Crews moved in this morning to revamp the Iwo Jima Memorial
Some trails will closed for the work near Arlington National Cemetery
The project is funded by a donation from David Rubenstein
Only construction vehicles will be able to access the memorial from the street
Pedestrian access will also be limited
Rainbow behind the Iwo Jima memorial (photo courtesy Mark T.)
Crews started moving in this morning (Tuesday, August 15) to begin work to give the U.S. Marine Corps War Memorial — also known as the Iwo Jima memorial — a facelift.
The work will limit public access to the memorial and surrounding parkland until next year. In signs posted near the memorial and the Netherlands Carillon, the National Park Service said the revamp includes washing and waxing the memorial and re-gilding its lettering, repairing any parts of the granite plaza that have become damaged, improving lighting, and installing new signs, shrubs and trees.
The roadway and footpath around the memorial will also be repaved.
“The road will be rebuilt in its current configuration, but with materials to better support the heavy weight of the many tour buses that use the road daily,” NPS said in a press release.
As of Tuesday morning, crews were putting up detour signs for road and trail users, as the access road to the memorial’s parking lot will be closed. In an announcement of the work, NPS said the memorial will be surrounded by scaffolding for much of the project, but pedestrians can still access the memorial plaza from N. Meade Street. Buses will have a small area for pick-up and drop-off on N. Meade Street also.
The $5.37 million project is funded by a donation from local philanthropist David Rubenstein, who has also used some of his multi-billion dollar fortune to fund the Washington Monument’s post-earthquake repairs, enrich the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ endowment and gave $12.35 million to the Arlington House Robert E. Lee museum in Arlington National Cemetery.
NPS said public access will be limited until February 2018. The memorial was dedicated in 1954 by President Dwight Eisenhower and receives 1.5 million visitors per year.
Rally of Solidarity for Charlottesville in Courthouse (photo courtesy Peter Golkin)
Rally of Solidarity for Charlottesville in Courthouse (photo courtesy Peter Golkin)
Rally of Solidarity for Charlottesville in Courthouse (photo courtesy Peter Golkin)
Rally of Solidarity for Charlottesville in Courthouse (photo courtesy Peter Golkin)
Rally of Solidarity for Charlottesville in Courthouse (photo courtesy Peter Golkin)
A pair of recent Yorktown High School graduates were behind Sunday’s rally to condemn the weekend’s events in Charlottesville.
Julian Lopez-Leyva and Justin Wu, both 2016 Yorktown graduates who have just completed their first year of college, decided to put the event together late Saturday night to “actively condemn bigotry and racial hatred through a series of speeches, songs, actions, and a moment of silence.”
Lopez-Leyva is a Political Science major with a minor in Economics at Emmanuel College in Boston, while Wu studies Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech.
They said in interviews Monday that they did not fully expect to see 200 people and a slew of elected officials in attendance in Courthouse, all wanting to come together and heal.
“Initially I expected only 10 people to come out, but it ended up being around 200 people and that blew my mind,” Lopez-Leyva said. “But I think that also spoke to me understanding that it wasn’t only me that was fed up, it was so many other people, and that solidarity was an imperative. We just really have to speak up, and I think speaking up is the right move.”
The pair organized the event through Facebook, and also reached out to local grassroots political group Indivisible Arlington for help getting the word out. Attendance snowballed from that initial Facebook event post. (ARLnow.com also tweeted about it.)
“When we first started organizing this, I had reservations thinking it was too quick a turnaround and that we wouldn’t be able to get the word out in time since we started so late at night,” Wu said.
The rally included poetry readings and speeches by activist Gayle Fleming, Dels. Rip Sullivan, Patrick Hope and Mark Keam, as well as Arlington County Board vice chair Katie Cristol.
Wu said he was struck by how many people have connections to Charlottesville, whether through themselves or family and friends attending the University of Virginia in the city or in other ways.
“It was powerful to see that an event in Charlottesville had an effect all the way out here in Northern Virginia, and how everyone is all connected to this,” Wu said.
And while neither had organized an event like this before, they agreed it was heartening to see such turnout, especially among young people.
