Virginia Square

Police Training Exercise Tomorrow in Oakland Park

By Katie Pyzyk

Residents in Virginia Square and Ashton Heights may see more police presence in the neighborhood tomorrow. The Arlington County Police Department advises residents not to be concerned, because it’s only a training exercise.

Law enforcement officers will be performing the training exercise in Oakland Park, which is located at the corner of Wilson Blvd and Oakland St. It’s slated to run from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Residents who park in the area are advised to pay extra attention to signs on parking meters during that time. Many meters around the park will be designated for use only by those participating in the training.

Virginia Square Church Offers ‘Ashes to Go’

By ARLnow.com

St. George’s Episcopal Church (915 N. Oakland Street) in Virginia Square is trying something new this year: bringing the ashes to the masses.

This morning, as commuters rushed off to work, ministers from St. George’s stood outside the Virginia Square Metro station placing ashes on the forehead of anyone interested in partaking in the solemn Ash Wednesday tradition, which usually takes place inside a church.

“Ashes to Go,” as the service was called, is an outreach initiative that has spread from churches in San Francisco and St. Louis to other cities across the country.

“‘Ashes to Go’ is about bringing church to the people: bringing spirit, belief, and belonging out from behind church doors, and into the places where we go every day,” the church said in a press release. “It’s a simple event with deep meaning, drawing on centuries of tradition and worship across denominations to provide a contemporary moment of grace.”

St. George’s will be back at the Metro station during tonight’s evening commute, offering the imposition of Ashes prior to the church’s 7:30 p.m. Ash Wednesday service.

New Capital Bikeshare Stations Built in Virginia Square

By Katie Pyzyk

Capital Bikeshare’s expansion along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor continues its push westward. In the past week, two new stations have popped up in the Virginia Square neighborhood.

A 19-dock Bikeshare station was installed near the Virginia Square metro station (901 N. Monroe St), and another one went up directly in front of the Central Library (1015 N. Quincy St), with 11 docks.

The stations, which appear to take very little time to install on location, have been spreading rapidly throughout Arlington since the fall. In October, we reported that the Central Library had been hoping to have a Bikeshare station by some point in the spring, but it was already installed last week.

There are at least a dozen additional stations approved to be built in Arlington this spring, and another dozen proposed stations awaiting approval from various sources. All are concentrated near the orange line corridor, with locations in the works from Rosslyn to the Bluemont neighborhood.

You can suggest locations where you think stations should be installed on Capital Bikeshare’s website. The interactive map also allows you to see where other people have suggested installing stations.

Revamped Virginia Square Development Plan Approved

By Katie Pyzyk

A plan to revamp part of Virginia Square has been approved by the Arlington County Board. The development is planned for the site that houses the old Arlington Funeral Home (3901 Fairfax Dr) building.

BDC Crimson LLC is the developer for the nine story mixed-use commercial building, which will include offices, ground floor retail and a 12,985 square foot black box theater. The theater will cost $3.7 million to build, and will be leased to the County for 30 years, at $1 per year. It will hold 150 people.

“This project brings us closer to realizing the community-crafted sector plan’s vision of Virginia Square as a center for arts, culture and education,” said Arlington County Board Chair Mary Hynes. “The public plaza will enliven Virginia Square, and the Black Box Theater will add a significant cultural destination to this part of the Metro corridor.”

The County will collaborate with groups like the Arlington Commission for the Arts to devise a business plan for operating the theater. They’ll look at cost, use and operational alternatives for review by the County Manager in the preparation of future budgets.

The new plan also includes a 12,325 square foot public plaza along North Quincy Street. The County will hold a workshop so stakeholders and the public can give input on some components of the final plaza design, such as pattern and asphalt color.

The office building will have 250 parking spaces that will be available to the public on nights and weekends. Six additional spaces will be provided for retail customers and 17 for the theater. The developer will provide free four hour parking to theater patrons.

BDC Crimson LLC will seek LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, and will contribute $1 million to the County’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund, plus $1 million to nearby Quincy Park or other open space improvements and park amenities. These contributions let the developer have nearly 70,000 square feet of additional space for the project.

This plan has been in the works in various forms since 2004, with some major revisions in 2007. Previously, the facility was designed to include residences and a new funeral home. The County Board voted unanimously to approve the current plan.

