HECHINGER STORE SURVEY
Someone ran an add in the latest Northwest Current (p.11), asking for
resident input on the use of the vacant Sears/Hechinger store.  They ask the
following questions to gauge desire for a hardware store at that site.
1. ) Do you prefer a hardware store or other type of retail at Hechinger's
site?
2.) How frequently do you go to Montgomery or PG counties or Northern VA to
buy hardware items?
3.) How important is historic preservation of the Hechinger's building if a
hardware retailer wants to lease it?

You are asked to send your opinions by fax to 202-363-7417 or e-mail to
hardwarestore@mindspring.com by June 30.  A lot of responses to this might just
help get us a hardware store in the "Hood again.
 

MEETING ON FIREHOUSE WITH FIRE OFFICIAL
The Friendship Heights/Tenleytown Citizens Association is hosting a meeting
with Fire Captain Dayton this Thursday, June 22 at 7:30 pm at the Tenley
Library. The purpose of the meeting is to set up a resident task force to
work with the Fire Department regarding the Tenley Firehouse. As I understand
it, the task force is limited in number but the meeting is open to all
residents.

The Tenleytown Historical Society has filed an application asking for
historic landmark status for the firehouse.  Fire officials and firefighters
at this facility had asked the community not to do this because the building
is too small for modern equipment and too decrepit for living and working
there.  If the firehouse is given historical status, the Historic
Preservation Review Board would have to give the Fire Department permission
to significantly alter or raze the building.

Resident comments about the firehouse occur further along in this newsletter.
 
 

FRESH FIELDS HELPS URBAN RANGERS
From:   sharip@cs.umd.edu (Shari Lawrence Pfleeger)

Many of you have read about the Urban Rangers in my previous postings,
and some of you are tutoring Urban Rangers kids or have generously
donated computer equipment.  Fresh Fields-Tenleytown is doing a 5%
day for Urban Rangers on THURSDAY, JUNE 29.  That is, 5% of the proceeds
at Fresh Fields that day will go to Urban Rangers.  So if you would like
an easy way to support our programs for at-risk kids (tutoring, mentoring,
summer camps, community service, conflict mediation, and more!), please
plan on doing your grocery shopping at Fresh Fields on JUNE 29.

As our way of thanking Fresh Fields for its generosity, Urban Rangers
will be doing free bicycle safety checks on Saturday, June 24, from
10 am to 1pm. So if you would like us to check out your bike or your
kids' bikes, please stop by Fresh Fields that day, too!
 

FORUM ON PROPOSED CHANGES TO SCHOOL BOARD
The forum will be held from 4 to 5:30 pm tomorrow afternoon, (Tuesday, June
20) at the Tenley Library.  Speakers will include Kathy Patterson and Larry
Gray from the D.C. Congress of PTAs.
 

OUT OF STATE TUITION REMINDER
(From Gary Imhoff's themail@dcwatch.com)

The Tuition Reimbursement Plan
Stan Wellborn, STANW@aecf.org

The DC Tuition Reimbursement Plan does encompass public higher
educational institutions in all states, not just Maryland and Virginia.
The press coverage of the final resolution of the House and Senate bills
did not include this fact. Opening this important avenue to public
colleges and universities to DC graduates was a real step in the right
direction, since it gave qualified high school leavers a much wider
range of options. Moreover, the benefits of a subsidized tuition are
available to graduates of both public and private secondary schools in
the District.

The web site had not been updated with this new information as of last
week, but students can still apply for the tuition reimbursement using
the old form which can be downloaded from the Internet site. The funding
reimbursement only applies to students enrolled in state colleges and
universities as of fall 2000, since the legislation does not go into
effect until then. The law pays to public institutions -- not to
students or parents -- the difference between in-state and out-of-state
tuition for DC graduates.
 

COMMUNITY BULLETIN BOARD
****  From: LB1119
Re. the reference to Delbe Home Services providing reliable contractors,
etc., people should know that this privately-owned company charges a $150.00
annual fee.  Also, Delbe comes to your house and writes down information on
all appliances, furnace, etc., which some people may find a bit intrusive.

****  From: Copingptnr (Susan Beale)
We are looking for a good person to clean our house on a weekly basis.
Besides being trustworthy, the person should be legal to work in this
country, have an excellent grasp of English, and be very patient about
clutter.  We could use a second person on a part time basis to help us
declutter the house and to do some clerical tasks.  Does anyone out there
know anyone to recommend?

