VOICEThis Month
4 The Hill is
Wherever You Think
It Is
6 Welcome to the
Capitol State
8 The Neighborhood
Goes Wild
10 American Legion
Post #8
12 Checking Out the
Library of Congress
14 Confessions of a
Volunteer
15 Mind Your Manners
17 The Restoration
Society Wants You
Departments
VoiceMail .......................3
Business Bits ..............20
Business Services........24
DownLoad....................26
Capital Kids .................34
Sports .........................35
Kids’ Calendar ............37
In The Stars ................38
Community Calendar ....38
Classifieds...................42
Vol. 2 No. 5 August 18 2000
of
The
Hill
Where in the world
is Capitol Hill?
capitol hill arts
workshop
W
E
B
R
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L
I
F
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T
O
T
H
E
H
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AFTER SCHOOL
ARTS PACKAGE
Monday through Thursday, 4-6
p.m., Friday, 4-5:30 p.m.
This program provides the serious student
with two hours of activities every
day after school, between the hours
of 4 and 6 p.m. Van service from local
schools is included. Students are
grouped according to age, with one
group for children 5-7 and one group
for ages 8-12. This is a more than
$2000 value, if classes are enrolled in
separately, a savings of over $500!
YOUTH CLASSES
Acrobatics I & II
Creative Movement/Pre-Ballet
Ballet I & II
Jazz/Hip Hop Nutcracker
Modern Dance I & II
Moving Minds
Tae Kwon Do Together
Tap Dance I & II
Tumbling I & II
Music Together
Orff Music & Instruments
Spanish Chorus!
Suzuki Violin Class
Kids 4 Kids By Kids ONstage
Kids 4 Kids By Kids BACKstage
Art Together: Pottery!
Art Together: Photography!
CHAW Art Sampler
Computer Graphic Design
Creatures of Clay
Fab Fabrics & Dynamic Dyes
Hand-built Pottery
A Myriad of Monoprints
Marvelous Mosaics
Masks & Puppets
Photography I
Sculpture in the Round
X-Press Yourself
TEEN CLASSES
Kids 4 Kids By Kids ONstage
Kids 4 Kids By Kids BACKstage
Shakespeare on the Page, Shakespeare on
the Stage
Computer Graphic Design
Tie-Dyeing & Batik Basics
Freestanding Sculpture
Mural & Graffiti Art
ADULT CLASSES
Beginning Ballroom
Jitterbug
Swing/Lindy Hop
Tap Together
Funk Aerobics
Gentle Yoga
Stretch and Tone
Tae Kwon Do Together
Adult Tae Kwon Do
Total Body Workout
Yoga
Chamber Music
Music Composition I & II
Rhythm Basics
Sight-singing and Ear Training
Scene Study I & II
Basic/Intermediate Drawing
Beginning Watercolor
Beginning/Intermediate Watercolor
Ceramics I & II
Ceramics Open Studio
Open Studio for Artists I & II
Photography I & II
Open Dark Room
Photo Journalism I & II
Journaling
Writing from the Hip
WORKSHOPS
Autumn Listening Workshop
Ballroom Dance: Social Occasion Survival
Ballroom Dance Brush-up: Holiday Party
Survival
Ballroom and Swing Dance Jams
Computer Graphics for Parents & Children
Creative Play for Grown-ups
Holiday Ornament & Candle Making
Pumpkin Carving
PRIVATE MUSIC INSTRUCTION
African Drumming, Cello, Flute, French,
Horn, Guitar, Bass, Piano, Pennywhistle,
Recorder, Renaissance Instruments, Violin,
Suzuki Violin, Viola, Voice
OPEN HOUSES!!!!
Learn more about the
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
Stop by the Workshop at
545 7th Street, SE
Washington, D.C. 20003
Saturdays, August 26, &
September 9, 2000
10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Meet the staff, ask questions, see faculty
demonstrations and register!
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Monday through Thursday,
9 a.m. through 9 p.m.
Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
classesclassesclassesclasses!
plus!
WINTER REVELRY HOUSE TOUR
Sunday, December 10
1:00 – 5:00 p.m.
$25 ($10 for children 14 and under)
A Holiday House Party on Capitol Hill —a true
Capitol Hill classic!
FILMS ON THE HILL
Classic Films from the Arts Workshop
Each month, Films on the Hill offers great classics
from the first half of the last century as
well as short subjects, trailers and cartoons.
Tickets are $5 and can be purchased on the
night of the film or reserved in advance by
phoning the Workshop at 202-547-6839. All
films are 16mm prints shown in the Black Box
Theater in the Workshop. The silent films are
accompanied by Ray Brubacher, the area’s foremost
silent film accompanist.
CAPITOL HILL ART LEAGUE
Monthly juried exhibits at the Workshop. Free
and open to the public. To become a member,
contact the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop.
SEPTEMBER: “Body Image”
September 13 - 29
OCTOBER: “On the River”
October 3 - 27
NOVEMBER: “A Day in the Life of
America”
November 1 - 24
DECEMBER: Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
Staff & Faculty Show and Sale
THEATER ALLIANCE
November 2000
Do Lord, Remember Me
A powerful play based on the WPA interviews…
hear the memories of ex-slaves....the
words of Black men and women as they recall
the experiences of the “peculiar institution” as
it happened to them...
March 2001
Winnie the Pooh / Theater for Young
People
Join Christopher Robin, Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore
and all your old favorites as they adventure
together in the hundred-acre woods. Directed
by Joanna Lewton.
June 2001
Bel Age / Gay Plays for
Grownups Series
A world premiere by Helen Hayes Award
nominee and playwright in residence Sam
Schwartz, Jr.
CAPITOL HILL CHORALE
EXPECTATION AND REMEMBRANCE
The Capitol Hill Chorale, an 80-voice
ensemble, will present three concerts in its
upcoming eighth season.
I “EXPECTATION”
December 8 and 10, 2000, 7:30 p.m.
THE CAPITOL HILL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
II “CORONATION AND
INAUGURATION”
February 9 and 11, 2001, 7:30 p.m.
SAINT JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC CHURCH
III “REMEMBRANCE”
May 18 and 20, 2001, 7:30 p.m.
THE CAPITOL HILL PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH classes begin sept. 11!
Visit our website at www.chaw.org
contributed some public relations
and organizing expertise to
the group that Will had already
formed.
Duncan’s unfortunate characterization
may inadvertently nourish thinking
that opposition to the Boys Town project
is somehow manipulated or led by people
or groups not part of the immediate community.
Nothing could be further from the
truth. Will indeed represents the neighborhood
that will be most affected by the
Boys Town project, and the neighborhood
that has, and will continue, taking the
lead on this issue. He’s doing a splendid
job and he deserves the community’s support
and recognition. I, and the Capitol Hill
Restoration Society, are delighted
that we can help out in some small
fashion.
Regards,
BRIAN FURNESS
Brian Furness is the President of the Capitol
Hill Restoration Society
To the Editor:
Where were all of these voices that are
so outraged about Boys Town when the
Capitol Hill Restoration Society was
allowed to put an end to the St. Coletta’s
project which would have added so much
to Pennsylvania Ave. SE. I often wonder
about what the neighborhood has become
when a few can make decisions that
affect so many and get away with it.
JERRY & MEL
To the Editor:
Regarding the letter concerning the collection
of books for the Boy Scouts [July
21, 2000]: As a gay man and long-term
resident of Capitol Hill, I must question
the propriety of support for the Boy
Scouts. Capital Hill has many gay and lesbian
residents. My partner and I have
always felt the Hill to be a place of tolerance
and acceptance of diversity. The
Boy Scouts of America actively and even
proudly discriminate against gays, both
among its scout leaders and its youth
membership. Arguing before the Supreme
Court against allowing gays to be scout
leaders in the case of Dale v. Boy Scouts
of America, the Boy Scouts deliberately
sent a subliminal message that gay men
cannot be trusted around
boys, putting the
specter of pedophilia
in the minds of
the ignorant.
America is becoming
more accepting
of gays as human
beings and not stereotypes,
and less tolerant of prejudice. There are
many worthwhile youth groups which can
and should be supported in place of the
Boy Scouts.
Sincerely,
CHRISTOPHER KOPPEL
To the Editor:
One of Capitol Hill’s best attributes is its
high quality pedestrian environment-shaded
brick sidewalks mostly uninterrupted
by driveways, with plenty of interesting
row house architecture and destinations
like Metro and Eastern Market close
enough to walk to.
Therefore it is annoying in the extreme
when one arrogant property owner
diminishes the pedestrian realm by illegally
blocking the sidewalk for his own
selfish ends. On a recent Saturday afternoon
the sidewalks on the block of 7th
Street between Independence Avenue and
A Street, SE were crowded with folks on
their way back from the Market carrying
bags full of summer produce. A car
parked in a driveway leading to a 1960s
infill house was blocking the sidewalk
forcing pedestrians, including one elderly
woman with a shopping cart, to detour
around the car into the street.
The DC Government, through agencies
like the Historic Preservation Review
Board, has made it generally impossible
today for a property owner get a new
curb cut and driveway installed across
the public space to the property line.
Unfortunately, in the 60s and 70s before
that policy went into effect, a number of
such driveways were put in place.
Property owners with existing curb cuts
and driveways are ‘grandfathered’ but
that doesn’t mean they can treat public
space as their own. Sidewalks are for
pedestrians, let’s keep cars off them.
Sincerely,
STEPHEN MORRIS
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 3
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The Voice of the Hill is published and
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The focus is on the community and
includes contiguous neighborhoods
from Gallaudet University to the
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Publication and distribution is the
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Bruce Robey
WebMaster
Adele Robey
Graphic Design and Production
Gene Miller, Church Editor
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Contributing Writers
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Memberships
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VOICE of
The
Hill
Celeste McCall
Duncan Spencer
Danielle Tarantolo
To the Editor:
FYI the Post [recently ran] an article and
pictures of the new gas station slated for
Third and H St. NE (which would replace
the run down Amoco near the children’s
museum). I’ve heard a lot of negative
talk about this development but this
looks like a huge improvement on what is
currently there (the current Amoco is rundown,
poorly lit, and the inability to pay
at the pump makes it less safe in my
opinion).
I also just wanted to let you know
that I found [Duncan Spencer’s] piece
about Boys Town to be offensive and ill
informed [Boys Town Rejection, July 21,
2000]. I realize that it was an opinion
piece and that most of Capitol Hill
already has its mind made up about Boy’s
Town but I would appreciate some actual
“information” instead of preconceived
ideas and untruths (I checked—there
have been no suicides). I’ve posted my
(lone?) voice in support of Boys Town to
the Hill Talk site but I also wanted you to
know directly how off putting Duncan
Spencer’s piece was to me.
DONNAJEAN WARD
To the Editor:
I admire your full coverage of the Boys
Town purchase.
I remember 1970 reasonably well: was
a member of the Restoration Society, and
went to many meetings on the subject of
the Bogan property at 14th and Potomac.
I recall a perfectly fine set of drawings
being presented to the meeting for
approval. They were well designed, etc.,
BUT there was something there that the
Restoration Society did not like (It will
come to me shortly what that was…). The
requirements put upon Bogan and
staff eventually became quite onerous,
and he gave up. I think that in order to
show his displeasure with the Society, he
built the car wash, which needed no
approvals, and left it ugly.
That is a long time that that we have
had to put up with an ugly site, and the
more so since it was at a strategic end to
development in 1970. There was a lot
of bad feeling around then….
GERRY DUNPHY
To the Editor:
I’d be grateful if you could pass along to
Duncan Spencer my demurral on his Boys
Town column in the Voice’s print edition;
specifically, that [ANC6B Commissioner]
Will Hill and I put together the community
group that opposes Boys Town. It gives
me much, much too much credit.
Will Hill and other neighbors worked
tirelessly, and over a much longer period,
to reflect and organize community and
neighborhood opposition to this project.
The Capitol Hill Restoration Society has
Dear Readers:
The Voice of the Hill is normally published the third Friday of the month—
and every one of the last 17 issues has been on the streets on that day.
Next month—we’ll be late.
Because the third Friday in September happens to fall at the end of the second
week, and because the Voice staff is panting for a summer break, the
September issue will be published on 22nd of the month.
STEPHANIE, ADELE AND BRUCE
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
4 www.voiceofthehill.com
Duddington Place, SE. The Jenkins
brothers only rented the land to
run their cattle.
Hundreds of years later, and after
many ups and downs, Capitol Hill
has become an “elite” neighborhood.
In fact parts of it may now be
moving past the definition of elite
into that of enclave, as prices for
large brick row houses within a few
blocks of the Capitol soar up to and
over the million dollar mark.
