Posts tagged Preservation
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Lost Washington: The Gayety Theater
Ninth Street NW, the blocks just north of Pennsylvania Avenue: Today they’re lined with rows of the same nondescript office buildings you see everywhere else downtown. And then there’s that hulking FBI building on the west side. But it wasn’t always like this. A hundred years ago this was where the action was. “Ninth Street was the Broadway of Washington,”… Keep reading…
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NCPC plans to be more open
The National Capital Planning Commission is working on an Open Government Plan, to “increase transparency, public participation, and collaboration.” You can vote on their various ideas at an interactive site. Ideas include putting online more of the plans that are under review, live streaming meetings, creating an online platform for people to collaboratively suggest… Keep reading…
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Lost Washington: Church of the Covenant
Churches are one of the biggest challenges for historic preservation. They are such unique structures and so poorly suited to be anything but what they are. What happens when a congregation outgrows its building and wants to move on? In some cases, old churches downtown have been preserved because they were taken over by other religious groups. Several downtown landmarks have… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Cycling in the law and the press
Bike bills introduced in Richmond; Bike baiting is really frio; Alternatives to extending Metro; East Falls Church planning enters final stages; DC makes inroads against chronic homelessness; Foggy Bottom station closed over MLK weekend; Nominate “most endangered” historic properties; Streetcars: a renaissance or transportation nostalgia?; Google Transit adds new features; And…. Keep reading…
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Congo wants circular driveway at 16th and Riggs
The Republic of the Congo has purchased the historic Toutorsky Mansion at 16th and Riggs, NW, and is requesting permission to replace much of the front yard with a circular driveway. The embassy can function in the space without the driveway, and DC should deny that element. The 18-room house, built in 1894 for for Supreme Court Justice Henry Billings Brown, writer of the famous… Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: What’s effective?
Tommy talks Metro & bags; MD smart growth policies ineffective; Councilmember Biddle; Another fight in Metro station; Metro to use 3-day weekend closures more; Developments in the works for 2011; NY Ave redevelopment not held up by historic preservation; Ohio puts interstate extension in multimodal plan; And…. Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Bad choices, good choices
Dulles Metro station won’t be in front of terminal; DC bag fee works, VA & MD ponder own fees; RAC opposes bag searches; Kass promoted on transportation committee; Welcome, GOP majority; How CaBi may expand; Historic preservation not always a hindrance; Help create transit manual; And…. Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: On MLK
No mixed-use next to St. E’s?; Other streets named MLK; Road not designed to be at all walkable; DC owed $300M in traffic tickets; Shaping the city in 2011; Signs of a new mayor; Biking faster than driving; Under the city; And…; WTOP’s best and worst: Whatever AAA says. Keep reading…
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Triumph and tragedy at Decatur House
Decatur House, located at the northwest corner of Lafayette Square, became a focal point for Washington society as soon as it was constructed for naval hero Stephen Decatur (1779-1820) in 1819. Designed for entertainment, the house has had a long career as the backdrop for both social triumph and personal tragedy. Keep reading…
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Breakfast links: Some sunny news, some more gray
The Gray era begins; SmarTrip of the future; Bowser defends density; Tax policy spurred demolitions; Preserve King Farm’s transit limitations?; It’s the pedestrian’s fault there was no crosswalk; Goodbye, shuttles; In case you missed it. Keep reading…