hill Day School 210 S. Carolina Ave., SE 547-2244 Edmond Burke School 2955 Upton St., NW 362-8882 Levine School of Music 2801 Upton St., NW 686-9772 St Peter’s School 422 3rd St., SE 544-1618 Spiritual Advisors Corrin Bennett 920 G St., SE 543-5825 See ad on page 8 Gabrielle Hill 639 E. Capitol SE 544-438 See ad on page 8 Vacation/Travel Consultants Jan Cammarata Judiciary Express Travel 7th & Penn SE, 547-3007 Yoga Studio Dancing Heart Center for Yoga 221 5th St., NE 544-0841 See our ad on page 8 ATT: Men Men’s Haircut and Burnished Highlights $50 Through May 19 ATT: Women Spring Makeover, Includes Lesson, $15 Through May 19 ATT: Men & Women Try Any New Body Treatment & Receive 15% Off Includes Total Relief, Total Body Wellness & Backsaver Through May 19 225 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE 202-543-6481 www.RPMSALONS.com Federal City Iron, Ltd. All Ornamental Ironwork Expert Cast Iron Stair Repairs Window Bars & Security Gates Fencing & Tree Boxes Metal Repairs SPECIALIZING IN CAPITOL HILL STYLES 202-547-1945 Best Price Guaranteed! Free Estimates 321 (rear) K St., NE e-mail: steel1M@aol.com CAPITAL home title, llc 703 D Street, SE Washington, DC 20003 Phone 202 544-4300 FAX (202) 544-7876 E-mail capitalhometitle@erols.com Michael Hines Other Settlement Locations Georgetown Chevy Chase Columbia, MD Camp Springs, MD Rockville, MD Annapolis, MD Bowie, MD Greenbelt, MD Crofton, MD Baltimore, MD Across from the Eastern Market Metro RPM HAIR & SKIN CARE CENTER Winston’s Quality Service since 1976 Cleanings • Repairs • Relinings Expert second opinion Air duct cleaning 301-571-8546 Licensed • Insured • Certified 202-CHIMNEY (244-6639) Recommended by Washingtonian Magazine 1984-1987 DCHIC #3615 Chimney Service VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 Private “Corrections Center” Bids for Space on the Hill 15th Street, SE Center Would House 40 Offenders Amy Mauro of Councilmember Sharon Ambrose’s office sent the Voice the a situation statement on March 30 concerning a private West Virginia-based corporation that specializes in residential correctional rehabilitation services that has bid on a Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons Request for Proposals to run a “Community Corrections Center” (a correctional halfway house) at 308 -15th Street, SE. The Center would house approximately 40 offenders—transfers from federal institutions, direct court commitments, supervision cases, probationers, parolees—and pre-trial suspects, at the site. Mauro’s statement was posted immediately to www.voiceofthehill.com and there’s been “a lot of concern from residents” and letters of protest sent to the Bureau of Prisons, including one from Ambrose on April 2. Bonnie Sinsel, Chief, Community Corrections Counseling for the Bureau of Prisons responded to the Councilmember’s letter on April 5, thanking her “for advising BOP of your opposition to the location,” and saying that no decision has been made. So far it’s all very high-handed, with Bureau of Prisons officials dismissive of community sentiment. Though Mauro says that Ambrose doesn’t think that they’ll get a zoning waver for a prison facility directly across from Payne Elementary School, and she suspects that proper bidding procedures were not followed in this case, we are advised to keep the pressure on. The situation statement, Ambrose’s position, and the people to write and phone follow: The Background on the RFP “This RFP was issued as part of a process that is changing the face of corrections in the District of Columbia. The National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 (the “Revitalization Act”), which was essentially a financial bail-out package for the District sponsored by President Clinton and Congress, requires that the adult sentenced felony population of the District be transferred to the federal prison system over the next several years and mandates that the Lorton Correctional Complex be closed no later than December 31, 2001. The Revitalization Act further stipulates that the Bureau of Prisons house at least 50% of the District’s felony population in private contract facilities by September 30, 2003. The federalization of our prison system has resulted in pressure on the Bureau of Prisons to contract out community correctional facilities in the District and elsewhere for DC felons... The proposal to run a facility at 308 - 15th Street, SE has not [yet] been selected and is currently being evaluated by the Bureau of Prisons. Also, the location of 308 - 15th Street, SE was not chosen by the Bureau of Prisons, it was chosen by the bidder and is offered as part of that bidder’s proposal. There are presumably other competing proposals out there for locations unknown to this office. The bid in question is part of a federal procurement process, the details of which are not public. However, there are certain requirements of the bidders, including that local elected officials be notified by the bidder of its plans and that local zoning and other permitting processes be completed prior to the submission of the bid. The Role of Halfway Houses in the Criminal Justice System: The important role that halfway houses play in the criminal justice system should be noted. Most of them house recently released prisoners on parole or probation status for a temporary period of time before they are fully integrated back into society. Both the individual and the community at large are far better served by this sort of gradual, supervised integration into society, with the appropriate counseling, rather than by simply releasing prisoners directly into the community with no supervision, after time served in prison. 