But what—or where—is Capitol
Hill?
Lyle Schauer, longtime zoning
expert for the Capitol Hill
Restoration Society (CHRS) repeats
the question with a chuckle. “It is
exactly what you want it to be. If you
are in real estate, Capitol Hill goes all
the way to Florida Avenue, NE. If
you’re not, it’s the Historic District.
But if you’re a real purist, you must
look for Capitol Hill in the blocks
just east of the Capitol.”
And that’s just as older maps of
the District would have it. The city’s
official transportation map makes
the following designation: Capitol
Hill is a chunk of turf that extends
east from the Capitol to about 14th
Street.
Meanwhile, the slice of neighborhood
that begins at Merion Park and
extends to the Navy Yard is labeled
simply, Southeast. Stanton Park
reaches north, crossing H Street to
THE ACCIDENT OF WHERE TO
PUT THE “CONGRESS HOUSE,”
WAS A CLOSE THING. George
Washington’s colleagues
would have preferred a
more lofty eminence,
and argued for a site (among others)
in Virginia, approximately where
Landmark is now.
But practicalities took over.
Washington was a surveyor, after all.
The difficulties of transport made a
deep water harbor a necessity, and
the closer to the building site the
better. The Anacostia was there to
bear stone, gravel, timber, horses,
cattle and other freight.
“To the shock, though not necessarily
surprise of many, Washington
announced his choice in a proclamation
on January 24, 1791,” writes
Kenneth R. Bowling, one of the top
scholars of the federal period.
It was because of these mere physical
chances—luck if you will, that
the weighty decision to put the
Capitol on Jenkins’ Hill—then a
ridge-land pasture—was made. From
this came the village we now know
and sometimes love.
Even then there was confusion
about Capitol Hill, which if ownership
of the land was to be followed,
should have been called Carroll’s
Hill, for it was that proprietor,
Daniel Carroll of Duddington, who
owned the land and whose manor
house stood near the south end of
creating the Historic District was
escalating prices, the departure of
lower income people, fewer rental
properties, fewer apartments, and
fewer children.
Wealthier residents were corralled,
and the area gained cachet.
In fact the Historic District is a
fabrication—such designations generally
are—and always was both arbitrary
and obscure. There is no
straight answer, for instance, to why
the Historic District includes more of
southeast than northeast; or why
the boundary stops at 14th Street.
These things were decided long ago
in a village far away. But the values
they represented were decidedly
those of the college-educated, career
minded members of an urban uppermiddle
class.
CHRS president, Brian Furness,
says that expanding the district
comes up for occasional discussion:
“There are no big yellow lines painted
saying ‘here ends Capitol Hill.’”
The society, he continues, has been
approached about including
Congressional Cemetery, and H
Street, NE: “I say, we’re not unsympathetic,
but it has to grow out of a
real movement of the people in the
area…there are arguably a lot of good
things that happen, but there’s also
a real loss of freedom. Residents have
to want to be part of an historic district.
They have to work for it.”
In fact the area protected by the
designation may soon be expanded.
A study is now underway to incorporate
the area south of the freeway,
where 8th Street salutes the Navy
Yard. Many of those crumbling, halfruined
buildings are among the oldest
in the neighborhood, some dating
back to the late 1700’s.
The Restoration Society’s surface
values are celebrated each year in
May when, for the past 43 years, the
annual House and Garden Tour is
held. It is now one of the most
famous in the mid-Atlantic region, a
showpiece of pluperfect decoration
and much too much furniture.
But too often overlooked are the
long and tedious battles the society
has fought against encroaching
roads, big buildings, and the tendency
of the city and federal government
to dump social service agencies
and public housing units near
Capitol Hill.
These battles began before CHRS
was born, in the early 50s when, like
Georgetown 20 years earlier, a group
of like minded people “discovered”
beautiful row house neighborhoods
south and east of the Capitol. These
original “restoration” blocks, lay
between South Capitol and 4th
Street SE, south of Pennsylvania
Avenue.
School desegregation by President
Dwight Eisenhower had completely
disrupted housing patterns in what
Florida Avenue. The neighborhood
of Lincoln Park gobbles eastward,
out to the stadium.
All of these neighborhoods would
earnestly declare themselves
“Capitol Hill.”
There are many influences at work
in the notion of what is Capitol Hill,
however, not the least of them
Schauer’s organization.
Since 1955, CHRS has been the
embodiment of the preservation
movement, seeking to keep Capitol
Hill—as its brochures have stated
many times— “a small town,” mainly
Victorian in character.
It was CHRS, as well as other
groups, that fought for the Historic
District legislation, passed in 1976,
which in effect froze a part of
Capitol Hill (about 8,000 buildings)
in time. While the designation does
not prohibit new development, it
makes it very difficult for new development
to take place. Time and time
again the legislation has discouraged
builders with bold ideas (too bold,
some would say) and made it nearly
impossible for anyone to tear down a
building with any architectural significance.
To preservationists, returning 19th
and early 20th Century houses to
“restored” condition is a universal
desirable. It is also costly. The overall
effect is to translate preservation
into gentrification. A byproduct of
Hey.
Where is Capitol
Hill, Anyhow?
It’s Wherever You
Think It Is
BY DUNCAN SPENCER
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 5
had been a typical southern community.
Many whites fled, to their eternal
shame, while the more farsighted
bought row houses now valued
for half a million dollars and more—
for under ten thousand.
Gentrification gradually spread
east, first to 8th Street, then to
Lincoln Park. The Historic District
marks only a moment in time.
Since 1976, Capitol Hill has outgrown
those arbitrary boundaries.
Many changes have occurred to
expand the notion of the “small village”
to the north and east.
That Historic District imprimatur
which once held great sway in home
buying decisions has less significance
as “Capitol Hill,” in the general
sense, creeps toward H Street, NE
and farther and farther east toward
Robert F. Kennedy Stadium.
Powerful engines are at work in a
city which is re-invigorated and
freshly seen as a target for investment:
A mini city has grown up
under our noses above Union Station
in the area of the CNN building. A
second is rapidly growing beyond
the freeway, along the banks of the
Anacostia.
New offices always carry in their
wake new residents for the Hill and
near-Hill neighborhoods. In addition,
the cost and hassle of commuting,
particularly in the 270
(Montgomery County) and I-95
(Fairfax and Virginia) corridors, has
reached the breaking point for many
people.
And living in town is once again
sexy.
As a result, hundreds of younger
people are discovering the charms of
near Northeast: a portion of the Hill
north of F Street (the Historic
District boundary). These were the
smaller row houses built for and by
thousands of artisans, carpenters,
stone carvers and masons who lived
here during the expansive building
period from 1900 through World
War II.
Another move for the “village”
has been to the east, both north and
south, where eager “pioneers” are
snapping up the remaining house
bargains between Lincoln Park and
RFK Stadium. The pink permit signs
in windows and the other inevitable
signals of gentrification—the
removal of front porches, and the
addition of iron bars—creep further
north and east each year.
Homeowners in these areas are
fighting battles with crime, with
absentee landlords, with too numerous
liquor stores, with gangs of drug
dealers and their customers—but
there is little doubt that they will
win and expand “Capitol Hill” further
east.
How far can it go? Presumably the
limit is only the available “suitable”
housing stock, meaning houses with
some architectural history linking
them with the period from the Civil
War to about 1920.
And go it will, many predict. Large
reasons? Natural shopping corridors
at Pennsylvania Avenue, Massachusetts
Avenue, 8th Street SE, H
Street NE—and more Metro service
than any other residential area in
the city (with more coming soon, if
the Florida Avenue Metro station is
funded by Congress).
So where is Capitol Hill? Wherever
you think it is.
Opinionist, Duncan Spencer, is a regular
contributor to the Voice of the Hill
and the political weekly, The Hill.
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
6 www.voiceofthehill.com
There are those who say that we should
forget about statehood for DC, but try to
get it for Capitol Hill. Think about it—with everexpanding
boundaries running roughly from H Street
to the Navy Yard and from the Capitol out to somewhere near
RFK, we’re not that much smaller than Rhode Island.
If Capitol Hill became a state, then Eastern Market could be its capital,
flanked by the towns of Stanton Park, Congressional Cemetery, North Lincoln
Park, and Barracks Row. Heck, with our large population of Members of
Congress and Senators from both parties, it
just might pass by a hefty margin. Trent Lott
could be the Senator from Capitol Hill.
“Capitol Hill”, says real estate agent Alice
Faison, “is not just one little village. It’s really
pretty big, geographically speaking, and then
it’s punctuated by all these large landmarks,
like Lincoln Park and Stanton Park, which create
all these individual neighborhoods.”
Fellow agent Hugh Kelly, who has lived in
some 25 houses on Capitol Hill since he first
arrived in 1962, sees these neighborhoods as
part of the unique nature of our corner of
Washington, saying, “People become really
wedded to their little part of the Hill. I was
working with a client once who lived near
Union Station and they had actually never
been to Eastern Market!”
For most, the idea that someone could live
on the Hill and somehow avoid Eastern Market
is quite stunning, but it tells a lot about how
insulated many of us have become.
Nearly three years ago, when Julie Kyte
moved with her family from 5th and A Streets,
Southeast to 9th Street and Massachusetts
Avenue, Northeast, the change was monumental.
“That 5th and A cross-street,” says
Kyte, “is really a close-knit neighborhood.
Everyone is so friendly there that you could be
sitting on your front steps with your spouse or kids and within 15 minutes
you’re having a cocktail party in your front yard with half the block.” Kyte says
the friendships in her old neighborhood go back decades, and that, as a newcomer,
she was readily welcomed in. “My son Jake was one of the first babies
to be born around there for a long time,” says Kyte, “and it was as if everyone
loved him as their own.”
The move to a bigger house in a different part of the Hill was a major decision
for the Kytes, but they haven’t quite left the old neighborhood behind. “I
still go to Congress Market and the dry cleaners over there,” says Kyte,
“although I do feel like it’s important to support the businesses here in this
neighborhood. But I really wish we had a corner store like Congress Market
over here on Massachusetts Avenue.”
Faison sees the corner stores as pivotal to the Hill’s neighborhoods, saying,
“We had good friends who lived across the
street from us and when they moved two
blocks away to 5th and A Streets, it was like
they had moved across town. I mean, they
weren’t even going to the same corner store as
we did anymore!”
Hugh Kelly says the trauma of changing dry
cleaners is one he hears often from clients
who are moving from one part of the Hill to
another. “We sell so many houses to people
who are moving just two or three blocks from
their old house,” says Kelly. “They just can’t
bear the thought of moving out of their little
enclave.”
One of Capitol Hill’s biggest and most
active enclaves is the North Lincoln Park area,
which boasts a membership of some 2000 in
their neighborhood association. Leslie Leahy,
a longtime resident of Tennessee Avenue,
Northeast, says, “I would be very torn if we
were ever looking at a place in another part of
the Hill. This is a really wonderful neighborhood.”
Leahy feels that all the hard work that
volunteers have done for more than a decade
is finally beginning to pay off. “We were all
young when we got here,” says Leahy of her
friends and neighbors in North Lincoln Park,
“and we had no children then. We all spent
years fighting crime, mentoring kids, cleaning
Say HOWDEE
NEIGHBOR,
and WELCOME
to the
CAPITOL STATE
BY KRISTEN HARTKE
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 7
up the playgrounds and alleys. Some
people got really burned out. But a
lot of people around here have families
now, so we’re sort of kickin’ back
with our kids and enjoying the fruits
of our labor.”
Kicking back seems to be a popular
pastime around the Hill’s neighborhoods.
Julie Kyte fondly remembers
the annual Christmas progressive
party at 5th and A, where some
40 neighbors go from house to
house sharing good food and holiday
cheer. They also have a longstanding
Derby Day tradition each
May, with a party at #17 Fifth Street.
Says Kyte, “There was this older gentleman,
a priest, who lived there for
years, and the neighbors always had
this Derby Day party in the backyard.
Then, when the house sold a
few years ago, the neighbors went to
the new owners and told them about
this tradition, and so it’s still going
on in the same backyard.”
Block parties, too, are popular
around the Hill, popping up when
the weather is fine from the unit
block of Ninth Street, Northeast to
the 400 block of Kentucky Avenue,
Southeast. But North Lincoln Park,
according to Leahy, really knows
how to party. Famous for years for its
annual Halloween party and summer
block party, North Lincoln Park
neighbors now also get together for
an annual yard sale, whose proceeds
benefit the programs of the neighborhood
association.
