Author: Vernon Miles

Meridian Pint Owner Taps Out

By Vernon Miles

After several difficult months for Meridian Pint (6035 Wilson Blvd), owner John Andrade said an opportunity came along to sell the business and he took it.

The bar in Dominion Hills was part of a small, pint-sized franchise when it opened in 2019, but the Columbia Heights location in D.C. closed as part of the move to Arlington. Smoke & Barrel, another Andrade restaurant in Adams Morgan, closed late last year. Brookland Pint in D.C. remains open.

“It is with heavy heart I announce I am no longer the principal owner of Meridian Pint,” Andrade said in a post on Facebook this week. “This past year presented fiscal challenges that were difficult to survive. And although Meridian Pint and its staff received heroic and loyal support from our incredible Arlington neighbors, ultimately, Meridian Pint was simply unprepared financially to keep operating to a level that the community and our amazing staff deserves.”

Andrade has launched a GoFundMe in January to help cover expenses for the staff. The fundraiser ultimately raised $3,560.

“Recently, the opportunity was presented to pass the torch on to an organization better prepared to carry on the legacy of Meridian Pint,” Andrade said. “The decision was tough but obvious. I am pleased to tell you that under new management, Meridian Pint will now begin its next chapter in Arlington, ready to serve you everything you have come to love, only better.”

No information about the new owners was immediately available.

“I hope that you will support this next phase in the story of our neighborhood gathering place along with me,” Andrade said. “You will continue to see me at ‘The Oldest Bar in Dominion Hills’ regularly. Except from now on, I’ll be on the customer side of the bar. It has truly been my greatest pleasure and honor in serving you.”

The run of bad luck for the bar didn’t end with the sale announcement, however.

Early in the morning, the day after the announcement, a burglar reportedly broke into the bar. According to a police report, an unknown suspect forced entry into the business early Wednesday morning, caused damage to the bar and stole a cash box.

Andrade confirmed that it was Dominion Pint that was burglarized, saying that he thinks the break-in was part of a string of burglaries occurring in the area.

Arlington Maserati Dealership Closed, But Tesla Kicking the Tires

By Vernon Miles
1/4

After nearly seven years in South Arlington, the Maserati dealership at 2710 S. Glebe Road has closed its doors.

The dealership — located on a property that had earlier been home to seafood seller M. Slavin & Sons — is currently completely empty, with only Maserati and Alfa Romeo branding and an ironic “Now Open” sign.

The dealership began selling Fiats in 2016 and built a new, expanded facility the following year.

An employee at Maserati of Tysons (8448 Leesburg Pike) confirmed that the Arlington location closed and the Fairfax County location is now the closest Maserati dealer for Arlington residents.

The property, adjacent to I-395, may retain an automotive-related use, however. ARLnow hears that Tesla is considering leasing the building.

Historic Designation to Be Considered for Century-Old Black Cemetery

By Vernon Miles

The Mount Salvation Baptist Church cemetery — which served as the final resting place Black Arlingtonians denied access to white graveyards — could be granted a historic district designation by the Arlington County Board.

As part of the consent agenda at its Jan. 23 meeting, the County Board approved advertisement of public hearings to review the designation of the cemetery at 1961 N. Culpeper Street at the Monday, Feb. 8 Planning Commission meeting and at the Saturday, Feb. 20 County Board meeting.

“There are many community members in this church and I’ve been there to listen and pay respects,” said County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti. “This is historic preservation done well to help us remember our African-American community and history. The final resting places in this burial ground, it’s important for us to recognize this for historic preservation.”

The Mount Salvation Baptist Church congregation has gathered in the Halls Hill/High View Park neighborhood since the first church was constructed on the property in 1892. That church was later demolished with a replacement church build in 1975. The earliest marked burial at the cemetery was a woman named Helen Thompson in 1916, but a staff report on the cemetery said there are likely older, unmarked graves on the plot dating back to the church’s founding. There are a total of 89 confirmed burials at the site.

