The Buckingham Herald Tribblog

The ceremony had all the action befitting a grand opening of a new building—a standing-room-only crowd of hundreds, cotton-candy, popcorn, foosball, a tent with hot dogs, burgers and enchiladas, and music—and, of course, it had speeches from county luminaries.

The Buckingham community gathered Saturday to celebrate the opening of the new Gates of Ballston Community Center at 4108 N. 4th St.

“The biggest statement that this facility makes is the statement about our values,” said Barbara Favola, the vice chair of the Arlington County board. She said she came on behalf of her board colleague, Chairman Walter Tejada, a well-known politician in the Buckingham neighborhood.

Ms. Favola said the center is a concerted effort on the part of the county to put services into the neighborhoods where the services are needed. This was the one line in all the speeches that drew applause without it being asked for.

“The county is the proud sponsor of most of the programming in this building,” she said. The county also helped finance the building with an $8.5 million loan to AHC, Inc., the owner and developer of the property. The building was part of the $108 million renovation of the Gates of Ballston property. The project funding came from numerous corporate and affordable housing partners.

And the community center is designed for community service, with a large, colorful party room on the main floor, offices for AHC Management, offices for BU-GATA (the tenants association), child care upstairs, and space for the Buckingham Community Outreach Center which provides computer access, career training, English classes and other services to the largely Spanish-speaking community.

The outreach center has spent its entire life in various apartments all over the Gates’ property, most recently in conjoined two bedroom apartments in a nearby building.

The county and AHC, Inc. have not finalized the outreach center contract for the space on the second floor, county staff and others have said. Those rooms on the second floor are still vacant.

The community room with its orange accent walls, multi-colored curtains, blue counter top in the kitchen area, and a purple fireplace mantel was the centerpiece of the day.

The interior designer, Diana Lamb, called the room “bright,” “cheerful,” and “fun.”

“It was a low-budget job that, with creativity, they got a bang for their buck,” Ms. Lamb said. She said they did not have a lot of money for furniture and paint, but “I don’t think it looks that way.”

In fact, AHC President and CEO Walter Webdale said the teens loved what they saw. “They actually hugged the furniture,” he said, before pausing for effect then adding that he did not know why they would hug the chairs, but they did.

Also on hand for the day were Ron Carlee, the Arlington County manager, Rick Leeds, the president of AHC Management, Patrick Hope, the president of the Buckingham Community Civic Association, Lois Athey, an activist with BU-GATA, and Connie Freeman, the director of the Buckingham Community Outreach Center.

The event ran despite the rains on Saturday from noon to 4p.m.

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Related stories…

Missed item, another loan subordinated

House to be fitness/business center

Gates Center to be built

Labels: ahc, buckingham outreach center, renovation

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 7:57 PM 0 comments

Great pictures and video of the intersection! Thanks!

Brian Berger

To see the slide and video show, click here. --ST

Labels: Glebe, intersection, pershing, renovation

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:02 AM 0 comments

To the uninitiated, that might only have sounded like a politician glad-handing those in attendance, but it’s more than that.

The Glebe Market building will be torn down soon enough if the plans-in-progress go as scheduled. It will be replaced by a four-storey building with retail on the ground floor and market-rate apartments above. Georgetown Strategic Capital, the potential developers, have room in their plans for a small grocery store, but the question remains what type of store will replace the Glebe Market. This has led to debate within the community, and Mr. Tejada was publically throwing his support to one side. I think we now know what the county will be bargaining for as the development process progresses.

Although both sides of the argument are supported by all sorts of people, the main fault line corresponds largely to people’s backgrounds: the Spanish-speaking Latinos in the area want to see a store similar to the Glebe Market, while English-speaking people tend to prefer something more like a Trader Joe’s grocery or Yes! Organic Market.

(Sam Chon, the Glebe Market owner, is retiring and the store itself will not be reopened.)

