After a year of silence, plans for the redevelopment of two blocks along N. Vermont Street straddling 11th Street N. could be coming back to the table.
In February 2018, Arlington County Board approved developer NVR’s plans to replace the two-story church and its parking lot at 1031 N. Vermont Street — formerly Grace Community Church and currently Portico Church Arlington — with a 72-unit condominium building and 12 townhouses. Four of the units on-site would be committed as affordable housing.
The plans drew some backlash from the neighbors who said the plan added density to an already congested Ballston neighborhood.
Since its approval, however, there has been no sign of work moving forward on the homes. An employee for NVR confirmed that the company had dropped its plans for the site, while county officials tell ARLnow that a new developer and development plan is forthcoming.
“Yes, NVR has walked away from this site plan,” said Gina Wimpey, spokeswoman for Arlington’s Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development. “There is a new contract purchaser and they are planning on submitting new plans as early as next month.”
Wimpey said the contract was purchased by BCN Homes, a developer that has constructed custom homes throughout the Arlington. Brian Normile, president of BCN Homes and a partner in a number of popular local restaurants, told ARLnow it’s too early to comment on the property but more information could be forthcoming in the next few weeks.
“The plans will be processed as a minor site plan amendment, but will still need to return to the Site Plan Review Committee,” Wimpey said. “That should occur sometime this fall or winter.”
The school year for Arlington Public Schools starts up again on Tuesday (Sept. 3), and there are a variety of traffic changes around the county for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians to be aware of.
There are several new traffic patterns around new and newly-repurposed schools. At Dorothy Hamm Middle School in Cherrydale, there are new traffic signals and signs, crosswalks and crossing guards near the school at 4100 Vacation Lane. At The Heights Building on Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn, students will be arriving at buses on 18th Street N., which will be closed to the public The Montessori Public School of Arlington on S. Highland Street is now a countywide school, meaning more buses will be at the school.
Drew Elementary School and the new Dorothy Hamm Middle School are both neighborhood schools now, meaning pedestrians and cyclists to the school are more likely.
According to the press release, drivers across the county should remember to:
Obey speed limits which may change during school zone times.
Avoid distracted driving and keep your attention on the road.
Watch for students walking and riding bikes to school.
Don’t pass a stopped school bus loading or unloading passengers. Violations could result in a fine of $250.
On a two-lane road, vehicles traveling in both directions must stop.
On a multi-lane paved road, vehicles traveling in both directions must stop.
On a divided highway, vehicles behind the bust must stop. Vehicles traveling in the opposite direction may proceed with caution.
Have all vehicle occupants wear their seatbelts.
Pick-up and drop-off students in designated kiss and ride locations.
Pedestrians are reminded to only cross the street at the crosswalk and follow the instructions of crossing guards.
Bicyclists ages 14 and under are required to wear helmets, while helmets are recommended for everyone. Cyclists should keep to the right and ride with traffic, then to lock up the bicycle when not in use.
Montessori students perform a school-themed twist on “Old Town Road”
Montessori Public School of Arlington
Ribbon-cutting for the new Montessori Public School
Montessori Public School of Arlington
PTA registers new parents and faculty at the ribbon-cutting ceremony
Montessori Public School of Arlington
Teacher greets returning students at the Montessori Public School
Montessori Public School of Arlington
Teacher shows students and parents a new classroom
Teacher shows students and parents a new classroom
Montessori Public School of Arlington
At a ribbon-cutting yesterday (Thursday), Arlington’s Montessori community celebrated the landmark ribbon-cutting for Virginia’s first standalone public K-5 Montessori school.
For years, the Arlington Public Schools’ Montessori program operated as an entity within Drew Model School. But now, the program has launched its own school inside 701 S. Highland Street — formerly Patrick Henry Elementary School.
Faculty, parents and students all celebrated the new opportunities that come with having their own school. School Board member Monique O’Grady compared the change to a metamorphosis befitting the new school’s mascot: a butterfly.
The Montessori Method is an educational philosophy that emphasizes nurturing a love of learning by offering students more educational freedom than what’s found in a traditional public school.
“Our teachers have always done a great job, but here we can carry the Montessori philosophy out of the classrooms and into the halls or outside,” Principal Catharina Genove said. “It adds to their community and it encourages collaboration throughout the hallways.”
The school currently has close to 500 students, selected through a lottery system held every spring. Students in the school traditionally stay with the same teachers for three-year cycles.
The path to the Montessori School’s independent opening was fraught with some controversy, most recently with parents from the Patrick Henry Elementary School saying they felt betrayed by the School Board’s decision to break up that school population.