“There are two other historic African American cemeteries in Arlington County that are designated as local historic districts: most of Lomax African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Zion Cemetery in Green Valley and Calloway United Methodist Cemetery in Hall’s Hill,” a staff report said.

The report noted that Mount Salvation Baptist Church was as much of a social gathering place for Black Arlingtonians in the late 19th century and early 20th century as it was a religious institution.

Both the trustees of the church and Arlington’s Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board support the designation.

Part of the designation could also open the way to a barrier around the cemetery to limit pedestrian through-traffic.

“Church trustees have expressed a desire to discourage casual pedestrian traffic through the cemetery,” the report said. “The installation of a permanent fence around the cemetery would deter such activity; recommendations for appropriate fencing types are included in the accompanying proposed Mount Salvation Baptist Cemetery Local Historic District Design Guidelines.”

Image via Arlington County

Local Startup HUNGRY Feeds National Guard and Arlington’s Less Fortunate

By Vernon Miles
1/4

For Jeff Grass, CEO and Chairman of Ballston-based startup HUNGRY, a food distribution event in Arlington yesterday (Wednesday) had a bittersweet flavor to it.

While the company was able to prepare 6,000 hot meals for people in need at a drive-thru food distribution event at Central United Methodist Church (4201 Fairfax Drive) near its headquarters, it’s also a painful reminder that nearly one year after a global pandemic began, many Americans face a food accessibility crisis.

“On the one hand, it makes you feel good to be able to do something and it was nice to see how appreciative people are,” Grass said, “but seeing so many people coming by and needing a free meal highlights just how big and prevalent the challenge is. We’re Arlington, one of the richest counties in the country, and yet so many people are in need of food assistance.”

The company was able to distribute most of the 6,000 prepared meals in an event that ran from 1:30-3 p.m., and the remaining couple hundred that were left over were given to a local shelter.

Grass said he didn’t have an estimate on how many people attended the food drive, saying “it was car after car,” but that the company mostly limited the meals to ten per vehicle. HUNGRY had no protocols set up to screen for income levels, saying that anyone who showed up the the event was considered in sufficient need of a meal.

The handful of nicer vehicles, Grass said, were also a reminder of how much the pandemic had turned some lives upside down.

“I didn’t feel like it was up to us to challenge people,” Grass said. “Some people did drive up in nice vehicles, but everybody’s got their own challenges and stories, and everybody seemed to really appreciate it.”

The food distribution events had the added benefit of supporting the local chefs using the platform, particularly catering chefs who were some of the earliest victims of local business impacts.

“We’re in late January, past the holidays, it felt like the right time to do it,” Grass said.

It was the second major food donation initiative in January for the company. The first was a food delivery operation last week to National Guard troops posted in D.C. for presidential inauguration security following the riot at the Capitol earlier this month.

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Arlington Historical Society Fights to Save Dominion Hills Mansion from Demolition

By Vernon Miles

As a large Arlington estate nears a potential demolition, a local historic preservation group is fighting to have the estate’s main house saved.

The Febrey-Lothrop Estate — also known as the Rouse estate — is a 9-acre site at 6407 Wilson Blvd, near Arlington’s western border with Fairfax County. On it sits a more than 100-year-old home that has housed prominent business figures and celebrities over the years.

With a demolition permit application pending, a local nonprofit hopes that the county government can intervene and preserve the building.

“Over the past 150 years, the Febrey-Lothrop Estate has graced the Upton Hill neighborhood of Arlington,” the Arlington Historical Society (AHS) said in a letter recently sent to the County Board. “Despite war, twentieth-century alterations, and major development of the neighborhood, the manor home and grounds remain a proud, historically significant Arlington landmark.”

The original home on the property was built before the Civil War and once hosted a Union encampment and hospital. The property later became residence of Alvin Lothrop, co-founder of Woodward & Lothrop Department Store; Howard Hughes; and most recently businessman Randolph Rouse and his wife, Honeymooners actress Audrey Meadows.

