Local landmark Green Valley Pharmacy at 2415 Shirlington Road (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
A permit sign on the door of Green Valley Pharmacy (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
Local landmark Green Valley Pharmacy at 2415 Shirlington Road (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
(Updated, 9/30) Local landmark Green Valley Pharmacy is undergoing “extensive renovations” to reopen as a kabob and burger restaurant later this year, both the property and business owners confirmed to ARLnow.
Muse, a graduate of Howard University School of Pharmacy, opened the business in the 1950s for Black customers who were often at the time not allowed to enter through the front door, if at all, at other Arlington pharmacies.
But in 2017, Muse died and the property deed was transferred over to his daughter, Jesse Al-Amin. The pharmacy has remained shuttered ever since, but that appears to be changing.
In August 2019, Al-Amin agreed to allow Arlingtonian Nasir Ahmad, who also owns establishments in Sterling and Fredericksburg, to rent the building and open a restaurant. Ahmad tells us he previously owned a business across the street from the pharmacy about 20 years ago.
The original thought was to have the building remain as a pharmacy, but there were too many complications with that plan, Al-Amin said, so renting out the building was a good alternative.
She currently lives in Georgia and didn’t want to sell the property.
“A lot of people wanted it,” she told ARLnow, “But I wanted to keep it as a memory of my father.”
It took nearly two years to get all the permits and approvals. Due to the historic nature of the building, all exterior alterations needed to be approved by the county’s Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB). To date, according to Historic Preservation Program coordinator Cynthia Liccese-Torres, no recent applications for exterior alterations have been received by the board.
This past July, a Commercial Tenant Buildout permit was approved by Arlington County. The permit lists “Time Square Grill” as the business name, but Ahmad said that was just a placeholder. The business will be called “Halal Spot” and serve burgers, pizza, and kabobs.
Interior demolition and construction are already underway, as evident by the giant dumpster currently outside of the building. Ahmad anticipates that the restaurant will open prior to January 1, 2022.
He’s planning to keep pretty much the same layout, including putting the food counter in the same place as the pharmacy lunch counter, in homage to Muse.
“I want to match it up as much as I can,” he says. “For memory’s sake.”
The restaurant will also have a display honoring Doc Muse and the Green Valley Pharmacy, according to both Al-Amin and Ahmad, which they say is a better outcome than complete demolition or another business that wouldn’t acknowledge the building’s history.
“She didn’t want a big company, like a McDonald’s, to go there and destroy everything,” says Ahmad.
The lonely utility pole at Columbia Pike and S. Frederick Street (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
A lonely utility pole protruding into the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Frederick Street is expected to come down by the end of the year, a county official tells ARLnow.
Last fall, a permanent traffic signal was installed at the intersection of S. Frederick Street and Columbia Pike near Arlington Mill. The work was part of the Columbia Pike Multimodal Street Improvements project to make the thoroughfare more friendly to all users.
It was also in response to a long-time request from residents and advocates to improve the safety of the intersection, which had become notorious for crashes and accidents, some involving pedestrians.
Along with the new traffic signals, the driveway to Arbor Heights — an affordable housing complex with an entrance right off Columbia Pike — was rebuilt to align with S. Frederick Street, Department of Environmental Services spokesman Eric Balliet said. The previous horseshoe driveway had a cement island with a strip of sidewalk and the utility pole. The island was removed, leaving the errant utility pole, which now sits several feet from the sidewalk in the road.
The pole is surrounded by bollards and Balliet said the county has not received any complaints about it being dangerous or blocking traffic. ARLnow did receive a tip about it from a concerned motorist, however.
That pole is coming down soon as utilities move underground, he says. A new underground duct bank was built as part of the street improvement project and the utility companies will use it to bury their lines.
Most of the lines could be taken underground by the end of the month, according to the project’s most recent update on the website.
Comcast, Dominion Energy and Verizon all have overhead wires on the utility pole at S. Frederick Street and Columbia Pike, a county official confirms.
Comcast has started this process and began removing wires last week, while Dominion also began the switchover last week and is removing its overhead wires this week. Verizon is currently applying for permits, according to the county, and work will begin once those permits are issued.
Once all the companies take down their wires, the pole will be removed.