I’ll admit here that I am with Mr. Tejada on this. I don’t want a Trader Joe’s (and a county staffer or two has told me TJ’s would not move in here anyway). I am afraid that we’ll lose the flavor of our neighborhood if we get another national chain. I am afraid that economic pressure will nudge our retail spaces toward the likes of Clarendon once the hundreds of new apartments and townhouses in the neighborhood are built. As one place goes belly-up it will be replaced by something a little higher up the economic ladder, I think.

(FYI: Buckingham will see about 1,000 new housing units once all the construction throughout the neighborhood is completed over the next five, years, or so.)

So, I'd like to see a store that has a similar content to the Glebe Market, and that has ownership close-at-hand so that it will be responsible to the neighborhood.

At the same time, I want any new store to look new. The Glebe Market does not look nice inside anymore. And I do want the county to think about what they are going to do with the men who congregate, sometimes drink or get unruly, outside the Glebe Market now. I don't want them simply rousted, but fairly dealt with.

And I'd like to know that any market we get serves the entire community, taking all backgrounds and income levels into account.

Mr. Tejada’s remarks can be heard here:

As usual in Buckingham events, the crowd at the ribbon cutting for the newly-spruced up N. Glebe Road at N. Pershing Drive intersection was made up mainly of county staffers with a few Buckinghamster and Ashton Heightites attending.

Although county board members Jay Fisette and Barbara Favola are seen in a couple photos, I forgot to mention that they were there and Mr. Fisette spoke. He praised the finished project and talked about how much he liked the Buckingham Center, the food and stores.

Ms. Favola, who is up for reelection this November, stood on and held the ceremonial ribbon.

I have to admit that I love what has been done to the streetscape. The sidewalks are nicer, the "skyline" without the wires is great. I only, still, regret that the art component was relegated to the bus shelters.

Buckinghamster Bernie Berne said that he thought the changes did little. He speaks up at many events and is known for wanting to get rid of affordable housing in the neighborhood and not liking the men who congregate outside the Glebe Market and CVS. He said the changes to the intersection do nothing to help that.

Bernie, I couldn't disagree more. I think what has (finally!) been done is great, and I'm very happy it finally happened. We can deal with other issues later.

Scroll down for the link to the story.

According to the county web site, “the project includes replacing the metal decking and fencing, improvements to the railings, painting of the bridge and railings and installing lighting and a roof over the bridge.” Traffic will be affected during non-rush hours, the press release says.

To read the press release click here.

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:

Catholic Parade Through Buckingham for Pentecost

No Clear Nominee For Beaver's Name! So the voting continues...

Police Notes for Buckingham, May 28, 2008

Headlines from Earlier in the Week:

Thunder Rumbles Through Church

With a Snip, Eight Years is History

Labels: buckingham center, favola, fissette, pedestrian, renovation, tejada

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 11:02 AM 0 comments

It has been so long in coming that people cannot even recall when the whole process began, but the date it ended was Thursday May 22, 2008, when county board members and local civic leaders snipped the ceremonial ribbon on a N. Pershing Drive bus shelter, ending a tumultuous process of renovation at N. Pershing’s intersection with N.Glebe Road.

The process started, most likely, in 2000, when county staff organized the “Buckingham Charette” and the idea for improving pedestrian safety and designing common sense traffic patterns was discussed. The idea quickly became part of the Neighborhood Strategy Area Plan, written in 2000.

In late 2002 and early 2003, the county was saying this project would be completed “by spring.” But county staff cited troubles working with the many people and businesses that own the property and buildings, troubles working with the slow-moving Virginia Department of Transportation, and concerns raised by the county’s Historical Affairs and Landmarks Review Board.

So much was slowed down that staff chose to cut sculptures from the project and instead limit the “arts portion” to etched-glass bus shelters.

The irony of this is that in the intervening years, the property on that corner has risen in value, and the CVS and Glebe Market buildings will be torn down and rebuilt if current plans are executed. The new curb cuts and landscaping on the west side of N. Glebe Road are not consistent with the plans for the new buildings.

