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OPERATION From Page 1
special meeting of the Adams Morgan advisory neighborhood commission. Officials said the operation is not targeting the character of the neighborhood that draws paying customers from across the D.C. area to 18th Street’s thriving nightlife scene. Instead, they said, it’s taking aim at a crowd of hangers-on who don’t patronize the bars or restaurants in Adams Morgan but cause problems late at night. Community members have described fights, loud music blasted from parked cars and verbal and physical harassment, among other issues. At the meeting, 3rd District Cmdr. Jacob Kishter said police are pleased with the program, which also includes a presence from liquor inspectors, the fire marshal and the Guardian Angels. In the first three weekends, officers issued citations to belligerent jaywalkers who ignored police direction, carloads of open-container violators and other disorderly crowd members — nearly 100 arrests in all compared to fewer than 200 in the preceding seven months, said Kishter. Few of those arrested were business patrons, but rather people who
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Wednesday, August 17, 2011
come to drink their own alcohol within Adams Morgan’s lively latenight atmosphere, officials said. They said public arrests — with officers pulling alleged open-container offenders from cars and putting their beverages on the roof — are designed to make it clear to the crowd what police are up to. “We just have to deal with them and make it uncomfortable for them
❝We just completed week three, and it’s a lot better than week one.❞ — Police Capt. Aubrey Mongal to be here, so they’ll go somewhere else,” said Mongal. Although most residents and business owners at the neighborhood commission meeting said they were happy with the operation, Barbara Shapiro of Millie & Al’s, 2440 18th St., said some of her customers have complained about their treatment from police officers. “They’re getting ticketed and screamed at for jaywalking,” Shapiro said, adding, “I think some of the arrests and tickets are for customers I think aren’t coming back.” Police officials acknowledged that officers are sometimes loud, but said they issue jaywalking citations only to pedestrians who repeatedly
SHELTER From Page 1
Central Union Mission must accomplish the rehab by October 2012. That’s when it gives up rights to the current shelter building at 14th and R streets NW, which developer Alturas LLC plans to convert it into an upscale office and retail complex. The purchase price for the old shelter, now in the heart of a booming condo corridor, helps make the entire deal feasible. David Treadwell, longtime head of the mission, is now engaged in the daunting task of raising funds and planning for construction. Treadwell was not available for comment, but his winning submission to the D.C. Department of Real Estate Services lays out details of the plan. They include complete renovation of the 29,400-square-foot building, now essentially a shell; construction of a 4,200-square-foot, three-story addition, and conversion of attic space to accommodate a fourth story. Architects Cox Graae & Spack have also penciled in space for a full commercial kitchen, both to feed guests and to provide job training; dental, medical and legal aid offices; a classroom; and a fitness center. Instead of the huge dorm-like rooms at the old shelter, residents at Gales will be housed in “suite-style sleeping units.” There will also be a day room and a screened courtyard to draw homeless people who now congregate in “the underserved heart of the District” into the shelter and off the streets. Central Union Mission has been actively pursuing the Gales School property since late 2007, according to its proposal, and has already invested a half-million dollars in planning. With the lease finally signed, development efforts can begin “immediately.” It has been a long and bumpy odyssey for a faithbased organization that, according to its website, “survived the Great Depression, two world wars, 24 presidential administrations, neighborhood transitions, and numerous relocations.” Founded downtown in 1884 to serve Civil War veterans sleeping on the city’s mean streets, the mission moved to a former auto showroom on 14th Street in 1983. Leaders eventually tried to sell that building to
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ignore police direction to use crosswalks, which they said is essential to keeping traffic moving. Denis James, president of the Kalorama Citizens Association, said in an interview that despite some problems with the operation, overall he’s impressed with what he’s seen so far. James said he would prefer to see the volunteer Guardian Angels replaced with “trained professional officers,” parking on 18th Street eliminated at peak nightlife hours to accommodate more travel lanes, and more enforcement against businesses that violate agreed-upon noise mitigation practices. But as is, James said, the police effort to restore order to 18th Street appears to be working and is necessary for Adams Morgan. “It’s not a good thing for businesses or residents to have a lawless environment in the streets,” he said. James said he would like to see the current staffing levels stay in place for at least six months to effect a permanent change on the neighborhood’s character, and that there should be some extra late-night police presence indefinitely. At last week’s meeting, police said they’re not sure what will happen with the operation long term. “It’s going to be an ongoing process,” Mongal said. “We just completed week three, and it’s a lot better than week one.”
cash in on the condo boom and move to cheaper digs at 3506-3512 Georgia Ave. in the Columbia Heights/ Petworth area. But they ran into a wall of opposition from residents and politicians who feared a homeless shelter would torpedo efforts to upgrade the Georgia Avenue corridor. The mission’s first attempt to move to the Gales School, in 2007, also hit a stumbling block when the American Civil Liberties Union filed suit, challenging the District’s award of property to a religious organization that required residents to attend worship services. The city is moving to dismiss that suit, arguing that the mission has now won its lease by competitive bid and will not require residents to participate in religious services or studies. Instead, the mission is envisioning using the new space to enhance its “wrap-around services,” including job and literacy training, addiction counseling, and food and clothing distribution. “It’s impossible to think of a better organization to do this,” said Ward 1 D.C. Council member Jim Graham, who helped engineer the shift from Georgia Avenue to downtown. It also seems like a good deal for the District, which desperately needs more shelter beds and also wants to restore and reuse the vacant eyesore that mars a busy stretch of Massachusetts Avenue downtown. Because of its historic status, the building can’t be demolished. The Gales School, built in 1881, closed its doors in 1944. The District used it as a “low barrier” shelter from 2000 through 2004, but by 2005 its condition was so bad that the city was forced to gut much of the interior and stabilize what was left of the facade. Although the property is assessed at $10.1 million, it is also in “drastic disrepair,” according to D.C. Department of Real Estate Services documents. It would cost the city $14 million to restore and renovate the building for use by a government agency, officials say, but it would still be too small to house any agency efficiently. By the department’s calculation, it would cost the District $850,000 a year, or $34 million over 40 years, to operate a 150-bed shelter there. The mission is promising to provide those beds, plus three meals a day and other services, “without any cost to the District,” according to the lease terms. The District will retain ownership of the property.