The entire switchover from overhead to underground wiring and the removal of all utility poles along the Pike from S. Jefferson Street to the Four Mile Run Bridge is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Promotional material for Axios D.C., a new newsletter covering the D.C. region (courtesy of Axios)
(Updated at 9:55 a.m.) Clarendon-based Axios is growing quickly, in part due to its entry into a shrinking business: local news.
The media company, which covers national news with short, punchy articles, has launched more than a dozen daily city and regional newsletters. One spotlighting the D.C. region debuted this week.
The new venture, Axios Local, aims to “help readers get smarter, faster about their hometowns.”
Following the acquisition of a local news publication in Charlotte, Axios launched six newsletters earlier this year, from Denver to northwest Arkansas. By the end of October, Axios Local will have eight more locally-focused newsletters, including D.C.’s.
Publisher Nick Johnston tells ARLnow that Axios distinguishes itself from other local news outlets by applying its well-known smart brevity style to individual cities and regions.
“We call it ‘smart, lifestyle reporting,’ where you get a lot of hard, scoopy news but you are also writing about the community,” says Johnston. “People care about museums that are opening or cool places to eat or what’s happening with festivals [over] the weekend. Can you combine all of that with a little bit of a local voice? Would readers respond to that? So far, the early response has been great.”
Axios aims to cover a mix of bigger cities, smaller cities, and college towns, he says. The nation’s capital was a natural choice because of its size, audience and endless supply of topics — not to mention the fact that it’s Axios’ home turf.
“D.C. is a big, awesome, dynamic city with a great market,” Johnston says. “Also, an audience that knows us a lot from our political reporting.”
The key is to hire great, in-the-know journalists, notes Johnston.
Axios D.C. is written by Chelsea Cirruzzo, Cuneyt Dil and Paige Hopkins. Both Cirruzzo and Dil have plenty of local bonafides, with Hopkins coming from Charlotte, where the already-popular Charlotte Agenda was rebranded Axios Charlotte after being acquired for a reported $5 million.
The D.C. newsletter will cover the District as well as Arlington, Alexandria and neighboring Maryland counties. Dil tells ARLnow that the newsletter’s goal is to cover the regional conversations that folks are having, not necessarily every city council or county board meeting.
“That [can] be about housing, transportation — Metro is always a regional story,” he said. “Everyone’s interested in what’s going on in terms of lifestyle, food and entertainment-wise in D.C.”
The pandemic revealed the importance of a regional focus, Dil notes, since COVID-19 crosses borders and the impact of policies extends beyond individual jurisdictions. Arlington’s Amazon-fueled redevelopment boom is a prime example of that, he said.
“There’s now Amazon and redevelopment everywhere. It’s part of this massive regional story of the whole area changing right before our eyes. We want to cover that,” says Dil.
Amazon, it should be noted, is Axios D.C.’s first advertiser.
First week of the new Axios DC newsletter (which I’ve generally enjoyed reading!) and the Amazon HQ2 ads keep on coming…
Dil and Johnston say the region’s size, with two states, one city and a number of localities, does present a challenge.
“It’s been fascinating to get a sense of how you pick and choose,” says Johnston. “There’s just so much happening. And, also, how do you cover it in a comprehensive way?”
He said a recent story about vaccine mandates for public employees struck this balance, explaining D.C.’s mandate and ticking off mandates in other jurisdictions.
In terms of operations, many Axios employees still work from home, but Johnston says the Clarendon office at 3100 Clarendon Blvd remains the company’s “central hub.”
After this fall, Johnston says staff will focus on getting a better sense of what appeals to readers and how the business works in various local markets. The current plan is to launch newsletters in a dozen more cities in 2022.
The growth comes as Axios shakes off failed talks of merging with The Athletic or being acquired by German publishing company Axel Springer. The latter ended up buying Rosslyn-based Politico, from which the Axios founders split when founding their company in 2017.
Still independent and newly-invigorated by its foray into local, Axios recently announced a number of promotions, including moving Johnston to the newly-created publisher role, after he previously served as Editor in Chief. He will oversee both the local news operation and “Axios Pro,” a new subscription service.
“I’m super excited about just continuing to grow as fast as we can,” Johnston said.
Firefighters responding to smoke in the Ballston Metro station
Arlington County firefighters are sounding the alarm on a possible exodus from the department over stagnating wages.