“I think students are really going to be the leaders of our world in the future, so I’m sad that I’m going to be leaving Arlington but I’m happy that I have the potential to speak up among so many other people who are like-minded, maybe not so like-minded, but regardless are around the same age range as myself and who have the duress to really say something,” Lopez-Leyva said.
The event ended with a period for conversation and asking questions, like the sorts of town halls hosted regularly by politicians and businesses. Lopez-Leyva said that kind of communication and understanding each other will be key to help unite the country again.
“People and conversations are some of the most powerful weapons in the world,” he said. “I think the voice is innumerably more powerful than any sort of physical weapon, any sort of fist, anything we saw in Charlottesville. I think the discussion on any side of the aisle, no matter where you’re coming from, I think that’s an imperative if you really want to bring this country back together.”
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.
A Courthouse-based nonprofit has launched a new investment fund to help coastal fishers in Asia be more sustainable, raising $10 million in its first round of funding.
Non-governmental organization Rare (1310 N. Courthouse Road), which focuses on global conservation, manages The Meloy Fund, an investment fund that looks to incentivize sustainable fisheries and increase the number of fish in the sea. It will do this by investing in companies that can help fishing communities or help provide alternative employment for fishers in Indonesia and the Philippines.
The fund, unique in both Arlington and the financial industry, a spokeswoman said, projects it will improve the lives of 100,000 fishers and their families. It will also help manage 1.2 million hectares of coastal habitats, including coral reefs, seagrass beds and mangroves.
“The innovation of the Meloy Fund is to recognize the latent opportunity for value creation in the undervalued coastal fisheries sector, and link the resulting investments with the necessary community engagement and fisheries management provided by Rare, which ensures long-term sustainability,” said Dale Galvin, managing director of Rare’s Sustainable Markets group, in a statement.
Investors in the fund include wealthy families, investment managers and foundations, like the Walton Family Foundation, which was started by Walmart founders Sam and Helen Walton to improve the environment, education and quality of life.
“I’m thrilled to invest in the Meloy Fund, and support its innovative model for deploying investment capital to the critical problems that coastal fisheries face in moving towards sustainability,” said Lukas Walton, a foundation heir, in a statement.
The Meloy Fund expects to receive more funding in the fall, including an anticipated $6 million from the environmental consultancy firm Global Environment Facility.
Demolition in Westover at 10th Road N. and N. Kennebec Street
Audrey Clement criticized the demolition of garden apartments in Westover
The Arlington Row development is adding dozens of townhomes to Westover
Clement said designating a local historic district could save buildings
Independent Arlington County Board candidate Audrey Clement criticized the recent demolitions of more garden apartments in Westover to make way for townhomes.
Clement, a frequent candidate for public office, said the demolition of two more apartment buildings in the neighborhood shows that not enough is being done to protect affordable housing, especially as they are replaced by what she described as “luxury townhomes.”
Much of Westover is currently designated as a national historic district, but that hasn’t prevented redevelopment of some properties. Last year, crews tore down a garden apartment building and replaced it with townhouses in by-right development, meaning County Board approval was not required.
At the time, the Arlington Greens called for the Westover apartments to be designated as a local historic district, something the County Board directed staff to study last year. Since 2013, nine garden apartment buildings have been demolished, Clement said.
Clement criticized developers for razing the properties and the county for cashing in thanks to increased property taxes.
“County records indicate that the sale price of the three Westover garden apartments demolished in 2013 was $4 million,” Clement said. “The total sale price of the 20 luxury town homes that replaced them was $16.8 million dollars or more than 4 times the value of the original properties.”
An advertisement for the Arlington Row townhomes that ran on ARLnow.com earlier this year advertised the homes as being priced in the “mid-$800s.” The townhomes feature up to four bedrooms and four baths, plus private garages and “timeless brick architecture.” The first phase of the development quickly sold out.
Clement said designating the units as a local historic district is the “only way” to save the remaining apartments, but she criticized the Arlington Historic Affairs and Landmark Review Board for not moving faster on a petition to do so that was submitted last year.