Arlington Funeral Home Closes to Make Way for Development

By ARLnow.com

After 55 years in business, Arlington Funeral Home in Virginia Square (3901 Fairfax Drive) has closed its doors to make way for a new office development.

Once called “the most modern funeral home in Northern Virginia,” the business has transferred its remaining operations to the Murphy Funeral Home at 4510 Wilson Blvd in Bluemont. Both funeral homes are managed by Service Corporation International under the Dignity Memorial brand.

The Arlington Funeral Home building and its surrounding surface parking lot was purchased by developer Crimson Partners in 2010. The developer is expected to bring a site plan before the County Board next month that calls for the property to be redeveloped as an office building with 173,700 square feet of office space, 3,200 square feet of retail space and a 9,900 square foot black box theater.

If the site plan is approved, a groundbreaking can likely be expected at some point next year.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Board Members Argue for New Taxing Powers — Arlington County Board members aren’t too pleased with the Republican-controlled state legislature’s reluctance to grant new taxing power to localities. County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman called Virginia Republicans “extremists” who want to “wreck government” by not giving localities enough ways to raise revenue. [Sun Gazette]

Arlington Accepts Homeland Security Grants — Arlington will accept nearly $1.35 million in federal homeland security grants, after receiving County Board approval last night. The grants will be used to purchase license plate reading equipment and mobile surveillance trailers, for use by law enforcement agencies throughout the National Capital Region. [Arlington County]

Va. Square Building Sells for $62 Million — The office building at 3601 Wilson Boulevard, known as One Virginia Square, has changed hands. The building was purchased by an investment firm for $61.8 million. The previous owner acquired the building for $42.2 million in 2004. [Washington Business Journal]

New Columbarium at Arlington National Cemetery — Arlington National Cemetery is constructing a new columbarium to hold the cremated remains of more than 20,000 deceased military members. Construction on the building is expected to begin in January and wrap up in mid-2013. [Associated Press]

Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA

Road Closed After Bicyclist Struck by Car

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 3:35 p.m.) North Quincy Street was shut down this afternoon between Washington Boulevard and 11th Street — a block from Arlington Central Library and Washington-Lee High School — after a bicyclist was struck by a car.

Initial reports suggest the cyclist was alert and conscious, but suffered a head injury. She was transported to a local hospital.

The road was shut down for about half an hour while police investigated the incident.

The striking vehicle’s windshield was partially shattered as a result of the collision, and a box of mints — presumably from the victim’s pocket — could be seen resting on one of the windshield wipers. It’s unclear whether the driver of the striking vehicle will face any charges.

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Protests Planned at GMU Law for Anti-Islam Speaker

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 1:40 p.m.) A number of groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the Arab Law Students Association and the American Constitution Society, will be participating in an “anti-hate” protest at the George Mason University School of Law in Virginia Square tonight.

The groups will be protesting a speaking engagement at the school by Nonie Darwish, an Egyptian-American author and speaker who has brought her anti-Islam, pro-Israel message to numerous college campuses in the U.S. and abroad. Critics call Darwish a “radical anti-Muslim Islamophobe” and point to a recent video of her speaking at a protest in Florida as evidence.

“Islam is a poison to a society. It’s divisive. It’s hateful… It’s full of anti-Semitism,” Darwish said in the video. “Because Islam should be feared, and should be fought, and should be conquered, and defeated, and annihilated, and it’s going to happen… Islam is based on lies and it’s not based on the truth. I have no doubt whatsoever that Islam is going to be destroyed.”

Darwish, who is particularly critical of Islam’s treatment of women and minorities, was invited to speak at the school by the GMU student chapter of the Federalist Society and the Jewish Law Students Association. The controversy over her invitation has attracted attention from the popular Above the Law blog and a blog called “LoonWatch.”

GMU law dean Daniel Polsby was even compelled to weigh in on the controversy. In an email, Polsby told students that “the law school will not exercise editorial control over the words of speakers invited by student organizations, nor will we take responsibility for them, nor will we endorse or condemn them.”

“Sometimes speakers are invited who are known to espouse controversial points of view,” Polsby wrote. “Just as speakers are free to speak, protesters are free to protest.”

The protests are scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. at Hazel Hall, Room 225, at 3301 N. Fairfax Drive. The speech by Darwish is scheduled to take place at 5:00 p.m., and is open to GMU law students only.