IAFF Local 2800, which represents the county’s professional firefighters and paramedics, warned in a press release Monday that without an increase in pay or a hazard pay program, there could be “high turnover rates over the next year” in the department.
“We haven’t seen a true pay raise in years and no cost-of-living adjustments to keep pace with inflation,” Brian Lynch, president of the Arlington County Professional Firefighters and Paramedics, in the release. “With the COVID-19 epidemic causing an increase in dangerous 911 calls over the past 18 months, we are doing more extremely hazardous work — and really getting paid less.”
The union is asking the county manager for a 6% cost-of-living pay increase, the reinstitution of a hazard pay program, and one year of earned merit increases.
The news comes one week after ARLnow reported that the police department is shrinking over salaries and burnout and as Arlington County begins deliberating its 2022-23 budget, including wages for county employees.
It also comes before Arlington’s public safety unions will be able to engage in collective bargaining with the county. The County Board voted to permit such negotiations this summer, but the first collective agreements are not expected to go into effect until the 2024 fiscal year.
Lynch tells ARLnow the fire department hasn’t reached the inflection point that the police department appears to be at quite yet, but he’s concerned it could. Over the last two years, pay for firefighters and paramedics has only increased by 1%, which doesn’t keep pace with inflation and cost-of-living increases. Consumer prices have gone up by 4.4% in the region over the last year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
There was a short-term hazard pay program in place at the beginning of the pandemic but it only lasted ten weeks, he said, adding that the union never got an official explanation for why the program ended.
County officials didn’t tell ARLnow exactly why either, only saying that the program was “designed to mirror other neighboring jurisdictions’ public safety programs.”
Lynch says that re-instituting one now would show firefighters and paramedics that they are valued.
“[It would] be a token of respect towards the folks that are putting themselves and their families out there,” says Lynch. “We’ve always had a risk of dying, but COVID puts our families at risk.”
Without these concessions or merit increases, county firefighters could opt to go to other jurisdictions or get out of the industry altogether, he says.
“We’ve lost a few people already… and it could get worse,” Lynch said. “Historically, people never left fire departments once they got in. It’s a very competitive job and people stayed. What we’ve seen change is their willingness to go to other industries.”
While the county could fill these positions with new recruits, there’s a price to that as well. The union estimates that it costs the county more than $175,000 to train a single firefighter-paramedic.
County officials dispute the notion that firefighters are looking to leave the department. ACFD says the opposite is true, according to its data.
Columbia Pike at sunset on Monday night (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
An earlier version of this feature article was published via email for members of our ARLnow Press Club, whose support makes more in-depth reporting like this possible. Join the Press Club here.
The past, present, and future of Columbia Pike is rather easy to see.
Cross Glebe Road and there’s the Broiler, first opened in 1959 and, today, still slinging cheesesteaks. Right by the ramp to I-395, the historic Johnson’s Hill neighborhood (also known as Arlington View) remains home to a number of the same residents that have lived there for decades.
Drive the Pike from Washington Blvd to where it crosses Leesburg Pike in Fairfax County and you’ll see a number of low-slung businesses and massive apartment complexes that were built during the Eisenhower administration.
The Pike has continued to have a reputation for being one of the more affordable areas to live in Arlington and, with that, a diverse neighborhood has thrived. The Pike — and its corresponding 22204 zip code — is often referred to as a “world in a zip code.”
Not to mention, just a few miles away, Amazon is building a headquarters which is likely to bring more people and development to the Pike.
Today, about 41,000 people live along the Pike corridor, according to county data. That’s more that a 10% increase compared to a decade ago. Over the next thirty years, much of Arlington’s population growth is expected to be concentrated along the Pike.
Officials are looking to adapt to these changes by turning Columbia Pike into what the county calls a “vibrant… walkable, lively ‘Main Street’, an effort that first began more than 30 years ago.
In 1986, the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization formed in response to the Arlington County Board providing a $50,000 grant towards economically reviving the Pike.
The grant and the formation of CPRO would be, as the Washington Post described at the time, “the first step in what some see as a 10-year effort to coordinate improvements that could lead to revitalization of the highway as well as a return of community pride.”