Capitol Hill abounds with neighbors
who band together to work on
projects and make positive changes
to their neighborhoods. Stanton
Park’s neighborhood association regularly
works on historic preservation
issues affecting its residents, particularly
since it lies so close to the
Senate office buildings, which are
under federal jurisdiction and are
not obligated to respond to community
concerns. Residents near
Congressional Cemetery are vigilant
in their efforts to preserve that
crumbling historic landmark.
Neighbors around Marion Park
worked with the police station to
create a new playground.
A couple of years ago, North
Lincoln Park neighbors started up
the Urban Camp-Out, an event that
takes place in June. Says Leahy,
“Elizabeth Nelson, who’s been an
incredible neighbor, heard about
this camp-out as something that had
been done in Philadelphia, and we
got excited about the idea and really
just ran with it.” The field behind
Kingsman Elementary, which was
cleaned-up courtesy of the neighbors,
is used for the camp-out.
“People pitch their tents and we stay
all night and it’s just this great
party,” says Leahy.
And, just when you think there’s
been enough of this community
goodwill, the Capitol Hill welcome
wagon kicks into gear. Long-time
residents along the 600 blocks of
Massachusetts and Constitution
Avenues held a get-to-know-yourneighbors
cocktail party last summer
when they realized how many new
people were moving onto their
blocks.
How’s a newcomer to decide
which neighborhood to choose?
“A lot of the new people have been
introduced to Capitol Hill because
they’ve been to Eastern Market,”
Kelly says. “It’s really my job then to
educate them about the neighborhood.
The Stanton Park/Union
Station area is appealing because
there are a lot of nice restaurants.
People with dogs just love Lincoln
Park. An ambitious Congressman
may sneak out of the office to look at
houses on the Senate side.”
Alice Faison agrees, saying “You
have to explain to people about all
these different pockets of the Hill. A
lot of people come here determined
to live really close-in, that “shadowof-
the-Capitol” thing. Then they see
the prices of those houses and suddenly
they’re a little more willing to
see what else is available on Capitol
Hill.”
However, even while Faison extols
the virtues of different corners of
Capitol Hill to her clients, her own
move from the Southeast side of the
Hill to Northeast was, in her words,
“pretty traumatic.” She can laugh at
her doubts now, but says, “I was
born in Southeast Capitol Hill and I
lived my whole life within a few
blocks of Marion Park and the
Marine Barracks. The world seemed
so small to me, and everything I
needed was in those few blocks.
Even though we [Alice and her husband
Tom] sell real estate, the idea of
us moving away from this neighborhood
where I knew absolutely everyone
seemed crazy.”
Tom Faison only managed to coax
his wife into looking at the house in
Northeast by emphasizing that it
was in the unit block of 3rd Street,
meaning it was just a stone’s throw
from Southeast in case she needed a
quick pick-me-up. “It’s funny,”
laughs Faison, “but I’d never
thought of Union Station as being
part of the Hill before I moved to
this house. Now it’s just a few blocks
from my house and I love to walk
over there. I think we just all have
these comfort zones, and moving to
a new house in an unfamiliar neighborhood
can really rock your world.”
For Julie Kyte, the transition to
Massachusetts Avenue may have
been a little tough, but now she’s
enthusiastic about her new neighbors.
“The difference between here
and 5th and A,” says Kyte, “may really
be the width of the street. 5th
Street is such a narrow little street, so
it’s really impossible to ignore your
neighbors. Massachusetts Avenue is
very wide, so the perspective is different.
But my neighbors are great
and it’s wonderful to be so close to
the park when you have kids.” Now
it’s up to her to bring the progressive
party to her new neighborhood.
“The funniest thing about all
these neighborhoods,” says Alice
Faison, “is how people get offended
sometimes if you live a few blocks
away from them and you suggest
that you are their neighbor. They
look at you and say things like “Oh,
no, you live over by that library, or
by that other corner store.”
Faison laughs again. “The bottom
line is, everyone thinks that their
neighborhood is the best.”
Freelance writer Kristen Hartke made
her own traumatic eight-block move
from Southeast to Northeast four years
ago this month.
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VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
8 www.voiceofthehill.com
cal forest, and without the usual
predators, says Jim Monsma, director
of community outreach for the
Washington Humane Society. The
Society runs the DC Animal Shelter
through Animal Control, which
responds to concerns about domestic
and wild animals 24 hours a day,
7 days a week.
And encounters between residents
and animals can be amusing. Longtime
Hill-dweller John Epes fondly
recalls watching bat acrobatics during
his childhood near Stanton Park.
“We used to come out at dusk and
It is a typical summer afternoon: Hill
neighbors walking the dog, coming
home from work, enjoying a stroll.
But then we slow down and stop,
transfixed by a neighbor of a wilder
sort gazing up from the sidewalk.
The mourning dove looks fine—
except for its left wing, bloodlessly
half-skeletal. After quick calls to DC
Animal Control and the Washington
Humane Society and a swift capture,
I drive the bird to Joan Parker, a 25-
year veteran of wildlife rehabilitation.
Extending the bird’s wing, she
points to a feathery tar ball—a remnant
of a roosting deterrent meant
to stick to bird feet. Despite that
benign intent, she says, birds often
end up with caught wings instead.
They may free themselves, but at the
cost of feathers, flight and life.
Such an incident may seem proof
that urban living and nature are not
as much at odds as mutually exclusive.
But with tree-lined streets,
parks, alleys, and gardens galore, the
Hill in fact supports a thriving
wildlife community. We may not
have deer browsing in our yards like
our suburban neighbors, but raccoons,
opossums, birds of all feathers,
squirrels, insects, bats, rats,
mice—even woodchucks, like the
one recently seen near an East
Capitol street store—live full lives
among us.
They do so, notes John Hadidian,
director of the Humane Society of
America’s urban wildlife program,
because with fewer natural areas like
forests, wildlife has adapted to urban
by-ways, particularly green places
like the Hill.
It can be a very good life for the
animals. Indeed, wild things can
often find more nesting spaces and
food sources in a city than in a typipeople
and wildlife is often delicate.
As Ira Palmer, program manager of
DC fisheries and wildlife notes, by
law no wildlife in the city may be
killed, captured or harmed.
However, threats to residents or
property are another matter. In late
spring, for example, calls to Animal
Control about mockingbirds on the
Hill are common, as the ubiquitous
songsters protect nests and territory.
“They’ll dive bomb people,”
Monsma explains. “We get calls with
people saying, ‘The bird’s attacking
me!’” In some cases, notes Hill resident
and animal control officer
Scotlund Haisley, officers will take
down nests, giving baby birds to
wildlife rehabilitators like Joan
Parker if the parents are not around.
More often, if an animal is healthy
but in a house or another inappropriate
place, Animal Control will
capture it and release it outdoors —
even rats, like the one that recently
was found doing the backstroke in a
4th street toilet. Unlike the city’s
rodent control department, “we’re
not in the line of capturing and
killing animals,” explains Haisley.
Wildlife officials note that releasing
healthy animals is especially
important with females, who could
have young nearby or trapped in the
same place.
As Hill resident Jim Skovron
recalls, that was a concern with a
opossum Skovron’s Doberman
Melody discovered lodged between
his fence and a neighbor’s porch.
After removing boards of the fence,
an animal control officer grabbed
the marsupial by the tail and
released it close by. “It was a pretty
feisty thing, too,” remembers
Skovron, “snarling and belligerent.”
Education plays a huge role in coshoot
paperclips into the air for the
bats to go after,” he says. The animals,
he suspects, lived in a nearby
house and feasted on an abundant
crop of flying insects.
Yet, for every neighbor who enjoys
the antics of bats, or the fact that a
raccoon climbed up scaffolding to
the Capitol dome in May, someone
else is plagued by endless processions
of ants foraging in the bathrooms,
or a possum who regards
one’s own trash as the best grub
around.
In the city, the balance between
WOODCHUCKS,
OPOSSUMS
AND
BATS,
OHMY!
The Neighborhood Goes Wild
BY VALERIE JABLOW
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 9
existing with wildlife. “We get lots of
calls that a baby bird can’t fly,” says
Jim Monsma. “But birds leave the
nest before they’re able to fly.” In
those cases, he says, the avian parents
are usually around and the situation
resolved in a few days.
Responding to a recent call about
a opossum in a house, Scotlund
Haisley found instead a rat stuck to a
glue trap. He quickly euthanized the
animal. Though such destruction is
considered a last resort by wildlife
officials, the traps cause inescapable
and painful deaths. “Obviously,
when we receive calls like this,” says
Haisley, “we take any amount of
time to educate people on the dangers
of these traps and the alternatives
they can take.”
Those alternatives mean preventing
faunal intrusions before they
happen. Cleaning up around a birdfeeder
regularly or using a design
that includes a tray to catch spillover
will prevent attracting unwanted
wildlife. What also helps is securing
trashcans with bungee cords, and
placing mothballs and ammoniasoaked
rags nearby as a deterrent,
and putting out garbage only shortly
before a scheduled pickup. And as
rats enjoy the delicacy of dog waste,
picking up after your pet is of prime
importance.
But none of these remedies will
necessarily keep legions of ants from
exploring your kitchen or a determined
raccoon from mistaking your
chimney for a burrow.
For that reason, wildlife officials
recommend that all possible
entrances to homes are well-sealed
and maintained, including chimneys,
vents, holes for utility lines,
cracks in mortar, bricks and siding,
and potential burrowing space
beneath porches.
Well-placed netting, mesh, or
metal barbs can go far in making
sure your porch, stoop, or decorative
trim does not become home for
unwelcome birds. Such preventative
actions, notes John Hadidian, are
more effective than poisons, traps,
or sticky substances like the one my
dove was caught in. Not only can
Fido, Fluffy or some other unintended
victim eat poisons or get trapped,
he notes, but such methods don’t
address the underlying problem—
access. Without prevention, he says,
“you’re only buying time.”
Though Animal Control will
remove an animal from your home
for free, trapping services often
employ construction workers who
can make sure a problem does not
recur by reconstructing deteriorated
trim and window ledges, sealing
holes, and capping chimneys.
As DC has yet to get laws that regulate
control of most wildlife (the
city currently regulates only insect
and rodent control companies),
appropriate consumer caution is
needed. “I can walk up to someone’s
door and charge them $300 to pick
up a garter snake from their basement,”
warns Hadidian—with no
guarantee that the animal will be
treated humanely. “Attention to this
matter has not been a high priority
in the past,” admits Ira Palmer.
Though Palmer expects new regulations
in the next year, Animal
Control can recommend trapping
services with good track records.
Jim Skovron is pleased with his
brief wildlife encounter. “Nature will
prevail,” he says. “I think it’s marvelous.”
Then, with a wistful smile at
their daily barrage of cawing, he
adds, “I just wish there weren’t so
many crows.”
Valerie Jablow has lived on the Hill for
9 years and is an assistant editor at
Smithsonian Magazine.
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In the city, the balance
between people and
wildlife is often delicate.
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
10 www.voiceofthehill.com
ing on D Street in 1956. Before that,
members held their monthly meetings
in various locations. Washington’s
other 22 Posts still have to do
that; the Kenneth Nash is the only
local Post with its own permanent
clubhouse.
Tall, amiable Post
Commander, Preston Herald,
shows us around.
It’s a scene a world away
from the frenetic hangouts
lining Pennsylvania
Avenue. The lounge is
dominated by a spacious
u-shaped bar with 15 or so
comfortable, vinyl-covered
chairs. Walls are plastered with
American Legion license plates from
all over the nation. In one corner
stands a jukebox that spins out
oldies and C&W. A table is strewn
Sequestered a few blocks from
the United States Capitol is a
quiet little hideaway. Chances
are, you’ve walked right past
the unimposing white brick structure
without even noticing it, much
less venturing inside. Located at
Third and D Streets, SE, the
place in question feels like
a throwback to another
era, a time when Elvis
was king, bar rooms
were smoke filled, and
no one knew from cholesterol.
Welcome to
American Legion Post
No. 8, the Kenneth B. Nash
Post.
It’s cool and comfortable in the
clubhouse after the sticky summer
heat outside. Originally chartered in
1922, the Post purchased the buildof
six Holdforth brothers. “I served
on the Good Ship Bud, someone
pulled the plug and it sank,” he
jokes. The brother Bobby’s referring
to is the Hill’s legendary Bill
“Baseball” Holdforth, the Post’s
night bartender who also holds
court at the nearby Hawk ‘n Dove.
Bill, who closely resembles his
rotund, younger sibling, arrives. He
tells us he has tended bar at the Post
“on and off since last July, when I
took an unexpected leave of absence;
I broke my arm.” Bill and most of his
family live in Suitland, Md.