Videos and images from yesterday’s event and some more history are a included as part of the following video. Links to stories covering this renovation appear below the video.

The building is one of five-and-one-half buildings that will be destroyed in the first phase of demolition to make way for a four-storey, 234 unit apartment building. One hundred of the units will be rented at affordable rates. (For a recent story on this, click here.)

View Larger Map

The building itself was demolished either late last week or earlier this week, and crews have been working to remove the debris since then.

(This video was shot with a cell phone video camera, so the quality is very low.)

More stories, video and photos will be coming,though readers may have to be patient and wait until after Thanksgiving. Editing the sound and higher-quality video together will be time consuming.

Labels: buckingham villages, BV1, redevelopment, renovation

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:02 AM 1 comments

It started last Wednesday evening when the kids and I went to see “Peter and the Wolf” at Thomas Jefferson Middle School. It was a “Family Literacy Night,” giving families whose children go to “Title 1” schools the chance to see live theatre. Lots of fun; the review is below.

Also below is today’s big story on the sculptures that will not be a part of the Glebe Road and Pershing Drive intersection renovation.

I had been thinking about that story for months when I was out to breakfast Friday morning with Vic Socotra at RinConCito Chapin (literally translated that name is “The tiny bowlegged place.” I’m guessing it means something closer to “The little sitting spot.” I think “chaps,” which one wears sitting in the saddle somehow is related to Chapin, but I digress—they have great refried black beans and fried plantains).

He and I got talking about the neighborhood (he has a long, at times odd, history with the place that he’s trying to put into a book) and about the house on Glebe Road, just a little south of Henderson Road. It’s one that is historic and could not be significantly renovated into a community center, so AHC, Inc., which owns the Gates of Ballston and that little house, does not know what to do with it.

The Buckingham Museum
Now, they may have already made plans, but I’ll be on the phone later today to figure it out. If they have not, however, Vic and I were saying it would be perfect for a Buckingham Museum. Think about it; it could be historical, but also could have space for neighborhood artists (such as Ubaldo Sanchez who helped the Buckingham Brigade kids paint the mural on the side of the Glebe Market), or artists with ties (culturally, ethinically, what have you) to the people of Buckingham.

Maybe there would be space for readings, or a writer’s group, or something similar. The county library already offers events at the Buckingham Center on N. 4th Street, why not shift some of the activities to a space in our own museum when that center closes?

Once that flood-gate opened, I thought, Sheesh, let’s go whole hog on this. When will Buckingham have a better chance to offer arts and cultural spaces to the neighborhood than now? Think about it for a second. Go on, think:

Georgetown Strategic Capital is planning to redevelop the corners of the N. Glebe Road and N. Pershing Drive intersection. The earliest ideas that have been bandied about include knocking down the CVS and Glebe Market buildings (and possibly the El Paso/Popeye’s building) and putting in four-storey buildings of mixed use retail and housing with an affordable component.

Bring Back the Buckingham Theatre, Baby!
So this is my idea: Move the post office across the street into one of the new buildings. At one time, the post office was where El Paso Restaurant is, and the post office was a theatre. Let’s bring it back! (The owner of Georgetown Strategic once told me that he saw a Daniel Boone flick at that theatre.)

Instead of movies, though, I am picturing a small, black box type theatre that could show the “-tets,” octets and smaller (I don’t really know what kind of space they have inside that building). Or show one-person acts. Blues nights. Jazz Nights. Bolivian dancers. Ecuadorian bands. Ritmo Latino! High school garage hip-hop bands (I know the county used to have a contest for garage bands).

Maybe it would seat 80 people. I don’t know. But it would also house the offices of a local troupe, maybe the Arlington Philharmonic Orchestra? Most likely, the space would not be big enough for a full orchestra, but why not have it full of offices with a space for a Chamber or, as I said, a “-tet.”

Come on, dream a little!
What would it say about Arlington that we’re investing in the arts not where the rich people are, but where the lower-middle-class people are? What sort of inspiration would we be putting into the heads of kids in the neighborhood? Hell, I feel inspired just writing about it!