Photo via Wikipedia

Board Approves Apartment Complex in Virginia Square

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Board has approved a new two-building, 534-unit apartment complex on the eastern end of Virginia Square.

The board voted unanimously on Saturday to approve the complex, which includes a 13-story building and a 6-story building connected via an elevated glass skywalk. The complex will be located on the block currently bordered by Wilson Boulevard, Fairfax Drive, N. Kansas Street and N. Lincoln Street. The block is currently home to small low-rise office buildings and surface parking lots.

The new complex, tentatively dubbed Virginia Square Towers, will include nearly 13,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, 630 underground parking spaces and a central public plaza with benches and a water feature.

Running through the central plaza will be a new cobblestone street, to be labeled 9th Street N. The street will be narrow, with wide sidewalks, so that bicycles and pedestrians will be “privileged” while cars will only be “tolerated.” One of the project’s designers said he envisioned an “active and friendly” street where people would be comfortable “playing stick ball in the middle of the road.”

Developed by the Dittmar Company, the buildings will include six dedicated affordable housing units and are expected to attain LEED Gold green building certification. The complex will also be “district energy ready,” meaning it could utilize heating and cooling from a central neighborhood source, which is consistent with the goals of Arlington’s new Community Energy Plan.

As part of the conditions for approval, Dittmar agreed to pay up to $36,000 for the installation of multi-space parking meters along the project’s frontage, $75,000 for the installation of a new traffic light at N. Kansas Street and Wilson Boulevard, $75,000 for public art in the Virginia Square Metro station area and $2.2 million to the county’s affordable housing fund.

A few residents of the Virginia Square Condominiums, located across Lincoln Street from the new complex, expressed concern about the new building’s rooftop water tower obstructing their view. Other than that, little concern was raised about the project during the meeting’s public comment period.

DHS to Hold Meeting on Secure Communities in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

The Department of Homeland Security will be holding a public meeting in Arlington on the Secure Communities immigration enforcement program.

The meeting will take place between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 24, at George Mason University Founder’s Hall (3351 Fairfax Drive) in Virginia Square. The Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Task Force on Secure Communities is seeking public comments about the controversial program, which Arlington tried and failed to opt out of last year.

From a press release issued by Arlington County this morning:

Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Task Force on Secure Communities is making recommendations to the Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on ways to improve the Secure Communities program, including ideas on how to best focus on individuals who pose a true public safety or national security threat. This panel is composed of chiefs of police, sheriffs, state and local prosecutors, court officials, ICE agents from the field, and community and immigration advocates. The advisory committee is considering proposals on how ICE may adjust the Secure Communities program to mitigate potential impacts on community policing practices, including whether special procedures should be adopted for ICE enforcement actions directed toward individuals charged with, but not convicted of, minor traffic offenses.

Anyone planning on attending the meeting is asked to RSVP via email to [email protected]. Attendees are asked to indicate whether or not they plan on making any comments to the task force.

Ill-Fated ‘Goth’ Restaurant in Va. Square Torn Down

By ARLnow.com

It couldn’t have looked more out of place. An old building near the Virginia Square Metro station, dressed up in black paint and Gothic-style accents.

What would have been a restaurant, bar and lounge called “Haze” is now being reduced to a pile of rubble. Arlington County purchased the property at 3540 Wilson Boulevard one year ago with the intention of tearing it down, and the demolition is finally happening today.

The property will be used to connect Maury Park and Herselle Milliken Park, two tiny swaths of recreational space located on the same block between N. Monroe and Lincoln streets. So what happened to Haze?

Last year we were told that the owner undertook renovations on the building before any county permits were issued or even requested. Obviously, a county that put the kibosh on a dog mural located next to a dog park is going to take issue with a business trying to pull a fast one with a gaudy black bar across from an apartment building. The owner finally decided to shutter the restaurant-that-never-was instead of trying to to get the building back into compliance.

At least for now, the prime Wilson Boulevard property will be used as a park.

“The entire parcel will be used as park space in the near term, although the immediate frontage on Wilson Boulevard may be reconsidered in the long term if the remaining retail/commercial parcels on the block are consolidated and redeveloped,” Arlington Park Division Chief Lisa Grandle told the Ashton Heights Civic Association last year.

H/t to Bill Colton

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