Holdforth, his fellow bartenders,
and bar manager Fred Brophy are the
only folks at the Post who get paid.
Post Commander Herald, Quartermaster
Livesay and others work here
“as a labor of love.” Herald is serving
his third 1-year-term as Commander.
His “real job” is with the Smithsonian,
where’s he’s been a security
manager for 32 years, the last 7 at
the National Air & Space Museum.
“We have to watch every penny,”
adds Herald, citing steep utility bills
and other expenses. He leads us to a
small game room equipped with the
obligatory pool table and a few, halfempty
vending machines, a decrepit
gas range and three refrigerators. The
room is named after the late Jack
Gannon, “who did a lot for the Post.”
Many Legion members have
retired and moved away, but they
keep up their memberships. Dues are
a mere $25 a year. “Recently, more
Vietnam vets have joined,” explains
Herald. “In the 1970s, right after the
war ended, people didn’t want to
join because of the anti-war sentiment.”
The Sons of the American
Legion, direct male descendants of
American veterans, also meet here.
Of the 200 members, only 20 are
women. There’s a women’s auxiliary,
but it’s currently inactive.
“Years ago, most Members of
Congress were vets, and they looked
out for us,” says Herald. “Now, it’s
just the opposite. Today’s politicians
do not focus on veterans’ issues. So,
it’s important for us to recruit members
and remain strong. For example,
the Veterans hospital is a shambles.
We have to collect toothpaste and
other essentials for those people who
paid in blood. Recently, Congress
declared that smoke related-illnesses
would not be covered by veterans
benefits, even though smoking was
encouraged in the service for years
(cheap cigarettes at bases, packs in
C-rations, etc.)”
The Legion is left to fight for its
own.
Regular contributor, Celeste McCall,
was assisted in this interview by her
husband Pete, a Vietnam War veteran
who did his tour in the jungles of
Hawaii. Pete is now the newest member
of the Kenneth B. Nash Post.
with old magazines. On the wall is a
photograph of a youthful-looking
Kenneth B. Nash, for whom the post
is named. He died at age 30 of
influenza during the pandemic of
1918, and his mother donated the
money to start up the Post. Nearby is
a framed, somber-looking, black
POW/MIA flag.
Through a door is a spacious meeting
and party room dominated by a
huge American flag. You almost
expect George S. Scott (“Patton”) to
stride across the room. This space is
mainly used for fundraisers. Schools
and other groups sometimes use the
room free of charge, paying only for
service and cleanup. Upstairs is
another meeting room, offices and
storage.
On this Wednesday evening,
good-natured banter flies back and
forth as about a half dozen men
watch the evening news on the big
TV over the bar. Some are discussing
the All-Star game coming up later
that evening. Most swig beer from
bottles—you don’t come here to eat,
unless you crave peanuts and chips.
Many are puffing on cigarettes;
nothing politically correct here. Nor
is it the place to order fancy, specialty
drinks. “The other night someone
asked for a frozen pina colada,” says
Herald. “We told them our blender
was broken.” The house wine, however,
is a decent California brand.
It will be the wee hours before the
smoke clears and the regulars head
for home. The doors don’t shut until
2 AM week nights and 3 AM Fridays
and Saturdays.
The Post’s senior member is 79-
year-old Quartermaster Jim Livesay.
A WWII veteran, Livesay was a petty
officer who participated in the invasion
of Okinawa. A Legion member
for 54 years, Livesay attends all Post
meetings. He’s worked for various
government organizations, most
recently NASA. “I come here for a
cold beer and to see my friends–and
it’s convenient,” says Livesay, who
lives across the street. He was born
and raised in Washington, and
“never left Southeast!”
Ralph Burroughs has been coming
to the club for 19 years. Now 72, he
fought in World War II, “for the
Japanese Underground Balloon
Corps,” he deadpans. (Actually, he
served in Germany.)
Born and raised in Washington,
Burroughs now lives in Maryland.
His chum, William Turner, 47, who
lives practically across the street,
drops by whenever he gets a chance.
“Burroughs is a good friend and a
great joker,” says Turner. “All my
buddies come here, we’re a cluster
group and we keep an eye on each
other.”
Bobby Holdforth wanders in and
orders a beer. “I’m here because of
my brother,” explains Bobby, 41, one
Pull Up a Bar
Stool and Light
One Up
American
Legion Post #8
BY CELESTE MCCALL
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 11
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12 www.voiceofthehill.com
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When JoAnne
McInnis and her
husband opened
the Bull Moose Bed
and Breakfast on
5th Street, NE, they wanted to scatter
period photographs of the life
and times of Teddy Roosevelt
throughout the guest rooms. So,
McInnis headed over to the Prints
and Photographs Reading Room at
the Library of Congress.
“It was a treasure trove,” she raves.
“I found some marvelous 1890s photos
which could be color copied.
They look so much like the real item
that many people have asked me
how I got my wonderful collection
of old photographs—I should also
say that it’s very affordable. If I had
to obtain original prints to fill ten or
eleven rooms I could never have
done it.”
Ann Dye, a teacher at Capitol Hill
Day School, had similar luck. The
Dye family owns a vacation home in
the Blue Ridge Mountains, in what
was a strategic location during the
Civil War. “I started doing some
research,” she says, “and realized
that Jedediah Hotchkiss—the best
mapmaker in the entire Civil War,
on either side—had been a schoolteacher
in the valley and had done a
map of the area.” Dye went over to
the Library of Congress’s Geography
and Map Division, and was led right
to it. A color photograph of the
map—taken by Library staff for a reasonable
fee—now adorns the house.
“The public face of the Library
sometimes seems a little brusque or
bureaucratic,” says Hill resident and
librarian in the Prints and
Photographs Division, Sarah Rouse,
“and there are a certain amount of
cultural things you have to get used
to, like accepting that filling out
forms is part of the deal. But once
you’ve made the effort.... It’s like an
adult playground.”
The Library of Congress is packed
full of delights: 530 miles of shelves
hold 18 million books, everything
from books on architecture to auto
repair manuals to telephone directories
from all over the world. There
are 12 million photographs, and millions
more maps, manuscripts,
prints and movies. Chances are, if
it’s not in one of their collections
today, it will be tomorrow. The
Library grows by about 10,000 items
each day.
For a user’s card—your passport to
any of the Library’s twenty-two reading
rooms—you just need a driver’s
license. As for finding what you
need, the Library has hundreds of
reference specialists on staff, all of
them eager to help.
“This is one of the best places in
the world to find things out,” says
David Kresh, Hill resident and Poetry
Specialist in the Main Reading
Room.
Say you long to rediscover that
book Grandpa used to read you at
bedtime. The Library of Congress
probably has it, even if it’s been out
of print for years. “People come in all
the time to look for books they had
when they were kids,” Kresh says.
“They just want to take another
look.”
As for poetry: “I get a lot of people
looking for poems they remember a
line of— maybe they learned it in
school and it’s just come up again.”
People also come in looking for
poems their relatives have written,
or poems they wrote themselves.
“Someone will come in and say,
‘When I was in high school I won
this poetry contest. My poem was
published but I don’t remember
where.’” Though Kresh can’t always
help, “sometimes, with a little luck
and a shrewd guess about where to
look, we can find something.”
To Sarah Rouse, the real riches of
the Library lie in the “special collections,”
which include rare books,
manuscripts, prints, photos, maps,
motion pictures, and sound recordings.
“If you go in, people will show
you the most amazing original artifacts.”
The Motion Picture, Broadcasting
and Recorded Sound Division, for
instance, has been collecting films
since the 1890s. “If you have even
the merest shred of a serious project,”
Rouse says, they’ll organize
materials for you to view on a little
editing screen. You can “watch to
your heart’s content.”
Gene DeAnna, Head of the
Recorded Sound Processing Unit and
Hill resident since birth, says his
division is very popular with actors
too. “Actors frequently come use the
[Recorded Sound] Reading Room for
dialect recordings. If someone wants
to play someone from the Midwest,
they can come in and listen to an
Indiana farm dialect.”
David Kresh points out that
there’s plenty of nuts and bolts,
practical stuff for Hill dwellers at the
Library too. The scientific reading
rooms have materials on car repair,
house repair, even electrical wiring
diagrams.
“Everybody on Capitol Hill needs
to repair their house, all the time,”
he quips. “Those who have any
money left after repairing the house,
might want to go to the Business
Reference Section and find out about
mutual funds.”
Getting Started:
The Library consists of three buildings,
the Jefferson Building (the oldest
one, across from the Capitol), the
Adams Building (newer, next to the
Jefferson Building), and the Madison
Building (the big, more modernlooking
white one across the street).
Most reading rooms are open from
8:30–5:00, Monday through Friday,
although some are open until 9:30 at
night on selected days, and the
Jefferson Building’s Main Reading
Room, as well as a few others, is also
open on Saturdays. Since all reading
rooms have slightly different hours,
check the Library’s website or call
the recorded hotline at 707-6400.
Two additional things to note:
first, the Library is “closed-stack,”
meaning you can’t actually walk
through the shelves—that’s for
librarians only. And second, this is
not a lending library: the materials
can be consulted only on the premises.
Getting in is easy—as long as
you’re over high school age. Just
show your driver’s license at the
Reader Registration station on the
Checking Out the
Library of Congress
An Adult Playground
BY DANIELLE TARANTOLO
50% off
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 13
first floor of the Madison Building.
You’ll be sent to a computer terminal
to enter your name, address, phone
numbers, and research topics. Then
you’ll get your photo snapped, and
about 5 minutes later, your user’s
card, good for 2 years, is ready to go.
High school students can use the
library—but there are a few hoops.
First, you must exhaust all local
school, public, and university
libraries, and get a letter from your
high school principal describing
exactly what you need from the
Library of Congress. Then you’ll
have to make your case to a reference
librarian, who will make the final
determination as to whether you can
get a user card.
Navigating:
Once you’ve got a card, all you need
to know is...how to find what you’re
looking for.
“It’s a complicated place, and
research is hard to do,” sympathizes
Kresh. “For those reasons, people
need to be asking questions. And
we’re happy to have them do that.”
The best place to start your
research is probably the Main
Reading Room in the Thomas
Jefferson Building. This building is
home to both the Computer Catalog
Center, where fifty terminals give
users access to the online card catalog,
and the Reference Assistance
Room, where reference specialists
can help you figure out where and
how to start. From the Main Reading
Room, you can request general collection
materials from all three
Library buildings and have them
delivered to your desk in about an
hour.
When you arrive, head to the
Reference Assistance Room on the
first floor, where a Reference
Specialist like Kresh will conduct
what is called a “reference interview.”
“Specific questions are easier to
answer than general questions,”
Kresh explains. “For example, if
someone wants to know the date of
a specific battle in the Civil War and
they know the name of the battle,
that’s obviously easier than if they
come in and say, ‘How can I find out
about the Civil War?’”
Once the reference librarian has
figured out what you want, he or she
will either direct you to the online
card catalogue, the “real-cards” card
catalogue (for older books), a book
in the reference section of the Main
Reading Room, or to a specialist in
the area you’re investigating.
When you find the items you
want, you’ll fill out a “call slip,” drop
it off at the central desk, and then sit
back and admire the view as your
request is filled. (The room is breathtaking.
One hundred and sixty feet
high, and adorned with painted
murals and marble statues.)
Within an hour (for books in the
Jefferson Building itself) to an hour
and a half (for books in either of the
other two buildings) your book will
be sent up from the stacks via conveyor
belt and delivered to your
desk.
“I think every Capitol Hill resident
should go to the Main Reading
Room, request a book, have that
book delivered to you and enjoy
reading it,” DeAnna asserts. “It’s not
an opportunity that other people
have.”
But getting your book may be only
the first step on your journey
through the Library. “Serendipity
can be a great research tool,” says
Rouse. “If you have a specific purpose,
be prepared to change your
mind.”
Look Like A Pro
Before You Go:
One great way to get your bearings,
recommends Capitol Hill resident
and reference librarian Abby
Yochelson, is through the “Research
Orientation to the Library of
Congress.” On most Mondays from
10–11:30 AM, Yochelson and her colleagues
teach newcomers about the
collections and reading rooms, the
process for locating and accessing
material in a closed-stack library,
and the online card catalogues and
databases.
To attend the orientation, register
in the Computer Catalog Center
adjacent to the Main Reading Room
in the Jefferson Building or call 707-
3370.