Buckingham is going to be, for at least another 30 years, a low- to moderate-income neighborhood. Most likely it will be an immigrant community, too. What better way for those of us who have lived in the States all our lives to get to know those people who are new here than to have us share in cultural activities? This could be a chance for high art without gentrification!

So that’s my big idea; you may have others…
I just think that having some cultural connection with all this redevelopment would be grand. What do you think? Feel free to comment below, or send emails to HeraldTrib@gmail.com.

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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:

Headlines from Earlier in the Week:

Labels: art, Buckingham, culture, Glebe, pershing, redevelopment, renovation

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:39 AM 0 comments

“The artwork for [this] project will be the bus shelters that our arts work program designed,” said Angela Adams in a voice mail last month. She works in the Arlington County Public Arts Program. The word “Open” will be etched into the glass in various languages. Bus shelters in other neighborhoods have similar etchings.

When first reported here in June that the work of sculptor Judy Sutton Moore had been cancelled, Lois Athey, who sat on the original committee that picked Sutton Moore, said the story was the first she heard of the cancellation. Ms. Athey is a civic activist who works with tenants in Buckingham Village and the Gates of Ballston.

Pat Hope, the Buckingham Community Civic Association president, called the news of the lost art a “slap in the face.”

County staff involved in this discussion said the main problem with the artwork was its size and style for the historic corner. The Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board, which regulates changes to the corner, largely killed the idea, officials have said.

However, Michael Leventhal, a historic affairs coordinator for the county, could not find the minutes from the particular HALRB meeting in which the art was discussed and dropped. Therefore, no one could say for sure whether people from Buckingham were on hand to discuss the decision.

“The BCCA was never consulted and there was no attempt to compromise the proposal to make it acceptable to HALRB,” Mr. Hope wrote in an email last month.

The project has been more than seven years in the making and has become “the project from hell” said Mr. Leventhal during an interview in September. Others have called it by similar names.

Only last month could the county finally hire a contractor, pledging over $800,000 if needed, to begin the process of redeveloping the gutters, sidewalks and crosswalks at the intersection. Other improvements, requiring other contracts, include more trees, fancier light posts and the bus shelters. In the past year, the utility wires have been moved underground.

Drivers should expect to see signs on Glebe Road announcing the road work soon, and the construction can begin two weeks after the signs go up, William “Bill” Roberts, the county’s project manager, said in a telephone interview yesterday.

This project has a long, tortured history, with too many cooks in the kitchen. VDOT controls the Glebe right-of-way, and therefore can veto decisions on lane widths, turn lanes and signals on the corner. (The rule about the signs going up for two weeks before work begins is VDOT’s rule, Mr. Roberts said.)

Although Jenco Group, of Arlington, owns much of the property on the corner, there are other owners and investment partners all who needed to sign easements to allow the work to go forward. Not all were eager to sign, Mr. Roberts has said in the past.

The plans themselves had to go through public review at the start, and the HALRB can control what is seen on the landscape.

When the HALRB had misgivings about the art, it became a layer of frustration that county staff did not want to deal with both Mr. Roberts and Mr. Leventhal have said.

As well, Mr. Roberts and Mr. Leventhal said the artist had gotten sick. For her part Ms. Sutton Moore could not remember ever being sick.

“I tell you what,” she said with recollection yesterday, “I did have surgery during that period of time, but that’s like a month, maybe six weeks, of recovery.” Since then, she has finished many projects, she said.

Mr. Leventhal, who sat on the committee that chose Ms. Sutton Moore, said that planning was a bit nonsequential in order—they had art before they knew what the corner would look like. It was the artist’s ideas for the corner that made the county realize they would need to underground the utility wires, he said.

“She really had the most interesting stuff,” Mr. Leventhal said. “She just didn’t do the same thing several different times.” He said Ms. Sutton Moore looked to the neighborhood and found inspiration in the immigrant experience.

