Fort Totten Park Tour - Sunday, June 10th

Join Washington Central Parks this Sunday, June 10th, 2007, for its third Walk Fort Totten Park! If you’ve missed the prior two, now’s your chance - before it gets too hot - to learn about the natural landscape, plants and geology of this wonderful gem in Washington’s Emerald Necklace. We will meet at 12:30pm in front of the Hitching Post Restaurant, across from the entrance to the Armed Forces Retirement Home/Old Soldiers’ Home, at the corner of Upshur Street NW and Rock Creek Church Road. No rain date.

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Washington Central Parks is a community-based organization that is working to reopen and revitalize the historic parks and open space network of North-Central Washington. Three parks - Fort Totten, Old Soldiers' Home, and McMillan Park (reservoir and filtration field) – could be threaded together with pedestrian and bicycle trails to create a unified network of open space and parks that would serve neighborhoods from Brightwood to Bloomingdale, Columbia Heights, Pleasant Plains, Park View and Petworth to Catholic University and Brookland. You can visit us on the web at www.washingtoncentralparks.org. We are seeking the support and help of our
community in this important endeavor. PLEASE JOIN US TO REOPEN WASHINGTON CENTRAL PARKS – NOW! For more information, Contact Reyn Anderson.

» More information from the first tour here

NE DC Historical Society Meeting - Sunday, April 15th

What: Join the NE DC Historical Society as they continue to explore the history of our Northeast Washington communities - past, present, and in years to come.

When: Sunday, April 15th, 2007, 2-4pm

Where: The Orelia Ledbetter Room of the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, 5301 North Capitol Street, NE (at the corner North Capitol and Riggs Road)

Presentations will include: The focus for this session will be the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ, a beacon of light to the communities of Riggs Park, Lamond-Riggs, Fort Totten, Chillum, the South Manor community of Manor Park, and voting precinct 65. Plymouth Congregational's rich history dates back to 1881. So join us as Mrs. Orelia Ledbetter, longtime member and wife of Plymouth's departed pastor emeritus, acquaints us with this thriving and nurturing religious and community organization impacting youths through senior citizens.

Etc.: For those unable to attend this meeting, don't miss next month's meeting to be held from 2:00-4:00 pm on Sunday, May 20th, 2007. Our meeting will take place in Laboratory 1 of The Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H Street, NE. The presentations will include such topics as the Uline Arena, Union Station, Swampoodle, the H Street Trolley Car, and H Street's burgeoning entertainment district.

Our meetings take place the second Sunday of every month. During the months of April and May we will meet the third Sunday of the month. Contact queenstowndc@yahoo.com for further information.

Washington Central Parks Community Meeting - Thursday, March 22nd

What: Washington Central Parks Community Meeting (see this entry for more info on their recent Fort Totten Park tour)

When: Thursday, March 22nd, 2007, 7:30pm

Where: 801 Shepherd Street, NW (MPD's Northern Regional Operation Command Center/ROC)

Agenda:
· Learn more about the Washington Central Parks concept and where the project stands
· Hear about the status of development plans at the Armed Forces Retirement Home and McMillan Park
· Find out how to become involved in this exciting initiative


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Washington Central Parks is a community-based organization that is working to reopen and revitalize the historic parks and open space network of North-Central Washington.

Three parks - Fort Totten, Old Soldiers’ Home, and McMillan Park (reservoir and filtration field) could be threaded together with pedestrian and bicycle trails to create a unified network of open space and parks that would serve neighborhoods from Brightwood to Bloomingdale, Columbia Heights, Pleasant Plains, Park View and Petworth to Catholic University and Brookland.

We are seeking the support and help of our community in this important endeavor. PLEASE JOIN US TO REOPEN WASHINGTON CENTRAL PARKS – NOW! For more information, contact Reyn Anderson.

NE DC Historical Society Meeting on the Terra Cotta Neighborhood - Sunday, March 18th (Updated Date and Agenda)

**Due to special events and holidays in March and April, the normal Sunday monthly meeting of the NE DC Historical Society has been changed to Sunday, March 18th and Sunday, April 15th, respectively.**

What: Join the NE DC Historical Society as they continue to explore the history of our Northeast Washington communities - past, present, and in years to come.

When: Sunday, March 18th, 2007, 2-4pm

Where: Washingtoniana Program Room in the Washingtoniana Division
of The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW

Presentations will include: "Search & Discovery" session at the Washingtoniana Division of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library. The focus for this session will be a topic of recent interest and debate — "Terra Cotta." This session will be of interest to inhabitants along the Metropolitan Branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad from Brookland to Takoma Park. Join us as we go beyond the bricks, sewer pipes, and train wrecks of times long past to uncover more than one site for Terra Cotta.