An armchair way to find your way
around is to go to the Library’s website,
www.loc.gov. Not only does it
contain all the basics like floor plan
diagrams and reading room hours, it
also houses the Library’s entire card
catalog and a huge portion of its
actual collection—not to mention
millions of computerized images,
films, sound recordings, maps, manuscripts,
and printed materials.
“The web is really changing the
way that the Library is used,” Rouse
observes. “You can look up all kinds
of stuff from home. But the great
part for people on the Hill is that not
only can they search the web, they
can just walk over to the Library, go
into the reading rooms, and have
the place to themselves....To me, it’s
the best of both worlds.”
Danielle Tarantolo was born and raised
on Capitol Hill. She just got back from a
year in Paris studying at the Sorbonne,
and has one more year at Williams
College in Massachusetts before she
receives her BA in Political Science.
After graduation, she plans to work as a
journalist before attending law school.
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14 www.voiceofthehill.com
Saturday and, before we know it,
we’ve become Volunteers with a capital
V.
But how do you do it without
burning yourself out?
North Lincoln Park resident and
artist Karen Currie has thought long
and hard about this, after spending
many years embroiled in the fight
against Trant’s Liquors on Constitution
Avenue and working on the
North Lincoln Park Neighborhood
Association newsletter, The Buzz; her
conclusion is that you’ve got to get
rid of one volunteer commitment
before taking on a new one.
I’ve witnessed Karen following her
own advice. When I asked her to
take on some volunteer work for the
BY KRISTEN HARTKE
I’m sitting in an anonymous fluorescent-
lit church basement, shifting
uncomfortably on a cold metal folding
chair. Listening to the voices
drone on, I am startled to realize
that it’s suddenly my turn. As I walk
to the podium, I curse my short haircut,
which won’t help me to hide my
face. I take a deep breath and begin:
“Hi, my name is Kristen. And
(gulp) I’m a volunteer.”
Come on, all you Capitol Hill
activists out there, don’t tell me you
haven’t had the same dream on
occasion—the dream where some
12-step program will help curb your
addiction to volunteerism and allow
you to stretch out on the couch to
watch “Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire.”
I knew I was in trouble when, after
recently agreeing to become second
vice president of the Cluster School
PTA, I actually spent a whole afternoon
—on a holiday, mind you—
redesigning the PTA brochure.
What’s the big deal, you say? The big
deal is that no one had actually
asked me to perform this task, I just
decided to do it on my own. Now
that’s sick.
This neighborhood is full of people
like me. It seems that we’re forever
forming new coalitions to examine
every minute detail of life on the
Hill; hardly a day goes by when
there’s not some sort of meeting or
fundraiser or alley cleaning. It’s all so
much a part of life here that it surprised
me when my next-doorneighbor
recently commented that
he’d been actively avoiding all the
community meetings ever since
moving here four years ago.
It had never occurred to me that a
newcomer might find all of our community
activism to be, well, a bit
much.
The Hill’s tendency toward slightly
overzealous residents goes back a
long way. I came across an early
1960s manuscript in the Martin
Luther King Jr. Library’s
Washingtoniana division the other
day that detailed the long history of
Lincoln Park. It documented, among
other things, early protests against
park bench vandalism and poor
grounds maintenance. I was particularly
intrigued by two groups of
Lincoln Park residents (one was
called something like Citizens
Coalition of Lincoln Park, while the
other had a brilliant moniker like
the Lincoln Park Coalition of
Citizens) who passed identical resolutions
regarding the proposed
design for the Mary McLeod
Bethune statue within a few hours of
each other.
Maybe it’s in the drinking water:
We move here, we start scraping the
lead paint off our woodwork, we
plant a few saplings on a sunny
isn’t past yet, not even for people like
Karen. She’s told me that she and
some other volunteer-aholics have a
signal for each other, whenever they
seem to be slipping back into the
volunteerism abyss. “I’ll be telling
someone about some new project
that sounds interesting to me,” says
Karen, “and they’ll say, “Karen, do
you need to call your sponsor?””
Karen laughs. “We call it Volunteers
Anonymous. I know a lot of people
who could use a sponsor!”
Unfortunately, no volunteers have
come forward yet to buy the donuts
and coffee for the first meeting of
Volunteers Anonymous, so for now,
we’ll all have to fly solo. Here are
some selected tips to help you get
through the first few days of withdrawal
(otherwise known as the
VTs):
• Stop answering your phone.
That’s what answering machines are
for, to keep you from having to talk
to people. It’s especially important
not to answer your phone between 6
and 9 PM—that’s the “dinner hour”
traditionally utilized by telemarketers
and more recently usurped by
volunteer-seekers. Their aim is to
find you with low blood sugar and
willing to say “yes” to anything as
long as it gets you to Las Placitas
faster.
• Try wearing a disguise to Eastern
Market when you go to do your
Saturday shopping. A hat will do,
but it needs to come down over your
eyes. Eye contact is an absolute nono,
so sunglasses are a must. A tacky
$5 DC t-shirt which defines you as a
tourist is also a good ploy.
• Tell everyone you’ve registered
Republican. Now it’s really unfair to
think that Republicans don’t volunteer,
but in a heavily-Democratic
neighborhood like Capitol Hill,
there is often an overabundance of
stereotyping. Witness my own fairminded
husband who was surprised
when I told him that the nice young
man who lives a few doors down had
come by with a petition involving a
local historic preservation issue:
“Really? But isn’t that the guy who
had the Bush sign in front of his
house?”
As for myself, I know I’m not out
of the woods yet. My husband
attended a neighborhood meeting
the other night and came home to
tell me that my name came up not
just once, but three times as someone
who would be good for the project.
He wisely refrained from identifying
himself as my spouse. At first I
thought I wouldn’t have enough
time to help out, but the more I consider
it...Quick, someone, get me a
phone! I need to call my sponsor.
When she’s not volunteering, Kristen
Hartke actually works— for money—as
a freelance writer.
Capitol Hill Art League, I could
almost hear her biting her lip on the
other end of the phone. This worried
me, because I had finally come to
the conclusion, after three years of
trying to run the Art League by
myself, that I had to ask people to
volunteer, not just wait for them to
show up. I knew that I needed
Karen. But, after a few agonizing seconds,
Karen said, “Yeah, I can do
that. I just stopped working on The
Buzz, so I can take on something
new.”
Phew. I’ve tried to follow Karen’s
advice myself since then, and only
took on the PTA thing because I’ve
gotten a lot more people to help out
with the Art League. But the danger
confessions
of a volunteer
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 15
Oh so many titles for
this article dashed
through my perfectly
coifed head. They
ranged from the gentle,
“I know your mother taught you
better,” to the ever so slightly pointed,
“There’s Prozac for that attitude
buddy!”
What am I getting at? Manners.
Specifically, restaurant manners.
Diners are so quick to blame restaurants,
and particularly the servers,
for unpleasant meals. Well, darlings,
there are two sides to the
chateaubriand.
I am a self-described epicure (with
which my friends agree), who has
spent the last 25 years creating
charmed dining experiences. I’ve
worked at hotels, for caterers and at
restaurants casual and luxe. Still,
there is nothing more exciting to me
(on second thought, hardly anything),
than the anticipation of a
wonderful meal in a fine restaurant,
and the feeling of being served and
spoiled by a first rate staff.
Ah, but how quickly can that delicious
mood be ruined. Picture this:
You enter the restaurant; music is
playing softly in the background.
The host greets you charmingly, and
ushers you to your table. Around you
are signs of dining bliss: the merry
tinkle of glass and silver, quiet conversations
occasionally punctuated
by a delighted laugh. You settle in
and relax, maybe order a drink as
you review the menu. The waiter
returns and recites the specials, you
ask a question or two, then place
your order. Now you’re comfortably
chatting with your company, enjoying
the environment, or perhaps if
you’re solo, quietly reading your
Jane Austin.
Then it happens.
The man at the next table leaps
out of his chair yelling: “I have waited
30 minutes for my meal. This is
ridiculous! I either want my food for
free or I’m never coming back!”
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VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
16 www.voiceofthehill.com
“But sir,” soothes the waiter, “your
chicken has to cook.”
“I’ll ruin you.” the man hisses,
“I’ll let everyone know about this!”
He tosses his napkin on the plate,
and stomps out of the restaurant, his
dinner guests follow, shuffling like
geishas.
Do you want to know what I
think? Of course you do: This gentleman
has upset and distracted me
and everyone else in the dining
room, spoiling everyone’s lovely
evening. What a jerk. And, if he
wanted fast food, why didn’t he go
to a restaurant that specializes in fast
food—personally, I’d rather not eat a
dish that can be served in 30 minutes
or less. Never mind that if his
experience was so terrible, he probably
could have gotten a better result
by asking for the manager.
Finally, there is that curious
demand: gimme the meal for free.
Pardon me while I lift the napkin to
see what’s left on the plate…
But wait! Over there. That skinny
bozo snapping his fingers at the
server. Imagine what I’d like to do to
him. Go ahead, I won’t listen.
Actually, I wouldn’t be able to hear
anyway, I’m too distracted by the
duo with the matching cell phones,
ignoring each other as they chatter
(loudly) to their invisible companions.
Oh my, three tables have been put
together for a rowdy party. First
we’re treated to the lady in red’s sexual
excursions (and what the doctor
had to say about them), then we
hear from her partner, whose every
other utterance is the F word.
Yes it is the 00s, and no I’m not a
prude. This behavior is offensive.
On the other hand, maybe it will
permanently chase away the family
with the toddlers who are rattling
the nerves of the other patrons (and
the staff) as they romp and roll so
adorably in the aisle.
NOT that I haven’t been guilty of
bad behavior myself, once. But it
only took once for me to learn my
lesson.
Years ago I took my mother to a
seafood restaurant in Florida. The
crab claws smelled fishy so I sent
them back. Minutes later, the waitress
returned and set the same platter
before me.
“What is this?” I sniffed.
“The cook said there is nothing
wrong with them,” she nervously
replied.
I was so mad that I shoved the
plate back at her and snapped, “then
you tell the cook to eat the damn
things himself!”
Well now! I told her, didn’t I?
I glanced in triumph at my mother.
But the gentle lady, was dabbing
at eyes that had welled with tears.
Her sweet voice trembled as she told
me how horribly I’d embarrassed
her, and she reminded me that she
didn’t raise me to behave so poorly.
It was then that I realized that
when people conduct themselves
badly in public, they are an embarrassment
to their friends.
Since then I’ve also learned that
they look like horses arses to everyone
else around them.
I know that there are many situations
in a restaurant that can create a
less than pleasurable (perhaps even
horrible) experience. Believe me, I’ve
had them all. But I’ll not stoop to
being the bad one. I’ll just sit and
watch you.
I hope to continue sharing my
experiences, and hope to have feedback
on yours. Whether you’re in
the food business, or a diner, your
thoughts and stories are food for
thought (sorry, I couldn’t resist). I
already have the title for the sequel:
“Since when is it OK to haggle over
menu prices?”
Fondly, Miss B
Miss B manages one the Hill’s favorite
restaurants.
Log on! Join in!
The discussion is ongoing.
www.
voiceofthehill.com
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 17
about designating the area a historic
district have died down.
The few people living in the area
spend a lot of time looking for parking
places when they come back
from work, grocery shopping or
errands: The whole neighborhood
has become prime commuter parking
for the subway stops and the
Legislative Branch.
One bright spot is the booming
development around the Eastern
Market Metro stop. (Of course, the
name “Eastern Market” is just a
name now, like the “Les Halles”
Metro stop in Paris—the market is
gone).
A transfer of development rights
will allow a new fourteen story
apartment/shopping complex to
front on the plaza north of the
Metro stop. The building will only
be fifteen feet taller than the eleven
and twelve story buildings already
occupying the adjacent squares, so it
is likely the city’s zoning board will
approve.
On the side streets, developers
continue to acquire individual row
houses as they aggregate larger
parcels to allow what they describe
as “economically feasible development.”
Most estimate that about a
quarter of a square is the minimum
area you need.
Jimmy T’s is the only holdout in
its square and looks lonesome as a
freestanding building on the corner
of Fifth and East Capitol.
However, use of the rest of the
square as a holding lot for tour
buses has been applauded as a
great boost to tourism at the
Capitol.
“It could never happen!” you
say. Au contraire, it could have happened
—and all of the above were
either actually proposed for the
Hill at one time or would have
been the logical outcome of various
trends and proposals. The
Eleventh Street Freeway proposal
had gone far enough that mitigation
photographs were taken of
Philadelphia Row—since it would
have been demolished.
Having children has broadened my
life experiences in unexpected ways.
