November 22 – 28, 2018
FA LLS CHUR C H, V I R G I NI A • WW W. FC NP. C OM • FR EE
FOU N D E D 1991 • VOL. XXVIII NO. 40
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The final schematic rendering of the new George Mason High School was unveiled to the public for the first time Sunday and, if all goes according to plan, construction on the project will begin next summer and be completed and occupied by the winter of 2021. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 9
EYA, PN Hoffman, Regency Team Chosen For $500 Million West End Development
Group’s 10.3-Acre Plan Has Wide Promenade, Hotel, Parking Garage
BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
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Ms. Horewitz, published on the Cappies’ website and posted to the News-Press: Jazz, sequins, fringe, love, silhouette, and murder. The audience had it comin’. George Mason High School’s “Chicago” is a fantastic retelling of one of the most produced musicals of all time. Written by Maurine Dallas Watkins in 1926, Chicago was originally a straight play inspired by her own
The development team of EYA, PN Hoffman and Regency Centers was chosen by the Falls Church City Council Monday night to orchestrate a dense and diverse $500 million development of 10.3 acres of City-owned land where its George Mason High School currently sits. By a 6-1 vote, the Council ratified the unanimous recommendation that came from the City’s talented and exhausted Evaluation Committee that met eight times and made its choice known to the Council in a closed meeting on Nov. 5. The Council vote Monday was for an interim agreement subject to a final comprehensive agreement next May. The winning team was chosen over a second finalist team of Rushmark and Hitt Development. An overview of what the team has proposed was unveiled to the public for the first time Monday, building on what was a much more general public submission when the selection process began last February with six bidders. What was presented Monday night includes a wide boulevardlike street with a promenade down its middle that would run through the project from south to north and could be extended, if redevelopment agreements are reached with adjacent Virginia Tech Grad Center and WMATA properties, to run from W. Broad all the way to the West Falls Church Metro station and make for a comprehensive development area as large as the Mosaic District in Merrifield.
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A ceremony to light the downtown street lights for the holiday season is set for Monday at 6 p.m. in the 100 block of W. Broad St. SEE NEWS BRIEFS, PAGE 9
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Another brewery joins the area mix as Settle Down Easy Brewing Co. is now open and pouring craft beer on Fallfax Dr. in Falls Church.
SEE BUSINESS NEWS & NOTES, PAGE 15
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Falls Church resident Jennifer Jacobs never imagined that she’d co-found a charity which would bring space-age technology to the nation’s foster care system and potentially change the way foster children coast to coast find a home. SEE PAGE 16
INDEX
Editorial............... 6 Letters................. 6 News & Notes 10–11 Comment ..... 12–13 Business News . 15
Calendar ..... 18–19 Classified Ads ... 20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ........ 21 Critter Corner....22
A RENDERING OF ‘‘THE LITTLE CITY COMMONS” area from the architectural design package by the EYA, PN Hoffman and Regency Centers team selected by the Falls Church City Council Monday night to develop the economic portion of the City’s West End Development project. This view is from the perspective of looking towards Route 7, seen toward the horizon. (R��������: EYA, PN H������, R������ C������)
Cappies Review Hails George Mason High School’s ‘Chicago’ Production
Last weekend’s spectacular George Mason High School production of “Chicago,” was called “a fantastic retelling of one of the most produced musicals of all time” by W.T. Woodson High School’s Marlaina Horewitz, selected by the Cappies of the National Capital Area program to write the student review for the show. In its 19th year, the Cappies organizes students and mentors to attend and draft reviews of selected high school drama productions
throughout the region. “Chicago” was a smash hit at Mason High last weekend, performed to sell-out crowds all three nights. In a creative move, the school’s jazz band, under the baton of music department instructor JoAnne West, was positioned elevated at the rear of the stage to assume a central role in the production, which was directed by the school’s drama instructor Shawn Northrip. The following is the review by