Columbia Heights

Dear PoP – “14th Street…what the heck is going on?…again?”

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

As I was walking to the CH metro this morning along 14th Street, I noticed that a huge construction effort had begun on the road in front of Target…I’m not talking about the plaza/fountain that they’ve been building, but it looks like new work. Didn’t they just tear up that road recently? What on earth could they be doing now? It’s SO annoying to be honest. Traffic is just going to get worse, and the area is just AWFUL looking and LOUD. They should have fixed the roads (or whatever is within), BEFORE putting in this shopping district. As a resident of the area, all the construction simply sucks. ughhh.”

The plans for 14th Street reconstruction has been in the works for quite a while. It probably wouldn’t have been possible to fix them before the shopping center went in because all the construction trucks would’ve torn up the road. I forget what the time frame is for this section of 14th Street but at least Park Road is nearly finished…

You can see more about the Columbia Heights Streetscape plans here.

Donate Your Used Athletic Shoes

By Prince Of Petworth

From an email:

“Run, Don’t Walk to the field at 11th and Kenyon to donate your used athletic shoes. Donations are accepted today between 5-7pm and will be used to help build new playgrounds.”

Turf installed at Harriet Tubman – 8 Men Detained by MPD for Trying to Play Soccer

By Prince Of Petworth

I’ve been getting a number of emails that the turf has been installed at the Tubman school located off 11th Street between Irving and Kenyon. Here’s what it looked like a month ago. So how do you think it looks? The photo doesn’t show it that well but there is a big DC flag in the middle with Fenty’s name up top.

But I have some more questions.

I received the following on twitter at 6:30ish Tues. evening:

“police detaining 8 latino men trying to use the unfinished Tubman field”

So was anyone at Wonderland at that time and also saw what happened? Were they actually insisting on playing even after MPD showed up? I’m wondering if they were just told that the field wasn’t finished yet. Were they arrested? When the field is properly finished will people be able to play soccer there like before? Is a turf field like this hard to maintain? Will pick up soccer games destroy it?

PoP Preview – Social – Coming to 14th and Meridian Streets, NW

By Prince Of Petworth

Ever since I had a preview dinner with the folks from Social I’ve been super psyched about its arrival. A press release went out saying they were going to open up Aug. 17th but it is looking like that target will not be hit. I believe they will open up either on Monday, August 24th or sometime that week. They have done all of their hirings and are just waiting on some final permits. I was lucky enough to get a sneak peek and as you can see in the photos below, the place looks great and ready to roll. Just as a refresher the space has two floors. I’ll show the bottom floor first. After the jump see the upper floor and a sneak peek at the menu. I’ll be sure to announce the official opening day when all the permits are squared away, but it shouldn’t be too much longer now!

Downstairs bar:

Downstairs lounge area (dang the photos a bit blurry):

Another angle downstairs:

More photos after the jump. (more…)

Meridian Hill Incident Update from MPD CMDR Diane Groomes (Not a Crime)

By Prince Of Petworth

It appears that no crime occured in Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park. However an individual did pass away as a result of falling and hitting his head. Please see the email from CMDR Groomes below:

“Sir…we had a male who was extremely intoxicated and left a club…he fell and hit his head and was able to get up and walk towards his home which is near malcolm x park…he eventually was found by his roommate in park and park pd handled incident and male was taken to medstar….eventually he was pronounced……no crime or assault…abra is being asked to investigate what actions club took when they put out such an intoxicated patron and their lack of calling the ambulance when he fell…..”

Good Deal or Not? Great View Edition

By Prince Of Petworth

This home (condos) is located at 2319 15th Street, NW:


View Larger Map

The flier (for unit #1) says:

“END UNIT TOWNHOUSE CONVERTED INTO TWO 2BR/2BA CONDOS OVERLOOKING MERIDIAN HILL PARK – TOP QUALITY RENOVATION – HDWD FLRS AND RECESSED LIGHTING THRUOUT – GRANITE/STAINLESS KITCHEN W/ CUSTOM CABINETS – LUXURIOUS ITALIAN TRAVERTINE BATHS – PRIVATE REAR PATIO & DECK – GARAGE PARKING AVAILABLE.”

You can find more info here and a virtual tour here.

We’ve judged this pop up and the next door neighbor before which most people thought looked good. I always to get a chance to see inside the houses we’ve judged on the outside.

I think location is pretty great and the photos look good too. What do you think of the reno? Does $599,000 sound reasonable for the 2 bed/2 bath? Note that Unit #2 is already under contract for $649,000.

More on Probably Crime in Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park Sat. Night/Sun. Morning

By Prince Of Petworth

Sadly, the city has not yet responded to my queries about this incident. Perhaps it is because it is an ongoing investigation. I’ll be sure to update when they do respond. I received the following email late this morning from a reader:

“I can confirm that there was some sort of incident at Meridian Hill Park early Sunday morning. My friend, who was last seen by other friends at 12:30am Sunday morning getting into a cab in Dupont to go home, was found in very bad shape (head and neck trauma, blood loss) at MHP at 4:30am. I’m hesitant to reveal any more details because (a) at this point everything I know is second hand — a mutual friend of ours told me all of this, and (b) there is a police investigation right now and I don’t want to compromise it.”

UPDATE Please see an update here. No crime according to MPD.

Dear PoP: Why are Fountains Drained at Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park? Also Another Possible Crime in the Park Sat. Night

By Prince Of Petworth

“Dear PoP,

Have you heard anything about why the fountains are drained at the bottom of meridian hill park?”

This is very odd. I thought they didn’t drain the fountains until October or November. But I saw some piping so maybe they’re just fixing it.

And sadly it seems there is more bad news to report. I received three emails saying that there was police tape around the park Sunday morning. Of course there was just a stabbing at the park July 25th. DCist received a tip that blood was seen. The emails I received only said that there was police tape seen. So I’ve sent out queries to try and find out what happened. I’ll update as soon as I get the word.

UPDATE No crime according to MPD. Please see update here.

Fire on 1100 Block of Columbia Road, NW Sunday Night and Tree Falls in Adams Morgan Friday Night

By Prince Of Petworth

Thanks to the readers for sending. For the photo above:

“Witnessing a whole slew of firemen/fire trucks outside a smoking rowhouse on 1118 Columbia.” I’m also hearing that the road has been closed for a while.

A description of the above photo:

“No wind, no nothing, this tree outside my apartment at 1800 Clydesdale just decided to fall over at about 11:30 tonight. Nobody was anywhere near it, but it managed to total a Mercedes and scratch a few other cars. It was on the Ontario condo building’s property and wasn’t dead or otherwise in obvious need of removal, but they just cut down about four or five in front of my place so maybe it was mourning its fallen comrades.”

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