**** From: Robmayers
Yes, good help IS hard to find.  A friend of mine who owns Integrity Home
Inspections suggested I contact HOME CONNECTIONS, which is a FABULOUS (and
free) referral service for all kinds of home repairs, etc.  All of their
referrals have been checked out, (kind of like Washington Consumer
Checkbook).  Here is their number:  301-565-5902 OR 1-888-POINT-ME.  They
serve MD/DC/VA.   I used a frig repair company, as well as a plumber -- both
OUTSTANDING, reasonable, and, equally as important, arrived at our scheduled
time ! ! ! ! What more could a good consumer ask for??!!!!

****  Painters:
---  From: egreenhunter@juno.com (Elinor Green Hunter)
We can recommend Cris Asimakopoulos of:
    H & A Paint Inc.
    3703 Jeffrey St., Wheaton, MD 20906
    301-942-1140
He did a fine job painting the outside of our house at 4205 Military a
couple of years ago, and for years has done the next-door house at 4201,
whose owners recommended him to us.

---  From: jbachman@aiadc.org (Bachman, Janet)
I and a number of my neighbors can recommend John the Painter.  I can't
remember the name of his company (he owns it), but just ask for John.  The
phone is  (703)
560-6659.  His work quality is excellent, he's very dependable, and he
guarantees his work for 2 years.

--- From: roths@sprintmail.com (Laura Roth)
I can offer the name of my painter, Danny Rodgers (City & Suburban
Decorators) with a couple of  provisions.  He painted the interior of my
in-laws home last spring just before the sold it and he's just done some
interior painting for my husband and me.  His prices are quite reasonable,
but I can't vouch for long term wear quite yet.  Also, one contacts him by
leaving him a message and then he calls you back.  This isn't the most
efficient system, but once they start working, they're very quick.

---  Also recommended by a neighbor is Gray Phillips at Paint-Tech-Solutions,
Inc.
He can be reached at 301-948-3434 or pgray@erols.com

**** From: Lberger728 (Lisa Berger)
Hi Kathy -- I'm looking for a window washer (have bombed out with the yellow
pages).  Does the newsletter include a bulletin board where I could ask
neighbors if they have used a w.w. they could recommend?  Many thanks.
 

LANGUAGE CLASSES IN THE 'HOOD
From:   travelbks@mindspring.com (Travel Books)

My name is Stephen Patten and I am the Director of the Language School
here at Travel Books....yes, we do have a language school!  Just wanted
to let you know about our summer session of survival language
classes...all of these classes will cover an introduction to the
language and emphasize practical conversation.
---- Italian:   Mondays 6:30-8:30 pm     6/26 thru 7/31  Fee:  6 weeks/2
hours per class  $160.
---- French:  Tuesdays 7 - 9 pm     7/11 thru 8/8     Fee:  5 weeks/2 hours
per class   $150.
---- Spanish:  Wednesdays 7-9 pm  7/12 thru 8/30  Fee:  8 weeks/2 hours per
class  $180.

All classes are held in our newly remodeled classroom here at the store
and are taught by professional instructors.  If you are interested in
joining a class it would be a good idea to register early as each class
is limited to 14 students.  To register, give us a call here at Travel
Books or stop by and see us....

Travel Books & Language Center
4437 Wisconsin Ave., NW
Washington, DC  20016
202-237-1322
Ciao for now!
 

MORE ON TENLEY FIREHOUSE
----
Date: 5/25/00
From:   hier@biddhier.com (Thomas Hier)
In response to an earlier comment re:  "I don't see a new firehouse in
this city, or a new city-built structure for that matter, that isn't an
architectural
blight",  I would refer the person to the firehouse at the corner of
Arkansas Avenue and Georgia Avenue, NW (on the other side of the
park).  It's one of the nicest pieces of public architecture that I've seen
in this city in a long time.  By the way, I'm a staunch preservationist,
and am not advocating tearing down the firehouse.  (Frankly, I don't
know enough about the situation to comment intelligently.)  I just thought
it would be helpful to point out that new architecture -- sometimes -- can
be good architecture, although sadly more often than not, it usually isn't.

----
Date: 5/26/00
From:   KWisnosky@MEICOMPANY.com (Wisnosky, Kerry)
I would like to express my strong support for the proposed rebuilding of the
fire house on Warren St and Wisconsin Ave.   I live near  firehouse and visit
the firehouse with my son quite often.  I have had many opportunities to see
first hand how old and outdated the building, supporting equipment, and much
needed technology services are at the firehouse there.