That was followed over the next decade plus by a number of revitalization plans, policy changes, and initiatives – including in 1990, 1998, and 2002 — all in an attempt to bring more businesses, “revitalize,” and create a more “vibrant” Pike.
“It really gave us a bit of a blueprint on how we were going to move forward,” CPRO Executive Kim Klingler tells ARLnow.
The purpose was to standardize how new buildings along the Pike were physically going to look and integrate into the community.
“It focuses on the form of the building, which is a little different from the way that other zoning codes work,” says John Snyder, Chair of CPRO’s board. “Like, how tall is the building? What’s the shape? [How many] setbacks from the street? How many stories should it be? [The code] puts together all the rules about that… it’s all set in advance.”
The intent was to “foster a vital main street” with mixed-use buildings that had shops, cafes, and other commercial uses on the ground floor and residences and offices above. It also encourages more sidewalks, trees, and public spaces (like Penrose Square).
The hope is to create a more dense, pedestrian, and public transportation-friendly community.
“A walkable community, like a traditional downtown,” says Snyder.
The plus of following a form-based code for the community is that it is known what new buildings are going to look like and avoids a potential years-long battle with a developer over details like height and design.
For the developer, adhering to the code provides incentives like more density and less red tape.
When first adopted, the county was one of the first jurisdictions in the country to use this strategy to redevelop existing, older neighborhoods.
For the most part, proponents say it has worked. While developers can choose whether they adhere to the code, more than 90% of the new buildings along the Pike were developed with it according to Snyder.
“We’ve gotten 12 or 13 new projects, gained some plaza areas we didn’t have before, and we got ground floor retail,” he says. “We got economic revitalization.”
But with economic revitalization, comes other challenges.
With more amenities, a neighborhood becomes more attractive and vulnerable to natural market forces.
“The whole idea for a building like Centro was to build one that has amenities like you’d expect on [Metro’s] Orange Line, except cheaper,” says Snyder. “Because it is close to everything… it drives prices up. And that puts pressure on the affordable apartments.”
While the county has made efforts to preserve and increase affordable housing along the Pike, not all of their proposals have been embraced by the public as good enough.
It isn’t just about rental units, either. Economic revitalization can drive up housing costs and potentially prevent those in the middle-income brackets from buying homes in the community.
While there are a lot of reasons why the Arlington housing market is hot right now, the redevelopment of Columbia Pike is a factor.
“[Housing] prices are definitely up and… can change the tone of a neighborhood,” says Snyder.
The county’s Missing Middle Housing Study is diving into how to address this challenge, but solutions may be hard to come by even if everyone wants to preserve a community that’s accessible for all.
“The goal has always been for the Pike to be a very diverse community — culturally, socioeconomically, and generationally,” Klingler told ARLnow. “We still want to make Columbia Pike a place for all people.”
But is that even possible? Some certainly don’t think so.
Neffy performing “Wait Up” (Photo via screenshot/YouTube)
Green Valley-native singer/songwriter Neffy (Photo courtesy of Neffy)
Arlington native Neffy has won National Public Radio’s prestigious Tiny Desk Contest for her song “Wait Up,” inspired by her return home to the Green Valley neighborhood.
Neffy, née Mecca Russell, tells ARLnow she drew on her homecoming experience during the pandemic, after living in New York City for about five years.
“Returning had me get in touch with my roots for the first time in half a decade,” she said. “It was almost like, ‘Will this environment accept me in the same that it did when I was younger, after being away for so long?'”
She found that Green Valley not only accepted her, but proved to be a well of inspiration to draw from. The 24-year-old singer-songwriter’s ballad about the meaning of home was chosen from thousands of entries to NPR’s contest, which selects an emerging artist to perform at the vaunted “tiny desk,” joining the likes of some very notable musicians, including Mac Miller, Wu Tang Clan, Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber and Lizzo.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was in so much shock and disbelief,” says Neffy about how she felt after hearing she had won. “I’m still kind of in shock and disbelief, to be quite honest.”
She says she has always been musical, known to sing around the house as a child. Neffy wrote her first song at 13 years old and, shortly after, picked up a guitar.
When she got older, went to college and decided to pursue writing and performing professionally, she realized her craft required a lot of sacrifice — and it led to some self-doubt.
But winning the Tiny Desk contest in 2021, after entering submissions in 2018 and 2020, validated her choice to pursue her craft.