She added that the demolition of affordable housing units in the county causes numerous problems:
For one thing, there’s a fairness issue. A lot of longstanding, hardworking, responsible tenants are now facing long commutes as a result of displacement from Arlington County.
For another thing, there’s a public health issue. The most recent demolitions were put on hold when it was determined that both buildings were insulated with asbestos, making demolition hazardous for anyone in the nearby.
And there’s an economic issue. While the speculative prices commanded by the developers of Westover Village might be attractive to high income wage earners, they drive up assessments overall, spelling hardship and possible foreclosure for people on fixed incomes, single heads of households, and those who find themselves out of work.
In a fact sheet produced last year, the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing said it made some headway in 2016 by purchasing 68 Westover apartments in five buildings. But APAH noted that since the county adopted its Affordable Housing Master Plan in 2015, 60 apartments have been demolished for redevelopment.
Clement promised to speed up approval of historic districts to protect affordable housing if she wins a seat on the County Board in November.
“If elected, I am going to call upon AHALRB to expedite consideration of petitions for local historic designation to preserve Arlington’s remaining affordable housing and stabilize Arlington’s housing market,” Clement said.
Clement is one of three candidates on the ballot for County Board this fall, alongside Democratic nominee Erik Gutshall and fellow independent Charles McCullough II.
At least 20 local restaurants will participate in this year’s Metropolitan Washington Summer Restaurant Week, which begins today (August 14).
Restaurants throughout the greater Washington region will offer three-course lunch and brunch menus for $22 and a three-course dinner for $35 at fixed prices. The annual event is sponsored by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington.
The Arlington restaurants participating, as listed on the Restaurant Week website, are:
Ambar / Ba Ba (2901 Wilson Blvd)
Cheesetique Ballston (800 N. Glebe Road)
Cheesetique Shirlington (4056 Campbell Avenue)
Circa at Clarendon (3010 Clarendon Blvd)
Epic Smokehouse (1330 S. Fair Street)
Fyve at The Ritz-Carlton Pentagon City (1250 S. Hayes Street)
Hula Girl Bar and Grill (4044 Campbell Avenue)
Jaleo Crystal City (2250 A Crystal Drive)
Kapnos Taverna (4000 Wilson Blvd)
La Cote d’Or Cafe (6876 Lee Highway)
Lyon Hall (3100 Washington Blvd)
Mazagan Restaurant and Lounge (2901 Columbia Pike)
McCormick & Schmick’s – Crystal City (2010 Crystal Drive)
Arlington Agenda is a listing of interesting events for the week ahead in Arlington County. If you’d like to see your event featured, fill out the event submission form.
An exclusive home buying class with tips on how to succeed buying real estate in a seller’s market. Learn about the home purchasing process, including how to negotiate a lower price, the loans available and more. Admission is free.
Join Italian restaurant Osteria Da Nino for Summer Restaurant Week 2017, from August 14-20. Menu options include a three-course lunch and brunch for $22, or a three-course dinner for $35. Reservations are required.
Tuesday
Free Sing
Clarendon Grill (1101 N. Highland Street)
Time: 8 p.m.-2 a.m.
Come and sing karaoke from a catalog of 27,000 songs, or enjoy listening to people from the local neighborhood sing. Those who take their karaoke more seriously can also register for a Championship League Karaoke fall season.
Wednesday
Cask Beer and Live Music
New District Brewing Company (2709 S. Oakland Street)
Time: 4:30-10 p.m.
An evening of unique cask beer and live music at New District Brewing Company. Beers will be $5 a pour until it is all gone, while Jeff Wharen will provide live music from 6-9 p.m. The type of cask beer will be kept a secret until the day of the event.
Artist Stevie New will lead a session for all skill levels to paint. The $50 admission fee covers an easel, canvas, black apron, paint brushes, acrylic paint, paint palettes and instruction. Light snacks, draft beers and wine will also be served.
Friday
Ben Bailey Live
Arlington Cinema & Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike)
Time: Friday 10 p.m., Sunday 7 and 10 p.m.
