The Old Town Civic Association

Program

7:00 PM: Socialize with Neighbors

7:30 PM: Program Starts:



• Update from the President
• Update and Q&A from Sergeant Blackwell
• Presentation from author Michael Lee Pope

Michael Pope is returning to our

Old Town Civic Association meeting!  

We are honored to have our very own Michael Pope as our guest speaker at our June meeting. Many of you have enjoyed our evenings with Michael in the past, and we are sure you will like this presentation as well.

Michael has a master's degree in American Studies from Florida State University and is the author of five books: Ghosts of Alexandria, Hidden History of Alexandria, D.C., Wicked Northern Virginia, and The Byrd Machine of Virginia.

Michael is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town and serves as president of the Alexandria Historical Society. He has reported for NPR, the New York Times and the Alexandria Gazette Packet.  Michael also hosts the Virginia Press Room, a podcast from the Virginia Public Access Project and VPM News. 

Michael has a gift for finding a theme and running with it. Who doesn’t love ghost stories, particularly if it is your house or your neighbor’s house that is said to be haunted? Who doesn’t like to hear about houses of ill repute in the neighborhood?

And, then there is the story of the time that Alexandria was part of the District of Columbia. How did that begin? How did that end? Michael explains that in his book titled Hidden History of Alexandria, D.C.

Michael will have his books available for you to buy at our meeting , so you can get some Christmas shopping done early.

Our presentation for the June 10 meeting revolves around his most recent book, The Byrd Machine of Virginia. The subtitle to the book--"The Rise and Fall of a Conservative Political Organization” -- is a backstop to the larger, and very relevant, conclusions that Michael reaches in pondering those events of the late 19th and early 20th centuries as they might shed light on current events and times.  

Thus, does history become relevant for what we face today.  

Flood Mitigation Update:

Post Pump Station

As those of you who attended our meeting last month know, the City is moving forward with a significantly reduced waterfront flood mitigation plan construction in light of the NPS determination that a pump station was an inappropriate use of open space and would not be permitted in Waterfront Park.  While there are some indications that the City tried to persuade the US Department of Interior to reconsider that decision, but were unsuccessful.

So—bottom line as of today—the  City will move forward with plans that of necessity are much more modest than those proposed in the past. 

It is now expected that Council will hear from staff at its June 13 meeting, which at present will also be a public hearing on this issue.   It is anticipated that Council will receive a cost and schedule update, validate the general project approach, consider approval of a draft contract for the builder, and authorize the City Manager to finalize and execute the subject agreement should the City elect to accept a negotiated Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) proposal.  This may occur as early as June 13, at the regular Saturday City Council meeting.  

Note: for those of you who wish to attend in person, you must now drive to the west end of the City to the Mark Center Drive government building.  No more City Hall meetings looking at the Alexandria waterfront etching on the walls, the stately curtains, the fine woodwork.  Or, you can stay home and sign up to speak remotely.  That works sometimes, and not others, but not always

At this time it is contemplated that during the construction phase, both Point Lumley and Waterfront Park will be used as staging areas.  Contractors are happy to get as much space as possible, regardless of the impact on nearby residents and businesses.

At a recent Waterfront Commission meeting, it became apparent that the issue of Pt. Lumley—more or less dormant during the pumpstation controversy—could become the next issue as there might be a difference of opinion regarding  business necessity and a desire for open space.  We will stay on top of this as it unfolds.   

The Waterfront Commission has requested that the City  explore in “its further reviews of the long-term status of the Strand St. Point Lumley parking lot”,  and “whether these mitigation steps or other solutions would enable the permanent closure of the parking lot.”

And therein, of course, lies the rub.

Already squeezed between a variety of construction projects, and enduring one garage closing after another, the businesses in and around the Waterfront Park area are deeply, and understandably, worried.  The City’s relentless quest to reduce parking in Old Town, whether permanent or temporary, has added to the crisis we now face.  The closure of one critical parking area, the Solo garage, to put a few dollars into the City property tax revenue piggy bank, but that resulted in the removal of  72 public parking spaces in that space alone.  Eliminating  an additional 57 spaces on The Strand will only make matters worse.

What might be considered is impossible to predict.  The businesses are working to see if there are viable ways to increase available parking. But, as we all know, there is no way to accomplish this that is easy. 

New Management at the Torpedo Factory?

Maybe!

The disappointment was palpable: after decades of debate, after more than a dozen studies that led nowhere, the City put out a Request for Proposals for new management of the Torpedo Factory.  

There was only one company which responded to the RFP. That isn’t a good sign, as one generally would like to see competition and the presentation of a variety of options and analyses of how one bidder or another will do the job, and at what price.

What we now have is only one bid, from an outfit out of Philadelphia, called Scout-Ltd. Scout, being the sole responder to the RFP will negotiate with the City in the next few months to see if a contract with this group is supportable.

There are some hopeful signs if news reports from Philly can be taken as reliable sources. 

The latest venture that Scout has embarked on, called the Village of Industry & Art, is working on the recent revival of property formerly belonging to an entity called the University of the Arts, and includes properties built more than 150 years ago. In other words, Scout has a record—slim perhaps---of taking historic buildings and dedicating them to the arts community. 

However, the Philadelphia project would not have gotten off the ground but for a last-minute infusion of cash from an anonymous donor. 

Before the U of Arts project, Scout had successfully refurbished another arts center in South Philly, called the Bok building, which has apparently been successful. The goals of affordability, art centeredness, and successful fundraising have kept the project going for over ten years. 

The Bok Building is now fully occupied, has a waiting list of more than 400 prospective applicants, and attracts more than 175,000 people a year to the building. Interestingly, there appears to have been efforts to provide workshop spaces as incubators to support both artists and entrepreneurs such as small craftsmen who need a short-term boost. Several such entrepreneurs are now occupying retail space outside of the art center, having established themselves as successful business persons ready to go out on their own.

Perhaps this is indeed a model to take seriously.

It is expected that we will hear more about this towards the end of August or the early part of September.

The Old Town Civic Association

P.O. Box 1213, Alexandria, VA 22313

(202)-568-9353