26 www.voiceofthehill.com downLoad Proposed site of “Community Corrections Center.” VOICE of the Hill / April 21, 2000 Alternatively, a minority of residents of halfway houses are pre-trial inmates, that is, individuals suspected of crimes and awaiting trial who have been deemed not dangerous enough or not enough of a risk of flight to be held in prison, and too dangerous or too much of a risk of flight to be released into the community unsupervised pending trial. The proposal for 308 - 15th Street, S.E. would house both types of individuals. Councilmember Ambrose’s Position: Councilmember Ambrose has been quite clear on the public record in the past with respect to her objections to the number of correctional facilities already located in Ward 6 and she will do everything in her power to prevent another one from being housed in this community. It is Councilmember Ambrose’s position that, despite the importance of halfway houses to the criminal justice system, one area of the city should not be expected to bear a disproportionate burden with respect to correctional facilities. Ward 6 already houses the MPD’s central lock-up facility at 300 Indiana Avenue, NW, DC Jail, the Correctional Treatment Facility, and two of the District’s six halfway houses (one located at 810-812 - 14th Street, NE and one located at 1430 G Street, NE, approximately 15 blocks north of the proposed location on 15th Street). Furthermore, Councilmember Ambrose feels that it is counter to the goal of genuine neighborhood stabilization to place these facilities in residential neighborhoods. The proposed 15th Street location, in particular, is right in the middle of an area that Mayor Williams has targeted as a “Capital Community” as part of his efforts to eliminate open air drug markets in the District. What You Can Do: The District government has no jurisdiction over what is essentially a federal procurement process. However, bidders are required to participate in certain local processes. First of all, this office certainly has not been contacted by the bidder (we found out about the proposal by accident). Also, our local Zoning Administrator has provided this office with a written determination that, in order to operate such a facility, the bidder would have to apply for both a Special Exception from the Board of Zoning Adjustment to establish the use in the C-2-A zone, as well as a variance to house more than twenty persons in a community based residential facility in the C-2-A zone. Finally, there is the issue of over-concentration of correctional facilities in one part of the city—this issue must be taken under consideration by the Bureau of Prisons as it makes decisions about the future of community corrections in the District of Columbia.” To make sure that your opinion on this matter is part of the Bureau of Prisons evaluation process, contact, preferably in writing, the following individuals: Ms. Bonnie Sincil and Ms. Cathy Stewart Federal Bureau of Prisons Community Corrections Contracting 320 1st Street, NW Room 5006 Washington, DC 20534 307-3070 (ph) 307-2780 (fax) Councilmember Sharon Ambrose 441 - 4th Street, NW, Suite 710 Washington, DC 20001 202-724-8072 (ph) 202-724-8054 (fax) The Honorable Anthony Williams Mayor, District of Columbia 441 - 4th Street, NW, 11th Floor Washington, DC 20001 727-2980 (ph) 727-0505 (fax) The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton 1424 Longworth House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 225-8050 (ph) 225-3002 (fax) EMCAC vs. Market 5 Gallery Founder On the Ropes Over Back Rent John Harrod, founder and director of Eastern Market’s Market Five Gallery, has locked horns with the city and the Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC) over $7,000 in back rent, a conflict that could result in his eviction. Duncan Spencer reported the situation in his April 12 column for The Hill newspaper saying, “The facts came to light after a meeting of the management and operations subcommittee of the Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC) chaired by Brian Furness, at which the subcommittee voted to advise the city not to accept a ‘final’ settlement offer from Harrod to end a yearlong stand-off. The details of that offer are not known, but sources said that the total sum offered was far less than the arrears demanded.” Meanwhile, Harrod told the Voice that until EMCAC got involved, he was close to reaching an agreement with the city. “There were some outstanding issues, but even they say we were close.” He had asked that negotiations be kept private, but “they didn’t agree. The city felt it should go through EMCAC—but my lease is with the city.” Spencer also says Harrod, whose rent has been $1500 per quarter, has been on a month-to-month lease instead of a one-year lease, and “claims the city has also cut off his main source of income by limiting his right to freely rent out the Hall.” Voice sources say Harrod is not barred from renting the Hall, but he’s finding it difficult to land any takers, since alcohol can no longer be served even with a one-night liquor license. Why? Because the Gallery has no Certificate of Occupancy. Why not? Because, among other problems it has no toilets. This is not exactly news, there’s long been a somewhat murky law about serving alcohol at events in public spaces-but the previous administration looked at it with eyes wide shut. Though considerable revisions to the law are now being considered, it’s a good bet you’ll always need a bathroom if you intend to serve booze. Can Harrod afford to pay that back rent? According to an income statement that was filed along with the recently created Request For Proposal for a new Market Manager for the Market, revenue from parties and events is the least of the Gallery’s income. Harrod’s average gross income from events is estimated at less than $5,000 a year (though it has ranged as high as $18,000 in 1994). His annual gross income from Saturday vendors is estimated at $45,000 per year. From March through Christmas he gets 40% of the gross for the Sunday Flea Market (less $25 per week for a personal exhibit space for Flea manager Tom R