In a profile in the Buckingham Independent News, the predecessor of the HeraldTrib, Ms. Sutton Moore talked about conducting research for projects like this, studying the architecture and talking with the neighbors. The story was also naively upbeat with an expected completion by the end of the summer of 2003.

Her plans included humanistic figures in boats and other modes of transportation, people who were arriving here, immigrants. Yet it was modern, and stainless steel with bronze, geometric. Not historic. Her figures—not quite “people”—often look similar to stainless steel bowling pins.

Ms. Sutton Moore said in an interview yesterday, “All I know is that the design was approved by the people who lived in the neighborhood. They gave their support to it....And the public art committee approved of it.” She said she had heard the project hit roadblocks, but never really understood why it died. “I was very disappointed that the Arlington project fell through,” she added later.

Her sculptures, are often large, 20 feet tall or more.

“Was any of the sculpture going to fit on the corner?” Mr. Leventhal said people asked.

The idea of the large sculptures appealed to the committee when they chose Ms. Sutton Moore’s work, Mr. Leventhal said. “I don’t know if we’d do it again that way…at the time it was great.”

In a voice mail last month, Ms. Adams said, “Our Research shows that we paid Judy Sutton Moore just over $1,000 to do design work in 2002 for the Buckingham four corners project.”

Mr. Roberts said he has been in contact with Mr. Hope about bringing more art back to the four corners.

In his email, the civic association’s Mr. Hope wrote, “My effort will be focused on trying to come up with something that would be distinctly Buckingham and acceptable to HALRB. It suddenly has become our project, but I think we can do it.”

Until then, however, the bus shelters are planned.

“I think the bus shelters will be a beautiful addition to the intersection,” Ms. Adams said in an interview yesterday.

Labels: art, halrb, pershing, redevelopment, renovation

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:53 PM 1 comments

He wanted to highlight the fact that this contract was a long-time in the making; the project has been in planning and development, with very little improvement to the intersection itself, over the course of seven years.

After all that time, this vote proceeded without controversy because there was nothing left to say, he said.

“This rises well beyond non-controversial to making people ecstatic,” he said.

That all the easements necessary to proceed have been signed by the property owners and county, and that all the approvals from the Virginia Department of Transportation have been received, and construction can begin, was significant, he said.

William “Bill” Roberts, who has been leading the project for the county, said in an interview today that the project can get started after the county and A&M Concrete have finished the last of the paperwork. Usually, work starts about a month after the contract has been awarded, Mr. Roberts said.

A&M Concrete will build new sidewalks, curbs and gutters, most likely starting in November and completing at most six months later. Other work on the corner includes new bus shelters, lights, trees, reconfigured parking lots and other components.

“The best estimate is that it will take less than a year to complete,” Mr. Fisette said.

Labels: fisette, renovation

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 8:44 PM 2 comments

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Letters to the Editor: Rocknoceros and Pershing/Glebe Renovation

Hello,

My mom (Kathryn Scruggs) forwarded me your blog about kids music--you MUST check out local favorite Rocknoceros.

They play during the day at Jammin Java [in Vienna] (Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m.) and often have gigs at our own fine Cinema ‘n’ Drafthouse.

Their new CD is called "Dark Side of the Moonbounce"!

--Jane Scruggs

From Steve:

10:30 a.m. weekdays Jammin Java runs kids shows, fyi. Mondays has even more shows; call their info line for more: 703-255-1566.

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Friday, July 6
8:15 p.m. The Art of Belly Dancing: Demo & Lesson
8:30 p.m. Film: “The Awful Truth” (1938) with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne

Saturday, July 7
8:00 p.m. “Texas Chainsaw Horns,” Five Funky Horns & an Attitude

Sunday, July 8
8:00 p.m. Piedmont Blues Celebration, featuring “Piedmont Blues,” a quartet.

Labels: kids music, lubber run amphitheatre, renovation

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 12:19 PM 0 comments