Thanks to a reader for the heads up. There is one outside Red Rocks and one outside Meridian Pint across the street. I like how they are also a bit protected.
Columbia Heights
Whenever we talk about the Washington Sports Club located in DC USA in Columbia Heights it brings up strong opinions. For those who aren’t huge fans you may soon have another option. It has come to my attention that the second floor of the building currently home to Meridian Pint at 11th and Park Road, NW may welcome a gym to the second floor. Obviously the space is much smaller than a WSC so I wouldn’t expect a swimming pool or anything but it’ll be interesting to see if this develops. How much square feet do you think is necessary for a proper gym?
This rental is located at 3654 New Hampshire Ave NW:
The Craigslist ad says:
“You now have a great opportunity to lease this nice 1 bedroom apartment located only 1/2 block away from the Petworth Metro Station.
* Heat, water and hot water included with the rent. Tenant pays electricity and cooking gas.
* Laundry facilities in the basement.
* Off-street parking available for $100.00/month on the premises.
* On-site resident manager.
* Cable and high speed Internet ready.”
Does $1180 sound reasonable for this 1 bedroom?
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Recently I noted that Hadiyah Cafe had closed but I noticed a permit in the window so I had hopes of a proper restaurant coming in. It was a good hunch as a recently applied for liquor license application indicates:
“New southern cuisine restaurant, providing good and healthy foods to the community, and quiet jazz for entertainment. Occupancy load is 23”
I’ll be sure to update when they look closer to opening up.
Perhaps because I’m a bit masochistic I’ve always enjoyed reading people’s opinions on whether or not the park is called Malcolm X or Meridian Hill. Basically the national park service calls it Meridian Hill (which is the technical official name because NPS owns the land) but long time residents as well as the city have generally referred to it as Malcolm X park. The debate has gotten rather contentious and heated at times. As a result I have always referred to it as the Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park. I nearly fell over when I saw the above city sign city sign on U St, NW. At long last, a compromise!
By the by the park (between 15th and 16th St, NW and Euclid and W/Florida Ave) is looking beautiful. Fountains stay on until mid-Nov.
Photo by PoPville flickr user ekelly80
From a reader:
“SECOND ANNUAL BOOK SALE–Donate BOOKS, DVDs and CDs to the Columbia Heights Educational Campus to improve the library and literacy programs at Bell Multicultural High School and Lincoln Middle School. Tax-deductible donations are being accepted at the main offices of Bell and Lincoln during the workday. The campus is located at 3101 16th St. N.W. (corner of 16th and Irving Streets). Call 202-939-7703 for delivery procedures. And please join us at the BOOK SALE, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2 from 10 a.m. till 3 p.m. in the Bell cafeteria.”
Washington Post reports:
“One person was killed and several others were critically injured early Wednesday in an apartment building fire that shut down 16th Street NW, a major commuter artery, during the morning rush, officials said.
Firefighters were called to the blaze, in the 3100 block of 16th Street in Columbia Heights, at 3:45 a.m., said D.C. fire department spokesman Pete Piringer. They escorted dozens of people out of the eight-story building, carrying some through smoke-filled hallways or down ladders. One person jumped from an upper story and was gravely injured.”
TBD reports:
“The deceased is reportedly a 38-year-old man, AP reports. D.C. fire department spokesman Pete Piringer says two people are listed in serious condition and another three are listed in critical condition, including a child. Piringer says 125 people have been displaced and were given shelter at a nearby recreation center.”
They have photos here.
“Dear PoP,
Folks may or may not know that the La Casa Shelter on Irving between 14th and 16th is slated to close October 15th pending a zoning hearing. The Highland Park Apartment owners own the property (I believe) and want to build 69 more Luxury (unaffordable) units there.
The zoning hearing is Thursday, September 30th at One Judiciary Square 441 4th suite 220-S at 630pm
While the shelter is not the greatest, during the winter, they double the number of people they take in and it is one of the only shelters left in NW.
I wanted to ask if folk would come to the hearing and request that the shelter remain open at least through the winter so that people have a warm place to go and that the city can plan better for where they will go after the closing.
In addition, DC has an inclusionary zoning law which is supposed to require any new development to setaside a certain number of units as affordable. We should make sure that this law is enforced for these new units.”
We recently spoke about this building in the beginning of Sept. but The 42 blog posted a big update on this yesterday. He writes:
“The developers have a zoning hearing on September 30 in order to propose several changes. They want to increase the number of apartment units from 69 to 143. They want to increase the roof line from 86 to 90 feet (plus 9 foot penthouse level above). And finally, they want to eliminate the parking garage and alter the façade from what you see in the rendering to an aesthetic that more closely matches the existing Highland Park.”
Lots more info and an original rendering here.
Ed. Note: Highland Park is a PoP advertiser.
“Dear PoP,
On Sunday, September 26 my new 2010 Mini Cooper burst into flames at around 4:30 a.m.
I parked the car just down the block from my home at 9:30 pm on Saturday night. I parked it at 16th and Oak directly in front of 1523 Oak Street NW. When I passed by the car on Sunday around 1pm we found that the entire front of the car was destroyed (photo attached.) I spoke to the residents of 1523 and they told me that the noise and flames had woken them up around 4:30 a.m. at which point they called 911 and started throwing buckets of water on the car to try and stop the fire. The fire department and police came, put out the fire, and left.
Officer Richardson answered our call on Sunday afternoon, when my partner and I first discovered the damage to the car, and tried to help us track down a report number. At first, fire dispatch said there was no record of an incident at that time and location. Several phone calls later, she was able to talk to Investigator Ford at the Fire Investigation Unit who told her that a call was made at 4:47 am and Engine 11 (located at 14th and Newton) responded to the call and put out the fire. Investigator Ford said that he was at the scene at that time and called the fire mechanical, not arson. When pressed, he said that the fire on the 3600 block of 16th Street on August 25th which involved several vehicles was also mechanical.
I cannot accept that the cause of our car being incinerated was “mechanical”. Our car is barely 3 weeks old and had been turned off and parked for roughly 6 hours prior to catching on fire. As I waited for an officer to respond to my call on Sunday afternoon, several community members mentioned cars being set on fire on neighboring streets, Otis, Kenyon, and Monroe in the past few weeks. One neighbor stopped and showed me a picture of his car which burned while parked on Otis Street this past Thursday and was also deemed “mechanical” (2nd attachment below.) The damage to his car looked exactly like ours and also happened around 4 am. It is ridiculous that none of these incidents are being properly investigated.
The damage to our car is already done, but I am afraid that since the Fire Investigation Unit is not finding any of these fires suspicious, vehicles in the Columbia Heights area will continue to burn until one of them explodes and the fire spread to someone’s home or a passerby is injured or worse.
Firefighters returned to our car this morning because someone called to say that gas was leaking down the street. When we spoke with them they said that all the cars that have been burned have Maryland or Virginia tags. We’re DC residents but bought our car in Maryland so it had MD temp tags.”
I also got the following brief note from a reader on Friday:
“Saw this Jeep burned out between 14th and 16th on Monroe.”