“No project planning is smooth, but you persevered,” School Board Chair Tannia Talento told the crowd at the ribbon-cutting. “You have advocated and made all the efforts to get us here.”
Students at the opening sang a modified version of the Lil Nas X hit “Old Town Road” before proceeding inside to tour their new classrooms. Inside, teachers greeted old students and helped calm down children who were stressed about the new location.
“As of today, there are 502 public Montessori schools across the country, and [around] 300 of them opened in the last 10 or 15 years,” said Katie Brown, Director of Professional Learning at the National Center for Montessori in the Public Sector. “This shows an increasing demand for a holistic and child-centered approach. It’s [a program] that’s gone from the margins of education into the mainstream.”
“Montessori has been traditionally viewed as a program accessible only to the wealthy due to the high cost associated with it,” said Mrinal Oberoi, a PTA member. “It has been made especially famous by the likes of Jeff Bezos, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Stephen Curry, etc. MPSA makes Montessori education accessible to all.”
Students at the opening said they were excited to feel less cramped than in their previous school.
The change also comes with a handful of new transportation changes. Residents will likely notice more busses in the area since the school is a countywide program, according to a press release from APS.
Other changes include:
The entrance on S. Highland Street will be bus-only and one way, with buses exiting on Walter Reed Drive.
The south entrance to the building, next to the library, will not be available to entry from 7:30-8:30 a.m. to accommodate bus traffic.
Parent drop-off is in the nine spaces between the 15-minute parking signs on Highland Street with queuing on 9th Street S.
Joe Baker, manager at Galaxy Hut, talks with a customer
(Updated at 11:20 a.m.) Vegan Americana has been making waves, from the new Impossible Whoppers at Burger King to Kentucky Fried Chicken’s vegan chicken buckets. But at one popular Clarendon bar, vegan options are a longtime specialty receiving a new focus.
Galaxy Hut is a small, dimly lit bar at 2711 Wilson Blvd with regulars huddled around tables with built-in arcade games or in the outdoor brick alleyway. The bar has a long history in the local punk rock scene, opening in 1990 in the nascent era of the Clarendon bar scene. It’s strictly for the over-21 crowd, opening at 5 p.m. every day and closing at 2 a.m.
The bar also has a Smithsonian-worthy collection of VHS tapes playing on a regular cycle. Last night (Wednesday), it was Pulp Fiction.
In early August, the Galaxy Hut adjusted its menu with a masthead noting — as it has since 2017 — that every item on the menu can be made vegan. This is not a small menu either. Sandwiches like the Reuben or meatball sub can all be swapped out with vegan imitation ingredients. Others, like the “big mock” — a vegan burger with pickles, onion, Russian dressing and non-dairy cheddar — are implicitly designed as vegan entrees.
Each of these items can be paired with tater tots or eggplant fries, which manager Joe Baker swears by. All of the condiments on the menu are made in-house, according to Baker, so traditionally egg or dairy-based aiolis or ranch are swapped with vegan ingredients.
“We used to carry honey mustard, but people pointed out that’s not vegan so now we use sweet mustard,” Baker said. “We listen to our customers and adjust. Personally, I’ve stopped saying ‘do you want normal cheese’ and switched to ‘do you want dairy-cheese.'”
The vegan menu was not a sudden change but a gradual evolution, according to Baker. Galaxy Hut’s owners are vegan and the bar has been making adjustments over time to cater towards the establishment’s “pretty consistent vegan crowd.”
“We’ve had a significant vegetarian customer base for a long time,” said Lary and Erica Hoffman, the owners, in a joint email to ARLnow. “Galaxy Hut went entirely vegetarian for 9 months in 2012, but decided to add meat options back to the menu due to customer demand.”
The veggie focus event landed Galaxy Hut as the Virginia standout on a “50 States of Vegetarian Food” list compiled on the Food Network website.
A handful of the beers also have non-vegan ingredients, but Baker said all of the bartenders know the taps well enough to let those ordering vegan food items know which of the beers to avoid.
Construction crews add finishing touches to the Custis Trail widening
Cyclist on the Custis Trail in Rosslyn before widening
The widened stretch of the Custis Trail through Rosslyn finally opened to pedestrian and cyclist traffic late yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon.
The new improvements widen the Custis Trail along westbound Lee Highway from N. Lynn and N. Oak streets, a popular stretch of the trail that connects the Metro corridor to the Key Bridge and the Mount Vernon Trail.
A new wider section of the Custis Trail is expected to make its debut Wednesday, weather permitting. The expanded trail section is along westbound Lee Highway between North Lynn and North Oak Streets. https://t.co/DDEadCr3nBpic.twitter.com/DJLsieLA7L
After months of passing each other in the narrow confines of the slimmed-down path along Lee Highway, cyclists and pedestrians both immediately took to the new trail. The former travel lane has now been blocked off with orange barriers.