“This experience has given me the chance to really feel full and express myself completely as an artist,” Neffy says. “And that alone has taken so much weight off my shoulders because that means I’m allowed to be an artist.”
She said writing and performing “Wait Up” allowed for that self-reflection and gave her an outlet for some of these feelings.
“I wrote this song for myself… because it was almost like a very cathartic therapeutic experience for me to write the song,” she says. “It was something that my soul definitely needed.”
To get herself in the right place, she says she spent a lot of time in her backyard as well as in and around Arlington’s green spaces, including gardens, nature centers and trails.
“Those [places] really are the foundation of who I am,” Neffy says. “[The song] was also a weaving of my mother’s love, my family’s love and us being outside in our backyard and having memories attached to all of those spaces.”
Right now, she’s primarily performing virtually due to the pandemic but plans on taking her talent to venues in the D.C. area soon.
While she’s currently residing in Green Valley, Neffy expects that she will soon head off on a new adventure. Writing “Wait Up” taught her that leaving will be okay, and that her home will always be here in Arlington no matter where her ambition leads her.
“By the time the song gets to the bridge, I am certain that, yes, home will always be there, whether it’s a physical manifestation or a spiritual manifestation that lives inside of me,” she says. “No matter where I go in the world, whether it’s Japan or who knows where, home is going to always live inside of me no matter what.”
While not all candidates were present, those who were in attendance, regardless of political affiliation, voiced support for rail transit and criminal justice reform while decrying the influence of corporate money in state politics.
Arlington County encompasses parts of four Virginia House districts. Democrats currently occupy all of those seats and have a majority in the General Assembly. That could change this year, since every one of the 100 seats is up for grabs. Early voting starts on Friday (Sept. 17) and voting culminates with Election Day, Nov. 2.
Incumbents are running in three of the districts and are being challenged by Republicans in all of them, as well as an independent in the 49th District.
On Gov. Ralph Northam’s plans for rail transit, incumbent Delegate Rip Sullivan (D) of the 48th District said he “wholeheartedly” agrees it should be prioritized.
“I think future plans and, frankly, what’s already underway with respect to rail transit, is important to both quality of life, for our environment, and the economy,” he said.
His challenger, Edward Monroe (R), echoed that support.
“Everybody knows there are too many cars on the road,” he said. “So, any measures we can take that are effective in reducing the amount of traffic, I think, is a great idea.”
Over in the 45th district, Justin “J.D.” Maddox (R) even complimented opponent Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D) for her work to improve transit. Bennett-Parker, the Vice Mayor of Alexandria, defeated incumbent Mark Levine (D) in the June primary for the district, which covers Alexandria and parts of Arlington.
“I’ve also seen my opponent actually defund the police in the Alexandria City Public Schools,” Maddox said. “And that’s happening at a moment [when] Alexandria is experiencing a 20% increase in violent crime.”
That statistic isn’t completely accurate. So-called “part 1 crimes,” which include violent crimes but also burglary, larceny and auto theft, were up nearly 20% last year. Overall, violent crimes in Alexandria were up 3.3% in 2020.
On criminal justice, incumbents Patrick Hope (D-47) and Alfonso Lopez (D-49) said if elected again they both plan on addressing mandatory minimum criminal sentencing.
Hope emphasized speeding up legal marijuana sales, which remain illegal until 2024 even though the state legalized marijuana possession earlier this summer.
“There are some people that are incarcerated because of marijuana,” said Hope, whose district spans from East Falls Church to Courthouse, to Barcroft and part of Columbia Pike. “I want to look at some of the sentencing for those types of crimes that people are sitting in jail for.”
Tatte Bakery in Clarendon, opening soon (Staff Photo by Matt Blitz)
Tatte Bakery in Clarendon, opening soon (Staff Photo by Matt Blitz)
(Updated at 3:35 p.m.) Tatte Bakery in Clarendon is finally set to open.
The growing Boston-based chain’s Arlington location will open tomorrow (Wednesday), according to a sign in the window. It was first announced earlier this year and was originally expected to open in July.
The cafe is located at 2805 Clarendon Blvd, around where the Baja Fresh used to be before it closed in late 2018, ahead of extensive renovations to the building.