I have developed an interest in
movies about the teenager/high
school experience because my
teenaged daughter (who asked that I
not identify her by name) and I
watch them together: The ones with
the “in” and “not in” crowds, drunken
parties at the rich kid’s house
whose parents are out of town, the
transformation of the ugly duckling
into the swan for the prom.
We can count on one or two of
these movies a year and we see ‘em
all at least once, sometimes more,
then dissect them: “Good party
scene.” “The transformation didn’t
make it: she started out too
cute.” “Good transformation
twist: changing the guy.”
I’m also more familiar with Legos,
in all their variety, than I would be
without my son Owen. I have spent
more hours than I like to admit sorting
Legos, which led me to one fairly
obsessive 3-week period when I used
every single window and roof piece
to build little Lego buildings.
Both kids like to read fantasy
books. When I was a kid, basic interplanetary
and inter-stellar travel
were big. Now it’s alternative universes.
So, here’s an alternative universe
for us on Capitol Hill:
Four lanes of sunken freeway—
like 66 through Arlington County—
run up Eleventh Street, Southeast,
connecting the Southeast/Southwest
Freeway to I-95.
All the buildings fronting on
Eleventh are gone, and the houses
along Ninth and Twelfth back into
the freeway ditch.
Lincoln Park is about 25% smaller
and “close-in” is now very
clear: between the Capitol parking
lots (which now extend to Fifth
Street), and out to Eleventh Street
and the Freeway.
Not that many people want to live
in this little four block stripe—it’s
noisy, and there’s a constant rain of
fine black pollution. Property values
are low, and those pesky rumblings
Once there were no residential parking
zones, and commuters prowled
the neighborhood each morning
searching for parking. Residents
who were home during the day, or
drove home in the evening, had to
park blocks away from their houses.
How do you think we got our
streets back?
a. The Washington Post campaigned
for DC residents.
b. Residents hired a fleet of tour
buses to fill parking spaces.
c. Commuters got tired of finding
their cars smeared with rotten tomatoes
and went away.
d. The Supreme Court ruled in
favor of residential parking restrictions
in Northern Virginia, a case in
which the Restoration Society was a
party.
It used to be when there was a
game at RFK Stadium, Independence
Avenue was completely cleared of
parking to allow cars to get to the
Stadium. Then, Independence (still
parking restricted) was reversed in
direction—even if it was midnight or
later—to allow sports fans rapid
exodus. How was this stopped?
a. Capitol Hill residents mooned
the oncoming traffic. (A sight not to
be missed when you think of some
of our local bottoms!)
b. Trucks dumped garbage on the
streets in time for the exodus.
c. Jack Kent Cook recognized the
unfairness of it all and apologized
nicely.
d. CHRS members and activists
(including Dick Wolf, Pat Schauer,
and the Traffic Task Force) worked
over a ten year period to convince
the transportation-powers-that-be
that commuter and Stadium traffic
was unacceptably disruptive to the
historic residential area. They supported
changes to street patterns,
and supported construction of the
access road to the Stadium off
Pennsylvania Avenue.
How do you think that freeway proposal
was killed?
a. With an Uzi.
b. When fourteen little old ladies
in tennis shoes lay down in front of
the bulldozers.
c. By an Act of Congress directed
by an Act of God.
d. Neighborhood resistance led by
Peter Glickert, reinforced by the
Capitol Hill Restoration Society—a
protest that included hanging the
head of the Department of
Transportation in effigy.
The march of the auxiliary structures
associated with the legislative
and judicial branches of the US government
was moving steadily eastward
—until such development was
redirected to the north and south of
the Capitol building. How do you
think that march was slowed and
diverted?
a. Thermo-nuclear device.
b. Fire break.
c. Alphonse D’Amato who refused
to report one of these proposals out
of his committee.
d. Negotiations between the
Capitol Hill Restoration Society and
the Architect of the Capitol to focus
growth projected by the US Capitol
master plan to the north and south
of the Capitol.
e. c and d.
The designation of the Capitol Hill
Historic District, the largest in the
country, has preserved the 19th century
building fabric of our neighborhood.
How do you think the Historic
District was designated?
a. Act of God
b. Act of Congress
c. Act of Mark Plotkin
d. Ruth Ann Overbeck, Hazel
Kreinheder, Suzanne Ganshienetz
e. Through the efforts of CHRS
volunteers who instigated, surveyed,
nominated, testified, etc. etc.
f. d and e
On Legos, Teen
Movies and the
Capitol Hill
Restoration
Society
BY JUDITH CAPEN, AIA
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
18 www.voiceofthehill.com
lize. Some of the committees that
put in time every month include:
• The Historic District Committee
that—in an advisory capacity—
reviews building permits for work in
our historic district with the DC
Historic Preservation Office, organizes
monthly Preservation Café meetings
about various renovation-related
topics, and is responsible for the
Capitol Hill Guidelines that give
advice to property owners.
• The Zoning Committee does for
zoning appeals about the same as
the Historic District Committee does
for building permit applications.
• The Public Safety Committee
works on issues relative to the policing.
• The Environment Committee
works on air and water quality
issues, our green spaces, and also
deals with those diesel-fueled tour
busses idling in our neighborhood—
although that issue is shared with:
The Traffic and Transportation
Committee.
• The Community Development
Committee which supports community
efforts on Eastern Market and
encourages use of surplus schools for
residential use.
I say, if you disagree with the
Society, fine. Quit.Writing letters of
Dear Judith:
I’m so angry with some of the recent
Capitol Hill Restoration Society positions
on issues in the neighborhood
that I’m thinking about
quitting. What right do they have to
determine what goes on in our community?
FURIOUS ON FIFTH
Dear Fifth:
The Restoration Society has exactly
the same right to affect outcomes in
our community as you do as a citizen,
taxpayer, property owner, whatever.
The Society is strictly a volunteer
organization with about 1,000
dues paying households and a core
of insanely dedicated volunteers
who put in unbelievable hours on
the phone, in meetings, organizing,
advocating, testifying, and generally
channeling impulse into action.
The Society can garner more credibility
in public forums because of
those 1,000 households, and because
it has a pretty responsible forty-five
year record of considered advocacy.
Also, the Society has committee
structures already in place that are
dealing with various issues on a
monthly—and sometimes daily—
basis so it has forces ready to mobi-
If You Can’t Beat ’em…
In honor of this issue’s focus on
community, I am going to answer
some questions about the Capitol
Hill Restoration Society. I offer the
following disclaimer: I’m a dues paying
member of the
organization. Since it’s the least
expensive organization I belong to
that allows me to contribute time, I
guess that makes it a good deal,
somehow.
I’ll offer another disclaimer. Over
the years I’ve been a member, which
is roughly the same twenty-one years
I’ve lived on the Hill, I have sometimes
found some of the Restoration
Society’s positions or house tour
selections to be quite stupid. But,
I’ve gotten over it. After all, even
after Ronald Reagan was elected
president of this country twice, the
nation survived. I figure if the country
can outlast Reagan, the Hill can
survive some of the Society’s occasional
stray turns.
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
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VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 19
indignant resignation can be very
satisfying. But once you quit, you
naturally lose the right to influence
the organization you resigned from.
Alternatively, you could put your
time where your mouth is and get
active on one of the committees that
works on things that interest you.
P.S. The Society checked their records
and discovered you forgot to renew
your membership back in 1981.
Dear Judith:
What is it with the Capitol Hill
Restoration Society? They seem to
meddle in absolutely everything.
H. HUGHES
Dear H:
You bet they do! And, they meddle
in some things you might not even
have known they meddle with.
The Restoration Society’s mission
is to preserve, protect, and restore
Capitol Hill’s historic residential
character. That is a pretty broad mission
that the Society has interpreted
over the years to include just about
every quality-of-life issue affecting us
here on the Hill.
Basically, though, like any institution
I’ve ever known or been
involved with, what the Society gets
active about depends a lot on the
particular things that incense or
inspire specific members:
Do you need a sign to encourage
people to scoop poop? CHRS has
’em. Did you know the Society (actually
a couple of members in particular)
has surveyed all the old cast iron
call boxes in the Historic District in
preparation for restoring them? Did
you know that the Society is working
with DPW to inventory historic
streets and alleys to develop a preservation
policy?
Dear Judith:
How do I join the Capitol Hill
Restoration Society?
NAME WITHHELD
Dear Chicken:
Call the Society at 202-543-0425 or
send your $20 single, $25 household,
$40 single sponsor, $50 household
sponsor, $90 single patron, or
$100 household patron directly to
the Capitol Hill Restoration Society
at P.O. Box 15264, WDC, 20003.
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.
FRIENDSHIP HOUSE ASSOCIATION
The Friendship House Association, a 97 year-old community-based social
services agency which serves residents of the District of Columbia, is pleased
to announce the expansion and creation of several new programs and services
related to adult and youth employment training and literacy programs.
The following positions are available for immediate hire:
Youth Opportunity Initiative Program
1-Sr. Case Manager 3-Case Manager 2-Job Developers
2-Outreach Workers 1-Program Assistant
1-Adult Basic Education (ABE)/GED Instructor (FT)
Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Program
1-Program Manager 1-Job Developer
1-Administrative Assistant/Data Entry Clerk
Adult Basic Education (ABE)/Employment-Focused Training and Family Literacy Program
1-Program Manager/Adult Basic Education (ABE)/GED Instructor)
2-Adult Basic Education (ABE)/GED Instructors (FT)
1-Adult Basic Education (ABE)/GED Instructor (PT)
1-Computer Skills Training Instructor
1-Administrative Assistant/Class Scheduler
1-Security Guard 1-Custodial Engineer
Friendship House offers competitive salaries and a bonus incentive
program with quarterly payout. We also offer a full range of benefits such
as health and dental insurance, 401K plan and paid vacations.
Friendship House is an equal opportunity employer.
Please forward your resume and salary history to the address below. Specify
the program(s) and position(s) you are applying for in your application.
Friendship House Association
619 D Street, SE.
Washington, DC 20003
FAX: 202-546-3080
Attn: Human Resource Department
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
“SPOUSES WHO SELL HOUSES”
ASSOCIATE BROKER, GRI
REMAX CAPITAL PROPERTIES
FAISON@Realtor.com
202.255.5554 or 202.546.5881
THE BEST
“EXTRA
BEDROOMS”
ON CAPITOL
HILL
Corner of
5th & A Streets, NE
202-547-1050
reserve@BullMoose-B-and-B.com
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
20 www.voiceofthehill.com
Business Bits
August 5th marked 25 years since John
Weintraub and Ed Copenhaver bought
Frager’s from George and Julius Frager,
sons of the store’s founder, a Russian
immigrant named Fritz.
Fritz Frager, John tells us (John will tell us everything,
since Ed’s on vacation), opened the store in
1920 after being laid off from his carpentry job at
the Navy Yard: “He was the only guy that was
happy about getting his walking papers…He had
worked on the side for a guy in the lumber business
who advanced him the money to start the store.”
This is Frager’s original location, but as sons and
grandsons were born, other stores followed.
Robinson’s, across the bridge on Pennsylvania
Avenue, was opened by George Frager and his son
Eddie. Another branch opened on Stanton Park.
John says Robinson’s folded after about ten years.
The city began doing roadwork, and the store was
difficult to reach. He’s not sure when the Northeast
location shut down, or why.
Neither Eddie nor Julius’s son, Arthur, stayed
with the family business—perhaps, John figures,
because the one store couldn’t support everyone.
Eddie “started a very successful janitorial supply
company. He’s now retired.” Arthur took on a partner
and started American Hardware in Waldorf,
Maryland. He still works some.
In any event, when it came time for George and
Julius to retire, Eddie and Arthur were well established
elsewhere.
Enter John with his shiny new MBA from GW,
and Ed, with his Masters in Engineering: College
roommates and frat brothers that were looking for a
business to buy.
“I was living in a basement apartment on East
Celebrating 25 Years of Nuts and Bolts
Bird feeders, radish seed, candle wax remover. Alarm clocks, tea
balls, tile nibblers and a bar-b-que shaped like a sleeping cow.
Frager’s Hardware sometimes gives tours of their eclectically
stocked aisles to Cub Scout troops. Grown-ups:
start lobbying.
Alarm clocks, hair dryers, a dozen kinds of cord. Shelves
and rows of paint, brushes, copper joints, hammers, nails,
and devilish red cans of Marvel Mystery Oil, a car innard
degunker that’s guaranteed to flow at 60 below.
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 21
Capitol St.,” says John, who grew up in Baltimore—
pre-Harbor Place. When he got out of the service,
he wanted out of town. He asked a friend’s advice
about where he should live, and was told, “Capitol
Hill is the up and coming place.” That was 1969.
