Neighborhood dodges two big bummers

Two Congress-related threats to the Capitol Hill neighborhood have been averted. First, the District identified four sites to put a mail-sorting facility for the Architect of the Capitol and none of them anywhere near the Hill. Legislation transferring several federally owned parcels of land to the District government mandated that the city locate 12 acres for the mail facility. Residents worried they might someday see an ugly factory-like building processing Congress’s suspicious packages and hate mail on a cherished green space. Worry no more!

Jay Juergensen, from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, told residents at a recent meeting concerning an incoming homeless shelter at the D.C. General Hospital that the city had identified three locations at the former D.C. Village family shelter site, and one location in Beltsville, Md.

“None of them are here, I can guarantee you that,” Juergensen said.

The other threat: In 2005, neighbors learned that land transfer legislation mandated 15 acres of Kingman Park (just north of RFK) for a school, “with first preference given to a pre-collegiate public boarding school.” The only such school in the city — in the country, even — is the School for Educational Evolution and Development (SEED), which wanted to expand from its campus east of the Anacostia and enjoyed the favor of then-Mayor Anthony Williams, Congress and the White House. Neighbors were horrified of the idea; they wanted to keep their park. They put up signs in the front of their yards protesting the plan.

Juergensen told residents last Tuesday they would get their way.

“That deal died,” Juergensen said.

Friends of Kingman Park Chairwoman Mindy Mitchell said that after two and a half years of fighting an uphill battle to save the park, the news that it would remain green was “incredible.”

D.C. Council chairman and former Ward 7 Councilmember Vince Gray opposed the SEED plans from the beginning (some of the area just north of RFK is Ward 7, not Ward 6). Mitchell was surprised by news that the SEED plan had been averted, but after the meeting she received e-mails from Gray and current Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander indicating that they had already understood the project was dead.

Incidentally, in an April 2006 news release, Williams’s office warned opponents of the SEED plan that “If Mayor Williams had opted not to use the land for a boarding school, it would likely become a parking lot or a federal mail sorting facility.”

Wells hosts Red Brick Awards

Ward 6 D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells hosted the first annual “Livable, Walkable Community” awards to recognize outstanding Capitol Hill denizens. The award — a plaque affixed to a red brick — was given to four people selected from a list of scores of nominees suggested by neighbors. A secret three-person panel appointed by Wells made the selections.

Wells campaigned on the idea of a “Livable, Walkable Community” — terms that seem nice but might be a tad imprecise. So he asked neighbors to try and figure out what he’s getting at with their nominations.

“We did not define any criteria. We asked you to nominate people who really contribute to a livable, walkable community,” Wells said. “What was fun … was seeing your definition of ‘livable and walkable.’ ”

The panel determined that the most livable, walkable individual person is Southwest neighborhood activist Naomi Monk. The most livable, walkable community organization is the Capitol Hill Community Garden Land Trust, represented by Pat Taylor. The most livable, walkable business is Gingko Gardens, located on 11th Street SE. And the most livable, walkable public service provider is the fire department, which charmed the neighborhood by saving the Eastern Market building from total destruction by fire on April 30. Fire Chief Dennis Rubin accepted the award and gave Wells a monogrammed fire helmet.

Just last week the Brookings Institution hailed the District as the most walkable city in the nation, so that makes these award recipients the premier promoters of walkability in America. Hillscape is still not exactly sure what “livable and walkable” means.

The great thing about the awards was that the party was held in Eastern Market’s new East Hall. Lots of people showed up, and free food and cheap drinks were provided. Here’s to hoping it gets bigger and better every year. But there is some debate over what the colloquial name for this award should be. Surely most people find “Livable, Walkable” too cumbersome. Hillscape would like to call the awards “Wellsies” or “Tommies,” terms Wells correctly deemed “too self-serving.” Some attendees liked “Walkies,” but Wells said he preferred “The Red Brick Awards.” Maybe we can settle on “Brickies.”

A winter home in Capitol Hill for hypothermia season

The D.C. government is opening a shelter for 100 homeless men this hypothermia season on the campus of the closed D.C. General Hospital, located on what is variously referred to as “Reservation 13” or the “Hill East Waterfront” on the eastern edge of Capitol Hill. Roughly 60 wary neighbors attended an on-site meeting last Tuesday to discuss the situation with D.C. Department of Human Services director Clarence Carter and Councilman Wells.

Residents have waited a long time for development of this 67-acre parcel of land. The District is looking for a master developer to reconnect the site to the neighborhood street grid and reunite residents with the Anacostia River. But for now, Wells said that Ward 6 was doing its part in the city’s struggle to reduce homelessness by hosting the shelter. Wells and Carter promised, though, that it would only be for this winter.

“D.C. law requires that homeless individuals have a right to shelter when we reach the hypothermia season,” said Carter. “When hypothermia season ends, I promise you we will close this facility.”

The site already hosts a shelter, clinics and the D.C. Jail. The additional 100 beds pushes the total number of beds for homeless above 400.

“Our neighborhood just cannot absorb 400 people,” said one woman, echoing a common fear that shelter residents will spill into the neighborhood and blight it up.

Carter emphasized that the facility wouldn’t just provide beds, but things like case management that should keep shelter residents from wandering around during the day.

After the meeting, residents were given a tour of the facility and saw that people are already living in the shelter. The hallways were neat and clean, and homeless folks in TV rooms were very cordial to their new neighbors.