According to an application for a historical district to protect the home from demolition, filed last year against the wishes of the estate of its late owner, the original home was destroyed and replaced by the current colonial revival-style house in 1907. The Arlington Historical Society, however, says portions of the original home and subsequent additions are likely still part of the building.

“Given the historical significance of the Febrey-Lothrop House, the Arlington Historical Society believes the property must be saved for future generations,” AHS said in the letter. “With requests for demolition permits already in the pipeline, AHS feels an urgent need to prevent harm coming to the Estate.”

The organization requested that the County Board and County Manager issue cease and desist orders, preempting the proposed demolition. AHS also requested that the county’s Historic Affairs and Landmarks Review Board quickly recommend approval an application for Local Historic District designation and forward the designation to the County Board for approval.

The county has already listed the site for potential conversion into a public park in the Parks Master Plan (page 162), though so far it remains owned by Rouse’s estate. The historic district application notes that the property “is extremely attractive to developers for townhouse, condo, single family home, and retail commercial establishments,” due to its large size.

“Over the past 15 years, Arlington has lost many historically and architecturally important buildings to the wrecking ball,” AHS wrote in its letter to the County Board. “Let’s not let another gem go unprotected.”

Local Historian to Lead Smithsonian Associates Lecture Series on Arlington’s Hidden History

By Vernon Miles

(Updated at 8:40 a.m.) Bad news: the Marceytown treasure is probably a myth.

It’s one of those little local history stories that, according to local historian Kathryn Springston, starts from one fact but gets distorted by years of retelling. The good news, Springston says, is that behind many of the exaggerated local legends are equally fascinating but underreported true stories.

Springston is planning to discuss some of hidden legends of Arlington’s history in an upcoming four-weekend lecture series covering Arlington’s pre-colonial history up through the beginning of the 21st century.

The program is part of the Smithsonian Associates Streaming series and will run every Saturday in February from Feb. 6 to Feb. 27. from 9-11 a.m. The program is $100 for members and $110 for non-members.

Springston has been hosting walking tours in Arlington for 40 years, but said she had always wanted to do a longer, online lecture series.

“I used to do walking tours, which were terrific, but they’re always so short,” Springston said. “I wanted to give people more… When we switched to virtual programs and doing this all online I kept thinking: maybe this would be a good time.”

The chance came when Springston broke her foot last year and she was asked to appear as a guest speaker on tours.

“What we came up with is an abbreviated, short course,” Springston said, “but if it works, I want to make it longer and more in-depth. Even with eight hours, my husband always said I could go nonstop about Arlington history.”

The last class will cover the arrival of the Metro and government contracting jobs in the region, as well as the struggle to desegregate Arlington. It’s an area Springston said is rife with unsung hometown heroes, like Dr. Oscar LeBeau, a local who Springston said fought passionately against segregation for years.

It’s a story Springston says is important to tell, particularly in contrast to efforts to lionize some local figures like Frank Lyon, for whom Lyon Park is named.

“People raise up Frank Lyon as a hero, but if you look at deeds it said no one who was not Caucasian could live or work on his properties,” Springston said.

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Cosi Closes in Rosslyn, Starbucks Closing Soon

By Vernon Miles
1/5

The doors are closed, the lights are off, and all the interior decorations and furniture are gone: Cosi (1801 N. Lynn Street) in Rosslyn is closed.

The fast-casual restaurant chain build on flatbread sandwiches had several closures — of locations in Crystal City, Virginia Square and Ballston — early last year when the company filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving the Rosslyn location as the last D.C. area location on this side of the Potomac River.

A Cosi employee confirmed that the Rosslyn location was closed, but said a D.C. location would still serve Arlington for catering orders. It’s unclear when exactly the eatery closed, but reviews of the location were still being posted as recently as a month ago.