Even with the widening wrapped up, the project website said work will still continue on installing permanent signs along the trail, but with a minimal impact on trail traffic.
Beautiful day in Rosslyn by the newly reopened section of the Custis Trail. The full width is available now for about 80% in the project area and will continue to grow as work continues. Bike and walk in peace. Love each other. https://t.co/a0B5lRHJsspic.twitter.com/hQiMhyfD9b
— Arlington Department of Environmental Services (@ArlingtonDES) August 29, 2019
Washington-Liberty High School logo designed by students (photo via @wl_arts/Twitter)
Washington-Liberty High School coat of arms logo (image via Arlington Public Schools)
Washington-Liberty overlay logo (image via Arlington Public Schools)
Washington-Liberty High School is set to open to students next week, and with the new name come two new logos for the school and the rebranding for an old logo.
One logo — a profile of George Washington outlined against the Liberty Bell — was designed by students and painted to welcome students to the rebranded school, which was formerly named Washington-Lee. The image is similar to the older logo for the school but removes the profile of its former namesake, Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
“There are three logos being used,” Frank Bellavia, spokesman for Arlington Public Schools, said in an email to ARLnow. “The one in the tweet is one and was created by a student.”
The school website uses another logo: a coat of arms with the first president and the big bell emblazoned on a shield. Bellavia said this logo was designed by the Principal’s Student Advisory Board and the Student Athletic Council.
Both logos include a smaller version of the classic W-L overlay, which will continue to be used as another school logo.
Renegade Coffee in the works at former Mister Days
Renegade Coffee in the works at former Mister Days
Renegade Coffee and Kitchen is coming to the former Mister Days space at 3100 Clarendon Blvd.
“What we’ve got is full-service espresso with Stumptown Coffee,” said Patrick Crump, executive chef and owner of Renegade Coffee and Kitchen.
The Portland-based Stumptown Coffee is widely lauded, but a rare sight in the D.C. region. Taps are are being set up along the new coffee bar to serve nitro cold brew coffee. The unique offerings could help Renegade stand out, and steady daytime business could help the business afford the high Clarendon rent, but the restaurant faces plenty of competition, including a Peet’s Coffee across the street.
Crump is no stranger to Clarendon. He’s executive chef at Clarendon Ballroom, Spider Kelly’s and formerly Clarendon Grill — which closed in October after 22 years. Crump’s vision for Renegade is a full-service restaurant with an international menu — including cuisine from Morocco to Vietnam. The menu will mostly be small bites from around $3 to $5, he said.
Another part of the restaurant’s aim is helping to revive the local live music scene. The coffee bar only takes up one corner of the restaurant, so the rest is filled with seating, with plans to use some of it as a music venue — taking up the crown left unclaimed in the wake of Clarendon Grill and Iota Club and Cafe’s closures.
“We want to replace Iota for live music,” said Eric Anderson, general manager and partner. “We want to bring that back.”
In the evenings, Crump plans to turn the area into a nightclub to help carry on the Mister Days legacy.
The coffee shop is still working through some permit approvals, but the owners said they expect Renegade to open within five or six weeks. In the meantime, the company is currentlyhiring full and part-time baristas, servers and bartenders.
Construction crews are putting on the finishing touches of the building at 1601 Wilson Blvd even as teachers get their classrooms ready for the start of school next Tuesday (Sept. 3). Much of the state-of-the-art interior is completed.
Demolition for the old Wilson School at the site started in 2017, with crews working since then to build the new, five-story terraced structure. Most of the building is slated to be open and usable when school starts, though the auditorium remains under construction. Jeffrey Chambers, director of design and construction for Arlington Public Schools, explained that there’s still construction work that needs to be done and it won’t be accessible until a few weeks after the school opens.
There are other projects around the school, smaller pieces Chambers described as “finishing up the punch list,” but Chambers said any construction work that would be disruptive to students will be done after hours.
“We’re excited to open in a week,” said Dr. Casey Robinson, principal of H-B Woodlawn. “There’s lots to do and we’re having lots of fun exploring the new space.”
H-B Woodlawn is a secondary program with a focus on students playing an integral role in developing school curriculum and shaping the culture of the school. Robinson was a student at the old H-B Woodlawn and later became a teacher there, so like much of the faculty she’s still adjusting to the new location, but she and the others are approaching it with a smile.
“We’ve been telling ourselves and our students that the comfortable feeling [at the old school] took 40 years to create,” Robinson said. “It won’t happen overnight.”
