The Buckingham Herald Tribblog

I was in a hurry last week to get my post finished and head off on hiatus. That’s when I inadvertently opened a can of worms.

My intention was to let readers know that the Gates of Ballston, owned by AHC, Inc., planned to open their new community center this summer, and that I would be writing a story about it in the fall when I return from hiatus.

A month or more ago, I had spoken to some people at the current Buckingham Community Outreach Center housed in two connected apartments at the Gates. They were concerned about the move into the new space.

I should have stopped there. Instead I wrote more detail, saying that the community outreach program was going to lose about 1,500 square feet in the move.

I was wrong.

Although Connie Freeman (I called her “Connie Sherman” last week—a bad week), as the director of the community outreach center, is concerned about changes in space and use of the space, she cannot remember ever talking to me about square footage. I was running off memory, rather than notes.

I’ll admit it was unprofessional. I may be a blog, but I do have standards that I attempt to maintain.

So I’m going to apologize for that stupidity, and then move on.

This is the plan for my coverage of the center:

1: I posted the letter from AHC, Inc., below. It is their response to my column last week.

2: Over the summer, I will find some time to run back through all my notes on this—both the notes from people in the Buckingham Community Outreach Center and the people, including Catherine Bucknam from AHC Inc., who gave me a tour of the facility last February.

3: I will be back in the fall to talk to AHC, Connie Freeman, Catherine Bucknam and others to find out how the new space is working. I will write more then.

AHC Inc., the largest nonprofit developer and owner of affordable housing in Northern Virginia, has won the 2008 "Best Project Virginia" award for the Gates of Ballston, a 464-unit affordable apartment complex in Arlington, VA, that was built in the late 1930s. The award, presented by the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND), was announced at HAND's annual meeting in early June, a press release from AHC, Inc. said.

All week I knew I would have to run my apology and the letter from AHC, Inc., so I thought I would look to a little more news. Check out the stories below.

One of them mentions a sewage spill on June 4 affecting Lubber Run. The water is now clean, said the county’s Shannon Whalen McDaniel, since the rain flushed it out.

The press release told people and animals to stay out of the water until further notice. I saw only one yellowish flyer on a post at one Lubber Run entrance.

I very well could have missed others at the entrances, but I can’t help but think a couple notices nearer the water would have helped in this case. Flyers on bridge railings and that sort of thing might have garnered more attention.

Still, it’s clean now, so consider this “further notice.”

I updated the photos--got the scanner working--on the N. Glebe Road at N. Pershing Drive intersection below. I updated the post with a new helpful illustration; the story itself is the same.

Look for me at Steve Songs (Lubber Run Amphitheatre this SATURDAY--I wrote the wrong day when I first posted).

See you in the fall…

As always, you can scroll down to see all the recent stories, or simply click the links below (if the link doesn't work, scroll down to find the story, and email to tell me what's busted: heraldtrib@gmail.com --Steve Thurston).

Today's Headlines:

Letter: Gates' Community Center Has Space (AHC Inc.'s repsonse to my HeraldTrib Today column of June 4.)

NCAC Considers Intersection Funding (The intersection of N. Henderson Road at N. Thomas Street.)

Headlines from Earlier in the Week:

Bham Center Developer Applies for COA (UPDATE: a photo illustration has been added since the original post last Friday).

Stay Out of Lubber Run Stream, County Says (UPDATE:The water is safe once again.)

Labels: ahc, buckingham outreach center, gates of ballston, lubber run center

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:52 AM