The host of NBC game show “Who’s Still Standing?” brings his stand-up comedy show to Arlington for a two nights. Bailey has more than 10 years of experience as a comedian, and has appeared regularly at comedy festivals and on television.
Saturday
Water Play Party
Shirlington Branch Library (4200 Campbell Ave)
Time: 10 a.m.-noon
Join the Northern Virginia Association for the Education of Young Children for an outdoor water play party to celebrate playing in water in the summer heat. This free event is for toddlers and pre-schoolers, with parental supervision required.
Roosevelt Island could be in for various improvements (photo via NPS presentation)
Simone Monteleone, chief of resource management at the GW Parkway, discusses the plans (photo via Facebook)
US Park Service Facebook Live presentation about Roosevelt Island
US Park Service Facebook Live presentation about Roosevelt Island
View of the Potomac and Roosevelt Island from Rosslyn
Among the changes could be a move away from ash trees, some of which were destroyed this year
The National Park Service is studying several improvements to Roosevelt Island, including a proposal to combat the invasive emerald ash borer that killed trees at the site earlier this year.
Among a number of issues being examined by NPS for the island, located off the George Washington Memorial Parkway near Rosslyn, is a plan for the future of the hundreds of ash trees.
NPS closed the island in June to remove diseased trees after the ash borer came through, and is now considering if the trees should be replaced with more ash trees or another species.
“As a result of [the ash borer], one of the things we’re going to be looking at is what do we do after the borer has come through, and those ash trees have either died off or been removed,” said Simone Monteleone, chief of resource management at the GW Parkway, in a talk on Facebook Live Monday morning. “Do we replant? What type of species do we go back with?”
To help the Park Service decide how to make improvements while preserving the history of the island, which has been occupied in some form since the 17th century, it is in the early stages of producing a Cultural Landscape Report and Environmental Assessment.
Monteleone said both documents will help NPS balance the need to respect the island’s history with any improvements that are made. She added that rehabilitating what is already there will help do that.
“Rehabilitation gives us both the flexibility to preserve those historic features and make compatible uses possible for enhancement of visitor experiences,” she said.
Improving bridge safety to reduce conflicts between pedestrians and bicyclists
Restarting water access to the island for kayaks, paddleboards and other water transport without an engine
Making the island’s comfort stations usable year-round
Building another comfort station off the island by the trail
NPS will host another Facebook Live presentation on the project at 1 p.m. today (August 14), and the talk will then be archived on its page for viewing afterwards.
The Park Service is taking public comment on the plans until September 8. The project is expected to be completed in February 2018.
The discovery of what appeared to be a self-driving car dominated the news this week in Arlington, and more than 900 of you think that testing such vehicles is fine in Northern Virginia, even in areas like Clarendon.
But before we get to the other popular stories from this week, here are some you may have missed:
Gov. Terry McAuliffe came to town to help break ground on the I-395 Express Lanes, a letter to the editor argued for decriminalizing marijuana in Virginia and a new Arlington Forest cafe features a “laptop free” coffee bar.
And, in case you missed it, the Arlington County Police Department released its highly anticipated video of officers performing a synchronized swimming routine to advertise its upcoming block party.
These were this week’s top five most read articles:
Arlington County Board vice chair Katie Cristol said the plan to make a stretch of a Rosslyn street pedestrian-only could attract more people to the neighborhood.
The county’s long-term plan for Rosslyn includes a multi-block, pedestrian-only stretch of 18th Street N. to replace the skywalk system that extends east to N. Arlington Ridge Road.
The Board laid the foundations for that plan last year when it approved adding pedestrian-only streets and low-speed “shared streets” for bicycles, pedestrians and other transit options to its transportation repertoire.
And in a conversation with WAMU’s Kojo Nnamdi this afternoon (Thursday) about a proposal to make a street in D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood pedestrian only, Cristol said pedestrian-only streets could help Rosslyn draw more non-residents to the area.
“It would foster and facilitate the conversion of this urban core from an area that people travel through to an area that people travel to, and participate in commerce and can live and work and recreate and shop and patronize businesses in a safe and lively environment to do that,” Cristol said of the pedestrian-centric plan.
