Dear PoP – What is the Park Road Facade project?

“Dear PoP,

I was walking down park road and noticed some guys nailing wooden stops to the brick on a storefront. Above them was a sign that said something about the Park Road Facade Improvement Project. It’s on the East side of the strip between 14th and Hiatt, near Pho 14.

Maybe someone more familiar with this type of construction knows more. Do you know anything about this project and what it entails?”

There was just a groundbreaking on this project yesterday. Sounds like it’s gonna be a serious improvement ($700,000).

Following is a press release about the groundbreaking from Mayor Fenty:

“Today, [Wed. July 21]Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, Department of Housing and Community Development Director Leila Edmonds, and Development Corporation of Columbia Heights (DCCH) CEO Robert Moore joined Ward 1 business leaders to begin façade improvements on 13 businesses on the 1400 block of Park Road, NW.

“Supporting small, local businesses has always been important to my administration,” said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “The renovations to the businesses on Park Road will continue to make Columbia Heights a great business corridor for District residents to find the goods and services they want.”

“We are happy to support the façade improvements on Park Road,” said DHCD Director Leila Edmonds. “The improvements to the businesses on Park Road will not only enhance the image of Columbia Heights but can also continue the economic growth in Ward 1.”

DHCD awarded DCCH a grant of $618,000 for the project, which is expected to cost approximately $700,000 in total. DCCH is overseeing the façade renovations with Keystone Plus Construction as the general contractor and Architecture by Tono as the architects. All property owners of the 13 businesses are members of the Coalition of Park Road Businesses, which was founded in 2006. The store front renovations are expected to be complete fall of 2010.”