But artifacts brought over from the old school have helped soften the blow of the move for Robinson, as has an elaborate mural painted across the main common area that includes images from the generations that decorated the walls of the old school. Robinson said a “town meeting” planned with faculty and students will decide how the relics should be displayed.
The lower two floors of the building will be devoted to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Program — formerly the Stratford Program. The two programs will share a common area, cafeteria, auditorium and other school amenities.
“I can’t begin to tell you how excited I am [for school to start again],” said Dr. Karen Gerry, principal of the Shriver Program. “It’s surreal to be in this beautiful building and we’re excited to collaborate again with H-B Woodlawn.”
Plans for the new building haven’t always been happily received by the H-B Woodlawn community, but faculty at the school seemed determined to make the best of the new, more urban location.
“All of your familiar teachers are ready to welcome you back,” Robinson said.
Bill Podolski, director of choral activities at H-B Woodlawn, wore a shirt with an artistic rendering of the school’s former beloved home — which has been transformed into a neighborhood middle school — but seemed happy in a spacious band room with a full wall of multi-floor windows.
Construction permits were filed earlier this year for a 5,695 square foot space at 2825 Wilson Blvd in Clarendon, next to the Chase Bank.
The international gym franchise has one location in D.C., in Dupont Circle, and staff there said the Clarendon location is expected to open by the end of the year — most likely in December.
The layout of the new gym will be similar to the D.C. location, we’re told. There’s no word yet on promotions or other pre-opening deals, the company usually offers them to first-time members.
Spike, a TSA explosives detection canine at Reagan National Airport
Explosives detection dog Spike sniffs out a camera
Spike, a TSA explosives detection canine at Reagan National Airport
Spike, a TSA explosives detection canine at Reagan National Airport
Spike likes playing frisbee, playing with a chew toy, and sniffing out explosive chemicals in Reagan National Airport.
The black labrador retriever is one of four — soon to be five — explosives detection canines patrolling the airport. This morning (Monday), Spike led a public demonstration at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint to show off his nose and teach the public about airport bomb dogs for National Dog Day.
Daniel La Rose, Spike’s handler, says the daily grind of ensuring the safety of the travelling public is made better for Spike by making sure every activity feels fun and rewarding.
“It has to be interesting for the dog,” La Rose said, “he needs to feel productive.”
Activities include searches throughout the airport, and sometimes aboard aircraft and checked baggage areas. A lot of the work is what La Rose calls “cutting the wake” — walking past crowds as the dog sniffs through the wafted scents, kind of like going through the wake of a boat.
The dogs smell in ingredients, Daniel La Rose said. A lot of lotions, makeup and perfumes share some chemical elements with explosives, so La Rose warned that passengers wearing heavy perfume for their plane trip may attract the attention of explosives dogs.
Spike needs frequent stimulation. La Rose said it looks easy, but the daily job is a lot of work finding ways to keep the dog constantly positive and active.
Sometimes the Spike will be taken through areas where dummies are planted for the dog to find, to keep him training and to earn playtime with La Rose. The dogs work for play, La Rose explained, not treats. Every day is a game of hide and seek, with a few minutes playing with a tennis ball or a loving pat on the head the reward for a job well done.
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.
For both new arrivals to the United States dreaming of starting their own business and locals who need a place to work, Columbia Pike’s Enterprise Development Group (EDG) strives to give them solid footing.
The Ethiopian Community Development Council (ECDC) works to help refugees and immigrants, and within that organization the EDG strives to help entrepreneurs launch their own businesses.
“Our business incubator is a program where EDG rents office space below market rate,” said Fikru Abebe, managing director of the EDG. “This program primarily offers new start-up business access to free internet, free training meeting rooms and free utility. Participants will eventually graduate and move out.”
The ECDC launched in 1983 and the EDG was incorporated as a separate 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2001. Funding for the incubator comes from a variety of public and private sources, though Abebe said continuing to raise funds to manage the program has not been easy.
The incubator is based out of 901 S. Highland Street, just off Columbia Pike.
For those who aren’t successful and want to shut down their business concept, Abebe said the low cost and flexibility of their month-to-month lease can keep that from being a career-ruining collapse.
Members of the group also receive access to classes for creating business plans, handling taxes as a small business, and more.
There are currently 22 businesses in the incubator, ranging from lawyers, IT consultants, cleaning services and more. Abebe said the program is currently at around 85 percent capacity with four offices left.
A fact sheet for the program says it strives for low vacancy, but high turnover.
“A successful business incubator would have all space filled, but it would have a balanced rate of new clients, existing clients, and graduated clients,” the fact sheet notes.