The Clarendon spot is focused on breakfast, brunch, and lunch, with hours from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. It will have the same menu as the other D.C.-areas locations, except no dinner. The menu includes sandwiches, tartines, shakshuka, salads, bowls, and coffee.
The interior of the restaurant features a modern aesthetic and tiled counters.
The bakery is housed within The Crossing Clarendon, the multi-block, mixed-use development and retail center formerly known Market Common Clarendon.
The Arlington National Cemetery Defense Access Roads (ANC DAR) Project will realign Columbia Pike from east of S. Oak Street to Washington Blvd (Route 27). It will also modify the S. Joyce Street intersection, change the Columbia Pike and Washington Blvd interchange, and replace Southgate Road with an added segment of S. Nash Street.
Because of this, and as of early last month, parking is now permanently prohibited on Southgate Road between S. Oak Street and Columbia Pike.
Construction is expected to start in the early fall and be completed within four years, by summer of 2025, a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) spokesperson tells ARLnow. This timeline is slightly pushed back from what’s listed on the FHWA project page.
All of this is being done to accommodate a 70 acre southern expansion of Arlington National Cemetery. It will add about 60,00 burial sites, including an above-ground columbarium, which will allow the cemetery to continue burials through the 2050s. The expansion will also bring the Air Force Memorial within cemetery grounds.
This project, particularly the modification of the Columbia Pike and Washington Blvd interchange, will also provide space for the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center. Construction on that is expected to start late 2023 with a completion set for two years later.
Rendering of the planned Columbia Pike realignment and the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center (Photo courtesy of Pentagon Memorial Fund, Inc./Fentress Architects)
While this realignment project has been long awaited, it hasn’t happened without some proverbial bumps in the road. Initially, the Army proposed a land exchange agreement with the county where the federal government would acquire the land from the county that was needed for the expansion. In exchange, the county would get “all land south of a realigned Columbia Pike to meet a variety of public facility needs.”
But, in 2017, the Army decided against the land exchange agreement, leaving the county “disappointed.”
Then, last summer, the federal government filed a civil suit to claim through eminent domain nine acres of land from Arlington County. The feds offered the county $10 for the land, but Arlington County Attorney Steve MacIsaac told DCist/WAMU in November 2020 that wasn’t going to cut it.
However, in January 2021, the Arlington County Board unanimously approved an agreement with the state, the Army, and the U.S. Department of Transportation that essentially provided the needed land in exchange for the feds paying for nearly all of the $60 million project. The county is only responsible for $500,000 to design a multi-use trail along Washington Blvd.
The planned 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center plaza (courtesy of Pentagon Memorial Fund/Fentress Architects)
Rendering of the entry to the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center (courtesy of Pentagon Memorial Fund/Fentress Architects)
Rendering of the planned Columbia Pike realignment and the visitor education center (courtesy of Pentagon Memorial Fund/Fentress Architects)
Rendering of the lobby of the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center (Photo courtesy of Pentagon Memorial Fund, Inc./Fentress Architects)
The rooftop terrace of the planned 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center (courtesy of Pentagon Memorial Fund/Fentress Architects)
Rendering of the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center (Photo courtesy of Pentagon Memorial Fund, Inc./Fentress Architects)
(Updated 8/27/21) The long-planned 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center is aiming for a September 2025 opening, executive director Jim Laychak tells ARLnow.
A video announcement with updated designs, plans, and visuals for the education center that will be located along the soon-to-be-realigned Columbia Pike will be unveiled in the coming weeks and prior to the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Laychak says.
The website and provided renderings currently shows a sleek, modern design with exhibits, “interactive biographies” of those who died at the Pentagon on 9/11, a rooftop terrace, ample parking, and a family gallery.
The project has contracted Fentress Architects to design the building as well as the museum design firm PRD to do the exhibits. PRD recently helped to design D.C.’s Museum of the Bible.
Construction on the anticipated companion to the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial is expected to start within two years.
“September 2023, we could start construction and, in two years from that, we will be open,” says Laychak, who also oversaw the building of the nearby memorial. “It’s about a two year construction [phase].”
However, that timeline isn’t set and and is dependent on the completion of the Arlington National Cemetery Defense Access Roads Project. That project will realign Columbia Pike, modify the S. Joyce Street intersection, and shift the Columbia Pike and Washington Blvd. interchange. This is all being done to allow for Arlington National Cemetery to expand.