In fact, I have personally talked to a number of firemen and firewomen who
work there and they have expressed their frustration with the facility and
inability to have a capability that is consistent with today's needs.

I urge you to support going forward with the new firestation building, which
would be a welcome benefit to my community and neighborhood.

----
Date: 5/26/00
From:   rf27@umail.umd.edu (Robert Friedel)
To: p-johnson@starpower.net
Dear Philip,   I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say how much I
appreciated
your wise and useful comments on the firehouse controversy.  As a
historian, involved in at least a small way with museum and preservation
issues, I am dismayed at some of the thinking reflected in community
discussions.  The idea that preservation has value only if it does not
incur additional costs is truly wrong-headed.  Of course one has to
balance priorities, but our community and much of the nation has been
ill-served by a narrow "utilitarian" ethic of civic design, and we will
be paying the price for this in aesthetic and spiritual blight for many
decades to come.  Streetscapes are an enormously important part of what
makes cities livable and comfortable, and the Tenley firehouse is a fine
example of what we must aspire to preserve.  The foolish, foolish people
who talk of saving dollars by building ugly structures are, of course,
cutting off their own noses by neglecting the extent to which the value
of their own properties and neighborhoods are fundamentally dependent on
the aesthetics of the buildings that we use and see every day.  How I
rue, for example, the pathetic architecture of the Tenley-Friendship
Library (compare it to the branch down Wisc. Ave. in Georgetown, for
example).  We don't have to make these mistakes.
 This is, of course, a case that you make much more compellingly than I,
so I wanted to thank you for it.

----
Date: 5/26/00
From:   kayandpaul@erols.com (Kay McClenon)
I want to register a proposal that the city exercise eminent domain and take
the property now occupied by the minimart.

----
Date: 5/26/00
From:   Bkravetz
I was unable to get to the meeting and have not seen the latest NW Current.
Did anyone raise the issue of taking the Mini-mart by eminent domain?

----
Date:   5/26/00
From:   sharip@cs.umd.edu (Shari Lawrence Pfleeger and Chuck Pfleeger)
To: Echristian-EOM@dcgov.org (Erik Christian) et al.
Dear Mr. Christian, We are writing to encourage you to balance the safety
of Ward 3 residents with our concern for historic preservation.  We
appreciate the need to renovate buildings of architectural significance,
especially when Wisconsin Avenue is filling with bland fast-food
architecture.  But we also appreciate the need for the firefighters to
respond quickly to an emergency.  We recommend either that you turn the
current Tenleytown fire hall into something that will retain the current
building (such as a day care center or restaurant) while building a new
fire hall on a larger piece of property, or renovate and modernize the
current fire hall (perhaps buying back the property from the mini-mart
so that the fire hall can be expanded).

----
Date: 5/27/00
From:   jpgreene@erols.com (james greene)
The Tenley firehouse is an interesting issue. It appears to me to present an
example
of a building that is clearly old, but that does not equate to "historic" as
in, eligible or
desirable for preservation.  If it is to continue to be at the same location,
why can't we have a design for a new one which (1) replicates the style of
the existing but with more floor space (isn't there room in the back to
expand the footprint of the bldg?), (2) replicates the doors but makes them
large enough so the modern trucks can get in and out; (3) perhaps adds a bay
opening on Warren for another piece of equipment? Keeping any bldg on the
same site generally saves money on utilities, foundations etc.- does that
come into play here?  Also, the second floor now is not built over the entire
station, thus it could be expanded whether the station is renovated or
reconstructed.
              More generally - why do public facilities have to be separate?
There seems to be plenty of room at 2d District to put a new firehouse on the
same property. Where the firemen are out on a run, the police could keep an
eye on their facility.  Just a thought.

----
Date: 5/30/00
From:   longca@nmah.si.edu (Carolyn Long)
Regarding the Tenleytown Firehouse: I'm really torn about this issue. I'm
always on the side of historic preservation, am a member of both the DC
Preservation League and the Tenleytown Historical Society. However, if the
old firehouse is TRUELY nonfunctional, dangerous, and uncomfortable for the
firefighters and CANNOT BE RENOVATED I would have to be in favor replacing
it. I would hope that the city would first try to renovate and enlarge the
existing building, and only if that is absolutely impossible, demolish it and
rebuild something in the same style--not an ugly concrete box. Would it be
possible for the city to acquire the site now occupied by the Mini-Mart, in
order to expand the building, or would that be prohibitively expensive?