The Starbucks up the block at 1735 N. Lynn Street, meanwhile, will also close soon. A sign in the window says the location’s last day will be Friday, Jan. 29.

“We would like to thank you for being part of our store community; you are the heart of who we are at Starbucks,” a sign written by the store managers said. “It has been a great pleasure to connect with you every day. We are thankful to have played a role in your daily routine and that you have shared these moments of your life with us.”

An existing, standalone Starbucks at 1501 17th Street N. in Rosslyn will remain open, the sign says.

Restaurants in Rosslyn have been hit hard by the pandemic, which greatly thinned out the previously bountiful lunchtime crowds from the neighborhood’s office buildings and hotels. Up the hill from the Cosi and the closing Starbucks, Tom Yum District and Subway also recently closed.

More than two dozen restaurants have closed in Arlington since the last March, when the first local coronavirus cases were reported.

Hat tip to Kevin C.

Italian Market Planning to Open Soon at Pentagon Row

By Vernon Miles
1/2

A new Italian market is opening at Pentagon Row with a grab-and-go version of a beloved D.C. restaurant.

Napoli Salumeria (1301 S. Joyce Street) will have the sandwiches, pastas, salads and desserts of the Michelin Bib Gourmand-rated Napoli Pasta Bar in D.C. (2737 Sherman Avenue NW), but the Pentagon Row location is built around picking up food in the store and taking it home, according to owner Antonio Ferraro.

Ferraro said the location is planning to fully open on Tuesday, with the website going live Saturday night or Sunday morning for people to place orders.

“All the main dishes of Napoli Pasta Bar, we’re going to have them here, ready to go,” Ferraro said. “We can warm them up here. For now, we’re not offering sitting down yet, just picking up. But we’re going to get an outside plaza space, where ice skating is, so they can order and eat there.”

Ferraro said after the location is up and running, he plans to add delivery options at a later date.

The location was once home to A Deli, so Napoli Salumeria will be keeping a small Italian legacy alive on S. Joyce Street.

Arlington Company Secures $21 Million for Fish Skin Research on a Larger Scale

By Vernon Miles

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. Monday Properties is proudly featuring Shirlington Gateway. Say hello to the new 2800 Shirlington, which recently delivered a brand-new lobby and upgraded fitness center. Experience a prime location and enjoy being steps from Shirlington Village, a large retail hub with a variety of unique restaurants and shopping options. Spec suites with bright open plans and modern finishes are under construction and will deliver soon!

Joint Arlington-Icelandic regenerative-medicine biologics company Kerecis has reeled in a new batch of funding.

The company, which has its operational headquarters in Courthouse, is focused on a technology that might sound to some like Spider-Man villain origin in the making.

Kerecis uses “fish skin and fatty acids for tissue protection and regeneration.” The fish skin can be used to treat wounds, burns and other tissue damage.

The company’s leadership said in a press release that the technology’s eager adoption in the United States was one of the leading sources of growth over the last year. Though the product might sound fishy, Kerecis said in a press release there’s no risk of viral-disease transfer from Atlantic cod to human.

Kerecis said all of the fish it flays for human use are wild and caught off the coast of Iceland.

“The fish skin needs only mild processing for medical use and maintains its natural structure and elements, including Omega 3 fatty acids,” the company said. “The Kerecis fatty-acid-based products protect the body against bacterial and viral infections.”

The company announced that the funding is based on $15 million in credit from Silicon Valley Bank to fund the company’s capital needs, with investors and lenders providing $6 million in loans to finance expanding the company’s expansion plans in the United States.

Research into adapting fish skin as treatment for burns and other skin-damage has been promising, with some experimental treatment being done in Brazil.

“The main reason that we were once again named Iceland’s fastest growing company is the rapid adoption of our medical fish skin in the U.S. market,” said G. Fertram Sigurjonsson, founder and CEO of Kerecis. “We are excited that our products are preventing amputations and reducing human suffering.”

Sigurjonsson said the funding will go to accelerating development and marketing of products for wounds, burns and other medical needs, especially in the United States.