She added that such pedestrian-only streets are influenced by wanting to see a “European or pre-1920s U.S. vision of city uses other than vehicular.”
The plan has already had an impact on future development in that area. In July, the Board deferred a plan to reconfigure the nearby Rosslyn Metro Center shopping mall after staff found it would “hinder achievement” of the so-called 18th Street Corridor.
Cristol said that while it is important to think about making streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists, the county is not looking to punish those who would prefer to drive.
“This conversation for us in Arlington is a little bit less about how do we restrict people’s ability to use their cars, and how do we expand travel options and safety for everyone using our streets,” she said.
Cristol said the county’s use of shared streets, which encourage more pedestrians, bicyclists and transit as well as cars traveling at lower speeds, is something it will continue to explore. Shared streets have features like different paving materials, larger sidewalks and improved crosswalks, and already exist in places like Penrose Square off Columbia Pike.
Almost every project approved in the county has elements of that in its streetscape, and Cristol said there are “definitely a lot of opportunities for this kind of shared street category” in areas like Courthouse. Sections of 14th and 15th Streets N. in the neighborhood are slated to become shared streets.
Three new clothing stores and a home furnishing store will open soon at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.
London-based Long Tall Sally is expected to open Tuesday, August 15 on the second level of the mall, next to ZARA. The store offers clothes and shoes for women who are 5’8″ or taller.
Also opening this month near ZARA is Whiskey Ginger Men’s Shop, described as “the premiere destination for a highly curated collection of exceptional men’s clothing and accessories.” The store touts European tailoring with the laid-back styles of Southern California.
Superdry rounds out the clothing stores set to open soon. Its 5,600-square-foot store next to Kate Spade New York on the mall’s second level is expected to open this fall. The British-based chain offers “vintage Americana and Japanese-inspired graphics with a British style,” and is known for, among other things, its Windcheater jackets that keep the worst of the weather off.
Home furnishings company LoveSac will open this month next to ECCO on the mall’s second floor. LoveSac makes modular furniture known as Sactionals, which are sectional sofas that can be reconfigured in various combinations.
Meanwhile, mall leaders lauded the recent openings of restaurant Sugar Factory and shoe store ECCO, as well as the expansion of former clothing pop-up store ELOQUII.
“It’s important that we continue to bring in stores that complement the center’s ever-growing roster of sought-after brands,” said Todd Jerscheid, director of marketing and business development for Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, in a statement. “With the recent opening of the highly anticipated Sugar Factory, we hope to continue to provide shoppers with the ultimate shopping experience.”
Crews began repairing the sinkhole on Wilson Blvd Thursday morning
The sinkhole opened near Wilson Blvd’s intersection with N. Randolph Street
Wilson Blvd will go down to one lane in each direction for the repairs
Emergency repairs to a 6-foot-deep sinkhole near the under-construction Ballston Quarter mall could cause traffic headaches today (Thursday).
The sinkhole opened suddenly yesterday near the intersection of Wilson Blvd and N. Randolph Street, but was quickly covered ahead of repairs to allow cars to keep driving over it.
A contractor at the scene said the hole is about 3 feet wide and 6 feet deep.
To accommodate contractors’ vehicles and tools, the westbound right lane of Wilson Blvd and the parking lane are closed, while the eastbound left-turn lane at the intersection will be used as a westbound lane. With renovations to the former Ballston Common Mall on the other side of the street also closing lanes, it means Wilson Blvd will be down to one lane in each direction.
8/10: Emergency sinkhole repair at N Randolph St/Wilson Blvd intersection (5a-4p) barring complications. Detours will be in place #VATraffic
Originally, there had been plans to close one lane in each direction on N. Randolph Street too, but the contractor said that would no longer be the case.
Complicating matters in that area of Ballston will be the construction crew’s removal of a stoplight just outside the mall. The contractor on the sinkhole repairs warned that the two projects could combine to make traffic a little “hectic” in that section of Wilson Blvd.
Work on repairing the sinkhole is expected to be complete around 4 p.m.
