August 12 – 18, 2021
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. XXXI NO. 26
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Council Votes For Biggest Land Project In F.C. History Work On 2 Adjacent Sites Will Also Take Place BY NICHOLAS F. BENTON
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
In a series of unanimous 7-0 votes Monday night, the Falls Church City Council gave final decisive approvals to special exceptions and the site plan for the biggest project in the City’s history, a 9.75-acre mixed use development at the site of the now-demolished old George Mason High School property. The project, with an estimated value of $380 million and to yield an estimated $5 million in net annual revenues to the City, now awaits a groundbreaking set for early next year. As pointed out by Council member Ross Litkenhous, the project will not only completely pay for the now-completed $122 million Meridian High School right next to it, but also promises to provide City taxpayers with a hefty reduction in property taxes.
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SEVERE STORMS rolled through the Falls Church area Tuesday evening, making its presence felt with a lightning strike near Annandale Road and Route 50 (left), and a downed tree off North Oak Street. (P�����: C������� L����� M�����)
Clare & Don’s Moves Dining Outside Due to New Delta Variant
BY MATT DELANEY
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Restaurants and entertainment venues around the City of Falls Church were finally regaining their balance after a shaky year due to the Covid-19 pandemic...until the
surging Delta variant cast a cloud over the previously optimistic summer. Now at least one establishment is closing its indoor dining room to non-senior patrons, and is even open to screening customers for their vaccination status later this year.
That business is the popular Clare & Don’s Beach Shack on N. Washington Street, which shut down its indoor dining room for everyone except those 65 and older a few weeks ago. “We have a lot of immunocompromised people who come into
the restaurant, at least that I know of. And of course, we have a lot of elderly people as well,” co-owner David Tax said. “I just don’t feel the need [to leave it open].” Tax said the decision to limit
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The 27th annual Tinner Hill Music Festival takes place in Cherry Hill Park this year, with all day music, food, and other events. It will be a great opportunity for neighbors to reunite for some community fun, the kind of thinjg many have been missing since the pandemic began. SEE STORY, PAGE 2
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SEE STORY, PAGE 10
SEE STORY, PAGE 23
It’s all in the family at the new Lantern House “Viet Bistro” in the West End Plaza on West Broad Street. Three generations of the Tran family have been restaurateurs whose experience and drive have enabled them to start a pho restaurant in Falls Church.
Like the taste of country biscuits lathered with huge dollops of butter, Patsy Cline’s voice and songs are a taste of a sumptuous concert in Cherry Hill Park, the scene of Creative Cauldron’s newest show which runs through this weekend (pending rain).
INDEX
Editorial............................................... 6 Letters................................................. 6 Comment ................................ 7,12,13 News & Notes................................... 11 Crime Report .................................... 12 Calendar ........................................... 16 Business News ................................. 19 Classified Ads ................................... 20 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ......... 21 Critter Corner.................................... 22