When Ed finished a five-year engineering program
in the service, the two began looking at possibilities.
They considered printing, among other
ideas, then a “neighbor suggested we go to Frager’s,
‘those guys are always talking about selling.’”
“Now George and Julius,” John continues, “were
constantly talking about selling: ‘I’m getting tired,
I’m getting out,’ you know? There was a period
when they got furious with some folks over an SBA
loan—they went through all this paperwork and it
fell through and they got disgusted. They were
telling everybody the business was for sale: offering
it to customers, contractors. We still have people
coming in saying, ‘Jeez, I should have bought that
store.’”
This time, though, they were serious.
When John and Ed took over, the second floor of
Frager’s was carved into two apartments. One, a
rather opulently styled space, was used by the
Frager family. John says there were “lighted cedar
closets, a big bath and kitchen, and wallpaper that
looked like a French whorehouse, velvet with a
design.”
George lived in the apartment between wives.
The new partners found a pair of his slippers under
the bed, along with a stash of Playboy magazines.
But at the time the business was sold, George was
living with his third wife, Kaye.
“There’s a story,” says John with a grin, “that the
two played a lot of golf before they were married.
George said, ‘if you hit a hole in one, I’ll marry you.’
It took her 13 years, but she did it.”
The other apartment was also vacant. It had been
rented by a jazz musician who liked to party. A
member of the National Symphony Orchestra lived
across the street. There were complaints.
John and Ed broke through the walls that divided
the apartments. The rooms are now used for
offices and storage.
John didn’t know much about hardware when
they started out, but Ed did. He was a civil engineer
and had worked for a number of years for Charles H.
Thompkins, a big construction company. John
brought the business background. Along with the
MBA, he had sold for National Cash Register, and
had a knowledge of accounting.
Any lack was made up by George Frager. John
says, “George was obligated to stay for 30 days. He
stayed for ten years. It was fun. He worked very
hard. He did the window, screen and glasswork.
After about a year he said, ‘Look. Start payin’ me
will ya?’ We really didn’t pay him, he was more or
less an advisor. He told everyone, ‘look this is what
I’ve done, I grew up in this store, this is my life.’ He
wanted to see us do well, see the store name live
on.”
Ed and John began paying him. But eventually he
“became cantankerous, and was driving customers
off. We said, ‘it’s time George.’” Did he go quietly?
“He did. He got tired of it too.”
Frager’s didn’t change much, until just a couple
of years ago. For years, tools and paints and nuts
and bolts and other goods were stashed in trays, or
hidden behind big pegboard doors. The aisles were
cramped and difficult to navigate. Customers caterpillared
toward the registers, bunching and inching
past teetering racks of dahlia bulbs and people waiting
for keys.
They did clean out the basement early on. There
was “lots of broken stuff, returns.” There was also a
heap of old toys: Frager’s was around long before
Toys R Us and the chains. Before Christmas, John
says, the Frager family would “spend weeks putting
together bicycles and other toys. My father-in-law
went through all of the toys to see what was usable.
There was a tin train set, an old fashioned scooter:
He threw out a lot, we saved a little.”
Other odds and ends turned up in the course of
minor renovations over the years. Tucked in the
rafters were “old bottles and beer cans from the
days cans were made out of heavy-duty tin.”
The biggest changes, though, have happened in
the last five years. “The Hill is doing well,” John
explains, “and we’re just trying to meet demand.”
The garden center came first, growing from a few
plants in carts to the elaborate racks that now fill
the parking lot alongside the building. About three
years ago the store was completely remodeled, with
a new entrance and easier (if not easy) access to the
shelves.
This past spring, the Just Ask Rental center
opened. Frager’s has always rented some items like
ladders, floor buffers and rug cleaners. But John
says they were getting an increasing number of calls
for “floor sanders, edgers, jack hammers and small
stuff—like drills. We did have a survey done by True
Value, and they determined that this was a good
market for it. We added party stuff, tables and
chairs—they said there was a market for that too.”
True Value is a buying service that Frager’s
belongs to. They, along with 10,000 other independently
owned hardware stores, use the
increased buying power of the co-op to help make
their pricing more competitive with the Home
Depots and Lowes. The co-op also offers services
like market research, consulting and computers.
John says the store has been using computers for
about ten years, beginning with accounting.
Inventory was added about 6 or 7 years ago.
This is hard to believe, considering the state of
the office. Stacks of papers, boxes and little odds
and ends cover every square inch of flat surface.
“Even the big chains have the same problem,”
shrugs John. “We probably have 30 to 35,000 different
items—it’s very hard to keep track of, even
with a computer.”
They also have 40 people on the staff, many of
them part time, and many of them—particularly in
the summer—neighborhood kids. John says,
“We’ve had kids that stayed with us for years and
years. We had one kid that went through medical
school and every time he had a week off he’d come
back. He was so competent: he could build, he
could sell, he could run the cash register. He worked
for us for 8 or 9 years. Some families, like the
Pfeiffers, have passed jobs down. Jack, Lucy, Ellen—
have all worked here. Maybe Polly will be next.”
John says they really depend on the kids, “When
they go back to school we go running. It’s hard to
find qualified people and generally the kids learn
quickly and are eager. They’re willing to do lifting.”
John and his family live in the neighborhood.
Most of the time Ed lives nearby with his girlfriend,
keeping busy with the neighborhood watch.
The business keeps growing. In the last year they
bought the building at the corner of 11th and
Pennsylvania, a move that gives them about 75% of
the block. Says John: “Our business was expanding
and we needed a place to expand to. The next step
is to join the two buildings and make one big store.”
It will still be mainly hardware, but John promises
more variety: “The more we put in, the more we
sell. We could probably sell just about anything—
now we sell candy at the front counter, and we sell
this Greek seasoning that Nick [the store manager]
likes. We have people calling and asking for it if we
run out.”
Maybe it’s time to dust off the toys. Bagels might
be a good addition too.
Frager’s Hardware
1115 Pennsylvania Ave., SE
543-6157
Sherrill’s Closes: Hill’s Premier Greasy Spoon Tosses
Cookies. Here’s what we wrote for the website, the
morning of July 27:
That Capitol Hill institution, Sherrill’s Bakery, is
finally yielding to the march of progress, if that’s
what we’re to call the sale of the building at the corner
of 3rd and Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. The bakery
owners have been telling customers that they’ll be
closing the 78-year-old business forever on Sunday,
July 31.
And who’s the newly rumored anchor-tenant?
Not, we hear, the oft-bandied Starbucks. While the
new tenant’s name shares sibilance (and two letters)
with the coffee-mogul, we’re in for a lot less
trend, and a lot more toothpaste. Yes! It’s everyone’s
favorite hometown, warm and fuzzy pharmacy!
CVS is apparently slated to open its third
Capitol Hill location.
Maybe this one will have a manager capable of
keeping the Revlon nail polish section stocked.
Keep in mind that though we got word of CVS
through some highly knowledgeable sources, it is
not confirmed. The building’s new owner, however,
is.
Maurice Kreindler of CapHillLLC, the development
company that owns the Payless Shoes and
Last Stop for Jeans buildings on 8th Street, SE, and is
now constructing a building across from the
Eastern Market Metro Plaza that will house Radio
Shack this fall, e-mailed the following statement
when asked if his group had purchased the building:
“Yup.”
A CVS takeover of Sherrill’s (and probably
Christine the psychic, and Frenchies Dry Cleaners)
would no doubt be an excellent move for the drugstore,
and for the developer. The handful of commercial
properties near the Capitol don’t offer
much in the way of entertainment for the hoards of
government employees that flood the streets at
noon. A drugstore would offer plenty of good clean
fun.
Perhaps that CVS will develop the cachet of the
Georgetown Safeway.
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
22 www.voiceofthehill.com
private parties  ¥   celebrations  ¥  special events
private parties  ¥  celebrations  ¥  special events
private parties ¥ celebrations ¥ special events
2 Quail 2 Quail
1107 Pennsylvania Ave., SE • Washington, DC 20003
Phone 202-543-0100
JUST ASK RENTAL HOURS:
Monday-Friday 7am - 4pm • Saturday: 7am - 4 pm, Sunday Closed
VISA, MasterCard, AMEX, Discover
Buy what you want. Rent what you need.
Frager’s
Get buffed.
But Then: Oy Vey. That same July 27 we got word
that Chesapeake Bagel Bakery closed its doors, and
we wrote:
David Levine, one of the partners in the chain
that got its start right here on Pennsylvania Ave.,
SE, says they’re not only closing the Hill store, but
all of their DC locations. “The DC business climate
is prohibitive,” he tells us. “There’s more profit and
less hassle in Virginia.”
In addition to problems with the District, the
store also suffered labor woes, a rent that kept creeping
ever-upward, and competition from Xando.
The bagel-maker followed that statement with
words that made us want to altogether plotz:
“…and with Starbucks replacing that old restaurant,
what’s its name…”
Sherrill’s?
Wait!
Did we not just write that Maurice Kriendler said
“yep” he’d bought the Sherrill’s building—but
wouldn’t confirm that CVS (feh!) would be the
anchor tenant? Did we not just hammer forth those
words this very morning?
Wrong, says Levine. He assures us that the
Bernstein’s, “a very fine Jewish family from
Bethesda,” have bought out Sherrill’s and that he
has heard from the very lips of someone very highly
placed at Starbucks that the coffee-teria is Hillward
bound.
Levine says he knows that Starbucks has been
interested in the Hill for some time. They, in fact,
tried to buy him out awhile back—but offered
bubkes, so of course it was no go. He told us not to
listen to Starbuck’s denials: “I’ve gone through this
silliness before. They’re very secretive. They say
they’re not…and the next thing you know, they’re
open.”
You know what’s funny about all this? For
months now we’ve had our knickers in a twist
about the possibility of Starbucks moving in—
Please, who needs more coffee?
But compared with CVS? Bring on the mocha
frappa whatsis. Just make it black. No sugar.
News Flash. Roll Call has since reported that Ritz
Camera will be moving into Sherrill’s Bakery. That’s
why it’s called a flash. It’s short. Bring on the fat
lady already.
Calling All Goys. The indispensable compendium
for following the first Jewish candidate for Vice
President down the campaign trail is Leo Rosten’s
classic, The Joys of Yiddish. You, for instance, are
wondering what’s with this “Feh!”—see bagel story
above.
Says Rosten, “‘Feh!’ is the Yiddish replacement
for exclamatory expressions of disgust such as
‘Phew!’ ‘Pee-oo!’ ‘Ugh!’ ‘Phooey!’ ‘Ecch! and ‘Pfrr!’
It strikes me as a crisp and exact delineation of distaste.
In saying ‘Feh!,’ you may bare the teeth and
wrinkle the nose, in visible reinforcement of the
meaning.”
Rosten lists “whiffing a rotten fish” and “contemplating
an operation for hemorrhoids” as two
of the many instances in which this juicy expletive
comes in handy.
The $6.99 paperback is in stock at Trover Book
Store, 221 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.
Slow Down! Eat Less but Better. “Everything seems
to be speeding up these days, especially eating.
Millions of burgers, sacks of fries and wedges of
pizza are gobbled on the run…” so writes regular
Voice contributor, Celeste McCall, in her monthly
“Trendwatch” column for Culinex.com, the web
news-site for the food service and hospitality industry.
McCall says an international organization called
Slow Food is bucking the trend, calling for folks to
slow down and “savor foods the way nature intended.”
She was there when the Hill’s classy eatery
Barolo hosted a recent Slow Food conference.
Celeste quotes chef Enzo Fargione, who touts the
joys of shopping at Eastern Market then adds:
“…Don’t stuff yourself with ordinary food just to fill
your tummy— but be a buon gustaio—‘good
fork’—someone who is capable of distinguishing a
quality restaurant from an ordinary one.... I only
buy quality products. I enjoy changing my menu
twice a day, with what I can find, like they do in
Italy! Whatever looks good, I buy and cook it!”
Barolo is at 223 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE.
Appalachian Spring Sends Kids Back to School:
Appalachian Spring, which is more usually thought
of as one of the areas finest sources for American
crafts, is collecting back to school supplies for
needy local kids throughout the month of August.
The suggestion list includes: pencils, washable
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 23
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
$115, 350
233 KENTUCKY AVE., SE #02
• Sound Financially—KENTUCKY MANOR CONDO
ASSOC—No assessments in 22 years!
• Ratio of OWNERS to RENTERS = 8:1 on 13 th St. side
and 7:2 on Ky. Ave. side; Total = 15:3.
