Georgia Ave. Post Office on List of Proposed Closures

Council member Jim Graham posted the following message to the Georgia Avenue listserv today. While I don’t necessarily like the current post office, it is critical to the neighborhood that we have a place to conduct our business. Perhaps the low usage at the Georgia Avenue station is in part due to the fact that it opens late and closes early on week days, giving many residents Saturday as the only real time they can use the station.

Graham’s message is below:

This morning I received a media call indicating that USPS was considering closing Georgia Ave P.O. at Georgia and Morton. It has been named “Columbia Heights” since USPS closed the former location–on the 1400 block of Irving– in the 1990s and relocated it.

We need a new post office back at 14th and Irving, and we also need to keep the post office on Georgia at Morton. The large number of elderly, alone, along the 14th St and Ga Ave corridors justify these actions! In addition, with its new residential and retail, 14th and Irving is vastly changed since a decade ago.

Please express your views on this to our Congresswoman, Eleanor Holmes Norton, by going to her website and sending an email. Click this link or copy and paste it into your internet browser’s address bar: http://www.norton.house.gov/

Trees in New Hampshire Median Need Your Help!

The trees along New Hampshire Avenue between Georgia and Sherman Avenues are in horrible shape, being stressed due to lack of water. If you live along this stretch of road and would be willing to help keep them watered … the neighborhood and the trees NEED YOUR HELP!

The good news is that Casey Trees will be watering them tomorrow morning.

The bad news is that I alerted DDOT to this Sunday night, and they quickly indicated that they would contact Casey Trees. It wasn’t until the last 12 36 hours, starting with Wayan Vota last night and me this morning that Casey seems to have gotten wind of the problem.

While we have a small victory that the trees will be watered tomorrow, Casey Trees is looking for a neighborhood solution. So, if you live in the area and are willing to assist, please speak up.

You can see from the photo below that Wayan Vota supplied how rough the trees have gotten.

Then and Now: 1222-1232 Irving Street, NW

Then: Pictured in the March 3, 1907, Washington Times, the paper had this to say about 1222-1232 Irving Street, NW. The homes are built by L. E. Breuninger, after plans drawn by Architect N. R. Grimm. A radical departure has been made in the building of large front porches to the houses. The idea of course not new, having been a popular one years ago, but its revival now shows a return to a feature in house building which is most desirable through the long summer of this area.
Now: Other than many of them being brightly painted, the chief difference I noticed was the missing balustrade along the roof line.

Then and Now: Southwest Corner of Park Road and 14th Street, NW

Then: Photographed ca. 1920, the Arcade Market at  14th Street and Park Road opened for business on December 12, 1910. It was scheduled to be razed in 1948.

Now: The northern half of the $150 million DC USA complex, which opened in March, 2008, is now on the site.

New Hampshire Median Work Expands

I was very relieved to see that the installations of medians on New Hampshire Ave. wasn’t going to only be between Georgia Ave. and Grant Circle. About a week ago they started to do the work below, which is between Georgia Ave. and Sherman Ave.

What I like about it so much is that there won’t be a gap between the streetscaping they are planning to do on Sherman and Georgia Aves. Also, who wouldn’t like some hot pavement replaced by grass and trees. They add so much to a neighborhood.

Godzilla Wants Waffles

Godzilla gets around. Clearly, this is the same artist that created the Godzilla I’ve seen on 7th Street earlier this year. This version is on Sherman Ave., I think maybe on the intersection of Lamont or Kenyon Streets.

The Things You See When Waiting for the Bus

These two messages are on the curb just south of Park Road on the east side of Sherman Avenue. Both are located just south of the bus stop at that location.

Joan of Arc, Meridian Hill Park

This statue stands at the top of the fountains at Meridian Hill Park and was created in 1922 by the sculptor Paul Dubois. The statue is a gift of the women of France to the women of the United States and is the only equestrian statue with a female subject in the city. It is a replica of a statue that stands on the grounds of Rheims Cathedral in France.

Real Estate Ad From January 16, 1916

Dumpster Fire at Raymond Elementary School

I chanced upon this last night as I was walking west of the Georgia Ave/Petworth Metro. There was a dumpster fire around 6:45 pm, and strangely enough, when we called 911 to report it, the fire truck was already on the way. I don’t think anyone cared too much about the dumpster … but it was way too close to the building and could have caused serious damage.