Plans for the interior of the renovated Georgetown Library

Georgetown Metropolitan has a writeup of all the new and returning restaurants, businesses, and attractions that we can expect to open in Georgetown in 2010. The post, inexplicably entitled “2010: The Year That Will Be,” lists the following as establishments that will open this year:

• Safeway – 1855 Wisconsin Ave – May 2010 – Originally slated to open in March, Social Safeway is supposed to make its grand, green reopening in May. And this one will have gelato, a sushi bar, and a Jamba Juice!

• Apple Store – 1229 Wisconsin Ave – May 2010 – After months of doing battle with the Advisory Neighborhood Commission and the Old Georgetown Board, who together rejected four drafts for an Apple Store on Wisconsin Avenue, an Apple Store was approved to build in March. So far, builders have demolished the French Connection building that formerly stood there.

• Georgetown Library – 3260 R Street – Fall 2010 – A new library with superior facilities will replace the old one that burned down in a huge fire in May of 2007.

• Ristorante Piccolo – 1068 31st Street – 2010 – This cozy date spot was ravaged by a fire in October 2008. Armed with plans for new rooftop seating, Ristorante Piccolo is supposed to open any day now.

Georgetown Metropolitan also lists a number of spots which may or may not see change in the coming year. Something may open up in the old Nathan’s restaurant location, possibly a steak frites place and the old Georgetown Theater property is for sale. And Pottery Barn is closing its Georgetown Store, he reports.

The Washington Business Journal has also reported that a new cafe will open in what used to be a gallery space at 1639 Wisconsin Avenue.

Photo from DCLibrary.Org

In 2007, a blaze broke out at the Georgetown Public Library, destroying large portions of the building and leaving the neighborhood without a permanent library for years.  Soon after the fire, the city sued the contractor that had been doing repairs to the library at the time for $13 million, alleging that the heating guns used started the fire.

Unfortunately for D.C., the contractor is contesting that claim, and the lawsuit has revealed that D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services did a less than stellar job investigating the fire.  Washington City Paper’s Jason Cherkis unearthed court documents and e-mails between the FEMS and the Office of the Attorney General that show the full extent of the investigators’ negligence.

Cherkis’s post is a must-read, but here are a few of the major allegations:

• Lt. Craig Duck led the investigation despite having no training in fire investigation.
• Duck thoroughly bungled the investigation, throwing away crucial evidence.  The evidence he did hold on to was not properly secured or catalogued.
• Investigators may have breached national standards by not making and keeping notes while investigating.
• FEMS was extremely uncooperative when OAG asked them for the requisite documentation from the investigation, failing to hand over investigators’ notes and photographs.

Photo from Flickr user randomduck, used under a Creative Commons license.

The Georgetown Public Library, which burned down in 2007, finally has a date set for its reopening, according to the blog We Love D.C.: Fall 2010!

The fire, which occurred on April 30, 2007 (the same day Eastern Market burned down), was allegedly caused by heat guns that were being used to strip lead paint off the building’s exterior during renovations.  The blaze caused extensive damage to the library, which also housed an extensive collection of historic documents about Georgetown (most of which were luckily able to be saved).

Design work and reconstruction began in the spring of 2008. According to the We Love D.C. post, the projected opening date is being advertised on construction signs at the site.

Photo from Flickr user randomduck, used under a Creative Commons license.

In the first of what will be regular ANC 2E wrapups, we’re proud to bring you the events of last night’s ANC meeting. (But between Issue Rundowns, GUSA Roundups, and ANC Wrapups, it grieves me to report that we’re running out of summary nouns.)

Last night’s local government rumble had a considerable many high points:  the ANC’s communal chastisement of WASA Director Louis Jarvis, the Dixie Liquor owner’s truly pathetic request for an exception to the singles ban, a resolution of gun stores in Georgetown, Apple’s store redesign, and a visit from the wardmaster himself, Jack Evans.

Details to follow, but the Safeway on Wisconsin will be closing for construction for over a month this Spring.

WASA: Jarvis felt the fury of the ANC when he admitted that 30% of Ward 2 hydrants, still need maintenance nearly two years after bum hydrants stymied firefighter’s efforts to rescue the burning Georgetown Library.

Ed Solomon, who recently watched from his tuxedo shop as a dumpster fire at Addison School required a second pumper truck (the nearby hydrant, tagged as “needing maintenance” but still supposedly in working condition, was in fact a dud), noted that this amounted to 59 hydrants and called the situation “unacceptable.” Later in the meeting, Jack Evans agreed.

Dixie Liquors: Next, Dixie Liquor’s Jody Kurash stopped by to request an exception to Ward 2’s singles ban, saying the store projected a $38,000 loss in sales for this year based on 2008 figures.

Read the rest of this entry »

DC government is blaming the fire in Georgetown library last April on Dynamic Corp., a Maryland-based construction company. The city’s suing for $13 million, which is a pretty good deal considering restoration was expected cost from $15 to $20 million.

According to the lawsuit, the fire was started by Dynamic employees with heat guns. I had never heard of heat guns, but they sound pretty useful: “It has 2 heat settings, 500 or 1020 degress Farenheit. This versatile device strips paint and varnish, thaws frozen pipes, softens adhesives for removal of linoleum and floor tile, and quick dries almost anything.” This one is only $24.99, which makes me wonder why we don’t all have them.

For its part, Dynamic seems unperturbed by the lawsuit. Its website has a fondness for stock photos and phaser sounds, and it still lists DC government as a “valued client.”

Besides heat guns, the secret star of the fire is the bookmobile that serviced Georgetown afterward. The bus is 40-feet long and has wireless internet. That even sounds like a good idea for Georgetown students, forced to choose between long lines in the bookstore or getting mugged at Lauinger.

Georgetown library photo from Flickr user Slack13

-Will Sommer, blog editor