October 20 - 26, 2016
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d ed 1991 • Vol. X X V I No. 35
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Council Skeptical of Water Tank Plan
The Falls Church City Council was almost unanimous in its skepticism and criticism of plans presented by the Fairfax County Water Authority to replace a water tank behind Eden Center with a new version that would be 72 feet higher than what is there now. See News Briefs, page 9
Swanson Reaches for His Dreams at TJ
F.C.’s West End Could Be Bigger Than Mosaic If Done Right, Says Developer Todd Hitt Says Involving WMATA, Grad Center Key
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Paul Swanson, the new principal of Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, is the only one out of the three new principals of Falls Church City Public Schools who didn’t work for the school system prior to being selected for the post.
The quick-moving format kept the attention of the three dozen who attended. It was informative and fast moving. One of the debaters took pains to remind the NewsPress at the end of the proceeding that all four debaters drew lots to determine if they were to argue for or against the topic. But the most interesting feature was the polling of everyone at the start of the debate on whether they
With the right approach and a willingness to be patient, the City of Falls Church’s new West End campus property could blossom into a town center more vibrant and active than Merrifield’s new and popular mixed-use Mosaic, with an education focus that would draw education-related businesses, support a major performing arts center, expand the role for the University of Virginia already there and other universities, and with it all being linked to a new state-of-the-art George Mason High School. This is not a dream by Hector Berlioz during his composition of the “Symphonie Fantastique.” On the contrary, while highly visionary, the thoughts come from a eminently practical man, the developer who brought Falls Church the recently-opened 301 West Broad (Harris Teeter) project and whose Kiddar Capital is now based at his recently-acquired property, the Robertson Building at the intersection of E. Broad and N. Washington. Northern Virginia native Todd Hitt, the man behind the wildly popular 71,000 square foot Harris Teeter that opened in July, only the latest in his growing list of regional real estate triumphs, told the News-Press in an exclusive interview this week that he’s not ready to make a move yet, but is looking seriously at the West End and its potential. Hitt initially responded to a News-Press editorial in mid-July entitled, “Calling All Big Time Developers,” after City officials
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David Brooks: What We Need Next
Kathy Fletcher and David Simpson have a son named Santi, who went to Washington, D.C., public schools. Santi had a friend who sometimes went to school hungry. So Santi invited him to occasionally eat and sleep at his house. See page 12
Press Pass with Magic Dick & Shun Ng
For harmonica player Magic Dick and guitarist and vocalist Shun Ng, it was about time they released a record together, so appropriately, the debut album from the duo is called About Time. See page 25
FALLS CHURCH-BASED real estate developer Todd Hitt, at his Kiddar Capital headquarters here, presented an ambitious vision for the development of Falls Church’s West End in an exclusive interview with the News-Press this week. Hitt built the 301 W. Broad (Harris Teeter) building. (Photo: News-Press)
Library Bond Referendum Wins Some Supporters in LWV Debate by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index Editorial..................6 Letters..............6, 18 News & Notes.10-11 Comment......... 12-15 Sports..................16 Business News....19
Calendar.........20-21 Food & Dining......23 Classified Ads .....28 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword...........29 Critter Corner.......30
A significant shift in favor of the Nov. 8 Falls Church bond referendum for the expansion and renovation of the Mary Riley Styles Public Library occurred following a public discussion at a forum last weekend. Sunday’s forum hosted by the Falls Church chapter of the League of Women Voters made what could have been a very dry
debate on the merits, or not, of passing a bond referendum next month to renovate and expand by 6,600 square feet the Mary Riley Styles Public Library. But the discussion took the form of an “Oxford style” debate, with two protagonists at a podium on one side and two antagonists at a podium on the other and Keith Thurston, the moderator who fielded and asked the written questions from the audience, joined by a timekeeper.