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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Shawdar

Despite my relative silence of late (work is mostly to blame), the pulse of Shaw is still beating strongly. Here are a few things on my radar:

1. The Long View Gallery's latest show, "New American Paintings," opens on Friday (tomorrow!). The reception is from 5 to 8 p.m. Read more about it here.

2. El Sol de America restaurant at 1930 9th Street, NW gets two thumbs up from me. I ate there on Sunday night; the enchiladas were great, as was the sangria.

3. 11th Street's Booming! Have you seen the progress being made on Logan Row Phase II or on this 10 unit project just south of Rhode Island? In the 1600 block of 11th, several projects are nearing completion, if they are not already complete, and look awesome.

4. The old Watha T. Daniel/Shaw library is almost completely gone! I love how bright and open the intersection of 7th and Rhode Island Avenue/R Street feels now that the long-fenced-off concrete bunker is gone.

5. The Exchange's finish work looks awesome. I'm a sucker for copper on buildings, so I love the copper roofed bays. And the detailed paint job on the mouldings looks great!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sorry my friend...but the Exchange is hideous! The only thing worse than everyone in Shaw obsessing over how amazing their 100 year old "Victorian" townhomes are is making brand new cookie cutter construction that is just a super cheap knock-off of the old crap.

Unknown said...

Not sure I describe what they are doing at the Exchange as super-cheap... copper roofs, in my opinion, are an expensive upgrade. Furthermore, the facades and of all the original buildings remain, so I am guessing the "cookie-cutter" construction you are referring to is the condo/apartment building in the back, barely visible from the street? Matter of opinion, but I think the trim paint selections, large windows and iron work on the front make for an inviting addition to the neighborhood.

And what's with knocking Shaw residents pride in accurately restoring their homes to historical standards? It would appear residents in your neighborhood, Shaw's neighbor, are full of just as much pride in keeping renovations historically accurate. Whether you live in Logan Circle, whose "border" technically ends just across the street from the Exchange, or Shaw, we all take pride in new development, especially development that blends in with the architecture of its neighbors. Everyone wants the same things, let's not be divisive...

Anonymous said...

I've never seen any project by Douglas Development that I'd describe as cheap! They do great work...