Photo via Kerecis/Facebook

Ed Talk: Online Education for Adults

By Vernon Miles

Ed Talk is a biweekly opinion column. The views expressed are solely the author’s.

While elementary and secondary school students across the country adjust to full-time distance learning, adults have been learning online for years.

Online courses offer adults the flexibility to continue their education while working and taking care of families. Some enroll in these courses to learn new job skills and expand their employment opportunities. Others are lifelong learners who enjoy studying the arts, literature, language, history and a myriad of other subjects offered online.

During the pandemic, these courses can be particularly helpful to adults. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. unemployment rate in July was 10.2 percent. Acquiring new skills will be critical in helping adults get back to work.

Another consequence of the pandemic is social isolation. While online courses do not provide the same connections as in-person learning, they do offer adults the opportunity to be creative and interact with those with similar interests. Many courses are synchronous, with students logging on at a specified time and participating in a live class.

Other courses are asynchronous, with students listening to pre-recorded lectures at their convenience. This includes Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), taken by millions of people across the world.

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Courthouse Restaurant Summers Could Close Without Outdoor Seating Permit

By Vernon Miles

After nearly 40 years, Joe Javidara said the future of his soccer-themed bar Summers Restaurant in Courthouse (1520 N. Courthouse Road) hinges on a permit he said is being processed through Arlington County government.

The restaurant announced on Monday that it was temporarily closed until it could get a permit for outdoor seating.

Like many local restaurant owners with insufficient indoor seating to allow for social distancing, Javidara said getting one of the county’s temporary outdoor seating requests is crucial to ensuring that customers feel safe returning to local eateries.

Jessica Margarit, spokeswoman for the Department of Community Planning, Housing & Development, said the county has received 110 applications for Temporary Outdoor Seating Area permits. Of those, 75 have been approved. Four were denied while 13 remain under review. The other 17 are listed as inactive — meaning they have not followed up with staff on requests for additional information — and one was withdrawn.

Asked about it by ARLnow, Margarit said the county had not received a new TOSA application from Summers yet.

Dear Summers friends,We will TEMPORARILY CLOSE until we get an outdoor seating permit from the Arlington, County. …

Posted by Summers Restaurant & Sports Bar on Monday, August 31, 2020

It’s a process the county has worked to make easier over the last few months, but Javidara faces a critical snag: his sidewalk is too narrow. An earlier application in June was denied because staff found that putting the restaurant space on the sidewalk would not allow enough space for pedestrians to safely maneuver.

“This time, I went to county and told them we’re going to close, we’ve closed already,” Javidara said. “We got the application. Hopefully we’ll see. They’re going to send the engineer to check it out… Without the outside seating we can’t pay the rent.”

Javidara’s solution had been to utilize the on-street parking area, removing four parking spaces to make way for tables with a cleared space on the sidewalk between the seating and the restaurant for pedestrians to pass through. It’s a move that’s been implemented in places like Clarendon and Shirlington, and in other jurisdictions like Alexandria, to the benefit of local restaurants.

He tried that approach in June, arguing that no one was coming to work in the nearby buildings anyway, but was rejected.

“We tried to open anyway, but we’re losing a lot of money and paying $20,000 in rent,” Javidara said. “And there’s no sports, so it feels like everything is against us.”

It isn’t the first time Summers Restaurant has been in dire straits. In 2014, Javidara expressed similar concerns about increasing rent possibly driving the restaurant out of business.

Now, he’s been told the application could be processed sometime in the next two or three weeks. Margarit said the average application reviews for TOSA permits take 5-10 days, sometimes less.

“They’re slow these days,” Javidara said. “By the time we get it, it could maybe be the end of October. There might still be a few weeks of nice weather. We’ve been here for 37 or 38 years, but if this doesn’t go through we’re going to go.”

Regardless, the building Summers calls home may not be long for this world: the entire block is set for redevelopment.

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