“The site where we are going to build is on that whole grassy area where the gas station used to be,” says Laychak. “It’s got a cloverleaf there and… that needs to change to a parallel on and off ramp… to Washington Blvd. So, all of that needs to happen first.”
Construction on the road realignment was originally slated to start in “summer 2021,” according to the U.S. Department of Transportation website, but work hasn’t begun yet.
ARLnow has reached out to the department about an updated timeline for the project but has yet to hear back as of publication.
The Pentagon Memorial opened to the public in 2008, but the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial Visitor Education Center wasn’t announced until late September 2015. It will sit on land owned by Arlington National Cemetery.
“The 9/11 Pentagon Visitor Education Center site is in a dramatic location,” the museum’s website said back in 2015. “Right where the attack of 9/11 took place and adjacent to the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and Air Force Memorial.”
In 2016, renderings were displayed at the Pentagon City mall. Initially, it was expected to be completed by 2020 but that didn’t happen due to the project needing to wait for the ANC expansion and roads projects to take shape, says Laychak.
The last few years have mostly been filled with completing the architecture design, raising money, and reassembling a board of directors that now includes Sean Connaughton, a former Virginia transportation secretary.
The project has raised about $5 million, which was used to complete the design of the education center and exhibits. Overall, it will need to raise another $80 million, which Laychak estimates will be a split between federal appropriations (much like what was the case for the memorial) and private funds. The executive team is in the midst of a capital campaign to raise those funds.
Laychak believes the addition of the education center, along with the expansion of the cemetery and the roads project, will transform the 9/11 Pentagon Memorial into a “destination location.” It will also make the memorial much easier to get to, he says, since right now it can be a bit of a maze of a walk through parking lots, concrete barriers, and closed access points.
Whatever was sickening and killing local birds earlier in the summer seems to be subsiding and it’s now safe to put bird feeders back out, according to both local and state officials.
“As far as I am aware, we have not taken in or received any calls about said birds in several weeks,” writes Animal Welfare League of Arlington (AWLA) spokesperson Chelsea Jones writes ARLnow. “At this point, it is safe to put bird feeders back out, but we definitely encourage everyone to wash their birdfeeders regularly.”
A press release this morning from the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources echoes that.
“As of mid-August, reports of sick and dead birds have declined in many jurisdictions, and the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources (DWR) is lifting its previous recommendation to cease feeding birds in affected areas,” reads the release.
If choosing to put out a feeder or a bird bath, DWR asks that they be cleaned once a week and disinfected with a 10% bleach solution.
Despite this good news, the mystery still remains on what exactly was causing birds to get sick and die throughout Northern Virginia, D.C., and parts of Maryland.
The mysterious illness seemingly coincided with the emergency of the Brood X cicadas, but Virginia DWR also said that “no definitive cause(s) of illness or death have been determined” at this time. There was no mention of cicadas in the DWR press release.
DWR has ruled out a number of potential causes, though, including salmonella, chlamydia, avian influenza virus, West Nile virus, herpesviruses, and coronavirus. Toxicology tests have also been negative for heavy metals, common pesticides, and herbicides. Other diagnostic tests are ongoing, the release notes.
In May, reports from across the region came into authorities about birds suffering from eye issues including swelling, crusting, and discharging that was potentially leading to blindness. Along with other neurological symptoms, this caused a significant number of even healthy juvenile birds to die. AWLA set up an online form, asking residents to report dead birds.
The issue was of great concern to authorities and naturalists across the area.
“We are very saddened by this ongoing issue and are hopeful for more finding soon,” AWLA Animal Control Chief Jennifer Toussaint told ARLnow back in June. “These birds are federally protected for a reason, they are a national treasure and vital to our ecosystem.”
While whatever was happening impacted much of Northern Virginia, reports of bird deaths were the highest in Fairfax and Arlington counties. This is what made this particular occurrence rare.
“Bird mortality events are not uncommon,” reads DWR’s release. “Several aspects make this particular event unique, including the specific age and species of the affected birds, the extensive geographic scope, the duration of reported mortalities, and the fact that the initial reports were received from an urban area.”