• Condo Fee $133, includes...“ Cable TV; Firewood;
Water/Sewer; Trash; Deck Storage Room; Door Alarms;
Alley Lights
• Roof seams re-sealed and roof painted 1999.
• Fireplace flues throughly cleaned and chimney capped to
prevent rain ingress, 1999.
• Larger than necessary Heat Pump for Unit 2 installed on
roof in 1989 operating at peak efficiency.
—Mid-June to Mid-July 2000 Electric Bill = $30;
Mid-January to Mid-February 2000 = $30
• Washer/Dryer, 1994
• Stove/Refrigerator/ Disposal/Dishwasher, 1998
• All electrical outlets AND solid brass plates, 1989
• Carpeting in bedroom is Stainmaster, 1991
• Superior grain wooden floors; all units have doublethick
floors for sound insulation.
wjam@gallaudet.edu
Juanita.Cebe@gallaudet.edu
Bill @ 202-651-5749 fax
Juanita @ 202-651-6055
The home is cozy, charming, and convenient. Well-insulated,
so much so that fireplace heats the entire unit. One bedroom
with queen size bed, dresser, and a built-in closet. Never a
parking problem on Ky. Ave.! We are 1.0 mile from the Capitol
Building, 7 blocks from Eastern Market Metro; 2 blocks from
Safeway; 2 blocks from Churches; 2 blocks from Lincoln Park;
and 5 miles (15 minutes) to Pentagon City.
INQUIRING??
Are you . . .
. . .interested in joining the
Catholic Church?
. . . an adult Catholic seeking
confirmation?
. . .simply wanting to learn what
makes Catholics tick?
ST. JOSEPH’S CHURCH,
(2nd & C Streets, NE)
warmly welcomes
“inquirers” to participate in
its adult initiation program!
For more information, call:
Chris Wilson
202-547-0738
markers, crayons, notebooks, glue, filler paper, yellow
highlighters, rulers and medium point pens.
They’d also appreciate new and gently used backpacks.
Donations are being taken at the Union Station
store (682-0505) between the hours of 10AM and
9PM Monday through Saturday, and Noon to 6PM
Sunday.
The Future is Wireless: Mobile Communications
Store to Open in September Hillite David James saw
a need, and he’s filling it. Future Communications,
which opens next month at 666 Pennsylvania
Avenue, will be the Hill’s first wireless communications
shop.
The digital entrepreneur will be packing in
phones from first-rate manufacturers like Nokia,
Motorola, Erickson, and Mitsubishi—and providing
service through a variety of carriers including
AT&T and Nextel. You’ll be able to try them all too,
James says he’ll have display booths and test models.
He’ll also carry a full line of accessories like
headphones, fancy faceplates, batteries, belt clips,
and car chargers.
Here’s the real twist. Jamespromises, “we won’t
just hand over a box and you walk out the door. We
want to supply you with the support system: how
to program your phone, how to use it, what to do
when there are problems—reduce your frustration.”
They’ll also provide full service repairs for when
your phone is broken or malfunctioning—AND
provide loaner phones so you can still talk to your
mom as you walk the dog.
Capitol Hill will be the second store for Future
Communications. James and his partner Lynn Ai
got the bugs out of the business plan in their
Annandale location. So confident are they, that a
third shop, in Chinatown, will also open this fall.
Business Bits is written by Voice editor-in-chief,
Stephanie Cavanaugh
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
24 www.voiceofthehill.com
Internet Provider Services
DC Access
118 Kentucky Ave, SE 546-5898
www.dcaccess.net — a local ISP
Mason
Michaliga Masonry
321 C Street, SE
544-4484
Mortgage Lenders
Apex Home Loans
301-474-7100
See our ad on page 16
Jeffrey A. Love, Loan Officer
Federal Funding Mortgage Corp
202-210--7106 jlove@ffmcorp.com
Pet Supplies
Doolittle’s Pet Supply
224 7th St., SE 544-8710
See our ad on page 26
Office Supplies
Capitol Hill Innervision
Art and Office Supplies
701 8th St., SE 544-4664
Photography
Asman Custom Photo Service, Inc
924 Penn. Ave, SE 547-7713
See our ad on page 16
Motophoto
666 PA Ave., SE 547-2100
See our ad on page 11
Picture Framing
Frame of Mine
522 8th St., SE 543-3030
See our ad on page 8
Newman Gallery and Custom Frames
511 11th St., SE 544-7577
See our ad on page 15
Antiques
Antiques on the Hill
701 North Carolina Ave., SE
See our ad on page 31
Astrology
Ajai
Good advice since 1979
543-9053
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 2
Association
CHAMPS
621 PA Ave., SE 547-7788
Bank
National Capital Bank
316 PA Ave.,SE 546-8000
See our ad on page 13
Books
Capitol Hill Books
657 C Street, SE, 544-1621
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Church
Christ Church Washington Parish
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Clothing & Gifts
Art & Soul
225 PA Ave., SE 548-0105
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The Village
705 N. Carolina Ave., SE 546-3040
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Computer Consultant
Better Computer Solutions
623 N. Carolina Ave., SE 546-8084
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Drug Store
Grubbs Care Pharmacy
326 E Capitol SE 543-4400
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Electric Repairs
Bob Willett / K&W Electric
301-283-4004
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Garden and Landscape
Gingko Gardens
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Grocery
The 8th Street Market
419 8th St., SE
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Hardware
Fragers Hardware
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GI Jane
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Home Furnishings
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311 7th St., SE 543-1705
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Home Repair
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H&W Contracting, Ltd.
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Income Tax Services
Jackson Hewitt Tax Service
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Real Estate
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5025 Wisconsin Ave, NW 202-362-1348, x111
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Thom Burns
Coldwell Banker Real Estate
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Business Services
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 25
Business Services
Eastern Market Title
210 7th St., SE 546-3100
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Restaurants
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Banana Café
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Park Café
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Salon
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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
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Gabrielle Hill
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Vacation/Travel Consultants
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Yoga Studio
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VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
26 www.voiceofthehill.com
including the incorporation of the original 1928
hospital into the building plan, reducing the
height of the apartment house to the height of the
original hospital wing, and reducing the number of
apartments to a “reasonable density” –though how
many apartments that might be is not suggested.
Simpson says, “Some people say that 125 [units]
sounds reasonable.”
The petition also asks the District to make the
sale to Holladay contingent upon Medlink’s open-
Holladay Corp.’s Apartment Project
Raises Hackles
Neighbors Mount Protest
July 26. Sources say that over a hundred neighbors
packed an evening meeting at St. James Parish Hall
on 7th Street, NE on July 24 to debate an apartment
project proposed by the Holladay Corporation that
would replace a portion of the existing Medlink
Hospital with a 240-unit luxury apartment building
—part of a much larger project that includes a
townhouse development on adjacent lots.
The meeting was called by a group called the
Capitol Hill Coalition for Sensible Development
(CHCSD) which is protesting the size of an apartment
building that, at 9 stories, will be taller than
the trees, visible from blocks away and, they feel,
out of context with the historic character of the
neighborhood.
The fledging organization is very well organized.
They’ve hired a lawyer, Steve Gell, have a PR person,
John Kyte, and are already planning a September
fundraiser to support their protest. They also claim
to have gathered more than 300 signatures for a
petition that will be presented at a meeting of the
Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) on
Thursday, July 27. [This is a number that has since
been revised. We’re now told there are upward of
528 signatures]
Nancy Simpson is one of the leaders of the coalition,
along with Tim Hauser, and J. Stephen Hall.
Says Simpson: “We’re not opposed to residential
development, but we want a project that’s done
well and does not harm the historic district. We feel
this is a precedent setting case.”
The CHCSD petition addresses several concerns
ing the parking lot under the hospital to visitors,
and asks that the number of spaces in the apartment’s
garage be increased by 50%.
Though Holladay Corporation has already provided
a parking space for each apartment unit
(which is considerably beyond building requirements);
Simpson says more are needed, “because
households often have more than one vehicle.”
One other concern is historic St. James Church,
which would be adjacent to the new apartment
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building. The CHCSD fears it will be overpowered
by the project as proposed.
Surprisingly absent from the meeting were representatives
from the Stanton Park Neighborhood
Association, the Capitol Hill Restoration Society
and Councilwoman Sharon Ambrose’s office—all
of which have been very involved in the proposed
project.
Simpson claims they all knew about the meeting,
but were not specifically invited because “Stanton
Park has taken its position, the Restoration Society
has taken its position, and Sharon Ambrose has
taken her position. This meeting was more for the
neighbors.”
“A lot of us feel,” she continued, “that Sharon
Ambrose is basically for this project, and doesn’t
seem to have the same concerns that we do. The
Restoration Society and Stanton Park both do a lot
of good work, but the neighbors didn’t feel they
were going quite far enough to represent our concerns.”
The Holladay Corporation didn’t make the invited
list either. Rita Bamberger, the developer’s point
person says they showed their plans at a Stanton
Park Neighborhood Association Meeting that was
held two weeks ago, “and they are now being
revised according to suggestions made by the
Historic Preservation Review Board. The architect is
working on the finishing touches.” Bamberger
added that they would have been happy to come to
the meeting and discuss the changes—which
include the incorporation of the 4-story, 1928 wing
of the hospital. The new building, which attaches
to it, would be about 20 feet taller.
Bamberger says they’ve “changed the design 3
times and accommodated parking concerns. We
think the design will fit in and be compatible.”
Marge Francais of Councilmember Ambrose’s
office was surprised to hear about the meeting,
“even if she [Ambrose] weren’t available she certainly
would have had one of her staff there,” and
the councilwoman will definitely be at the Historic
Preservation Review Board meeting on Thursday.
Though the Restoration Society’s primary concern
is how the project fits in visually with the historic
district—not the impact on the residents, the
society has been involved in discussions about
parking and other neighborhood issues. Nancy
Metzger, chair of the society’s Historic District
Committee, says, “This is a weird situation, because
we’re talking about a design that no longer exists.
What we’re looking at now is really a ‘concept.’”
Metzger explained that Holladay Corp has discussed
their plans with HPRB and the Restoration
Society since the Stanton Park meeting two weeks
ago, and made modifications. “They now have a
second design ‘statement,’” says Metzger.
“Thursday’s hearing will be to ask which direction
they should be going in as to height and scale and
massing—not design. This is a first step in the
process and they’ll be taking comments.”
The Restoration Society’s concerns included the
new building’s height, particularly on the St. James
church side. “Anything should be very respectful of
that building, not looming over it,” said Metzger.
The Society was also concerned that the first
design plan had a solid, horizontal “feel.” Metzger
said they would prefer to “see it broken into sections,
with more of the rhythm associated with our
historic district—more of a vertical feel.” She suggested
looking at 666 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE (the
old Kresge building) for an example of a building
with a horizontal feel, and the nearby Penn Theater
building for vertical example.
Metzger’s committee didn’t have “a specific
height demand, because different things can affect
that: setbacks and roof treatments.” Zoning at that
location gives the developer the right to build to 90
feet, but they still need HPRB approval for what
suits the historic district. The usual height limit in
the residential area is 40 feet though, says Metzger,
“30 to 35 feet is the norm; adjustments are made to
fit the context.”
Other Restoration Society design concerns
include modifying the window treatments—or
window to wall ratios—to be more typical of
Capitol Hill. They also wanted “some sense of street
life to be incorporated—not a blank wall, but
maybe a mini-park, to encourage neighbor-toneighbor
communication.”
David Maloney, who is handling this case for the
HPRB, did not return our phone call.
Drew Tallant, chair of the Stanton Park
Neighborhood Association (SPNA), was yet another
local mover who was not invited to the CHCSD
meeting. Tallant says the SPNA is, “largely supportive
of the project. The apartment building is too
large for that location, but we do think the residential
use of that property is the best we’re likely to
see. We want it to go forward, but perhaps on a
slightly reduced scale. I hope it doesn’t go away—I
fear what we might see instead. I’m sure the neigh-
VOICE of the Hill / August 18, 2000
www.voiceofthehill.com 27
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HPRB Reviews Holladay Corporation
Plans
Apartment Building Discussion Deferred to
September
July 27. DC’s Historic Preservation Review Board
(HPRB) heard a staff report and community comments
this afternoon on the townhouses proposed
for the parking lots adjacent to Medlink/Capitol
Hill Hospital on Massachusetts Avenue, NE.
Discussion of the 240-unit luxury apartment building
that is to replace a portion of the hospital has
been deferred to the September meeting.
David Maloney of the HPRB staff said that they
had reviewed and essentially approved the latest
“concept design” for the townhouse development
proposed by the Holladay Corporation. The developers
had addressed v