Etc.: For those unable to attend this meeting, don't miss our next month's meeting to be held from 2:00-4:00 pm on Sunday, April 15, 2007. Our host will be the Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ at 5301 North Capitol Street, NE in Manor Park. They will share with us their "Youth in the Ministry" church and community history project.

Our meetings take place the second Sunday of every month. During the months of March and April we will meet the third Sunday of the month. Contact queenstowndc@yahoo.com for further information.

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» Washington City Paper on the "Terra Cotta" neighborhood, Fort Totten/Lamond-Riggs
» Topographic map of Terra Cotta in DC

Possible Human Skull Found Near CUA

Police said the partially decomposed skull was discovered about 6 p.m. Monday near a 7-Eleven at Hawaii Avenue and Taylor Street, NE. This morning a DC Police cadaver dog discovered skeletal remains in the woods, near the corner of Hawaii Avenue and Fort Totten Drive, NE.

**UPDATE 7:18pm: Investigators discovered a rope near the crime scene, and are looking at the possibility that this was a suicide.**

Details:
» The CUA Tower
» MPD
» WaPo
» WTOP
» NBC4
» WUSA9
» The Examiner

Fort Totten Park Tour - Sunday, March 11th

**UPDATE**
Petworth News has a post and a collection of photos from Sunday's tour.

Please join Washington Central Parks this Sunday, March 11 at 12:30pm (don't forget Daylight Savings this weekend!) to explore one of the emeralds in Washington’s green necklace – Fort Totten Park.

Mary Pat Rowan – landscape architect and expert on Washington’s natural landscape, plants and geology – will lead the way. Bring your children; your neighbors; a thermos and bagels; your pets; a camera; a ball and a blanket! We’ll meet at the Hitching Post, across from the entrance to the Armed Forces Retirement Home/Old Soldiers’ Home, at the corner of Upshur Street NW and Rock Creek Church Road.

- - -

Washington Central Parks is a community-based organization that is working to reopen and revitalize the historic parks and open space network of North-Central Washington.

Three parks - Fort Totten, Old Soldiers’ Home, and McMillan Park (reservoir and filtration field) could be threaded together with pedestrian and bicycle trails to create a unified network of open space and parks that would serve neighborhoods from Brightwood to Bloomingdale, Columbia Heights, Pleasant Plains, Park View and Petworth to Catholic University and Brookland.

We are seeking the support and help of our community in this important endeavor. PLEASE JOIN US TO REOPEN WASHINGTON CENTRAL PARKS – NOW!

Links from a neighbor on the Brookland listserv:
» Fort Totten Then
» Fort Totten Now
» Fort Totten on Wikipedia

South Dakota Avenue Development in Express's FreeRide

I should really outsource my link hunting to Mike Grass at Express. Today he posted a comprehensive update of the new development that affects those of us along the South Dakota Avenue corridor from top to bottom, including:

• The ongoing construction of condos around the Fort Totten Metro
• Mixed-use at Riggs Road and South Dakota Avenue
• Vincent Orange's promised land of big-box retail, "Washington Gateway," in the Fort Lincoln-New Town area (not to be confused with his dream of a "New Town" at the Capital City/Florida Market) near the intersection of New York and South Dakota Avenues.


All of these drive home the importance of tonight's meeting and our ongoing input into the South Dakota Avenue Transportation & Streetscape Study. We need to counterbalance pedestrian-unfriendly developments like the Washington Gateway (why would we welcome folks to our CITY with a suburban sprawl-style strip mall with 2,000 parking spaces, and how many more will Ward 5 tolerate?!) with our input/demands to improve safety and accessibility on our primarily residential corridor.

» Sharlene Reed, Ward 5 Transportation Planner (sharlene.reed@dc.gov; 202.671.2407)
» Deborah Crain, Ward 5 Neighborhood Planning Coordinator, (deborah.crain@dc.gov; 202.442.7615)

South Dakota Avenue Transportation & Streetscape Study - Wednesday, January 31st

What: Nearly a year after the first public meeting, residents are invited to attend a community forum to discuss transportation and streetscape issues along South Dakota Avenue.

When: Wednesday, January 31st, 2007, 6-8 pm

Where: Taft Special Education Center Auditorium, 1800 Perry Street, NE

Agenda: The meeting format will be an open house review of maps indicating preliminary recommendations for the first 30 minutes (6-6:30 pm), followed by a presentation at 6:30pm of the study process and findings. There will be a question and answer period after the presentation and time to review maps and complete comment forms prior to the 8pm closing.

Etc.: If you have any questions about this meeting, please contact Emanuel Briggs at 202.478.1470 or at emanual.briggs@dc.gov. Visit the project website for additional information, including an online survey, study documents, and comments (pdf) from last year's meeting.