Alexandria’s Eve Capps says she’s more surprised than anyone that she’s lived this long. The 100-year-old was born in Sacramento, California, in 1923, and with an acute memory fondly recalls her childhood during the Great Depression.
“My father worked for the railroad, and we went from living in a big house to a shack,” Capps told ALXnow. “But I was just a little girl and I thought it was fun.”
On Tuesday (Sept. 12), Capps and 26 Alexandria centenarians were recognized by city leaders at City Hall. This is the third year for the annual event in observance of National Centenarian’s Day.
Mayor Justin Wilson said that achieving a full century of living is impressive, although the celebration should not simply be about a number.
“It’s about the contributions that all of you have given to for so many years, so many decades, generations, to our community,” Wilson said. “It’s about the rich legacy that you all have created in our community. And that’s a legacy of family, some of which we see here. That a legacy of service, and accomplishment.”
Capps said that the secret to her longevity is staying active.
“I’ve always taken very good care of myself,” she said. “I don’t know why I’ve made it this long. I just keep going on and on, and I’m always surprised when I have a birthday.”
Centenarians in Alexandria
- Mary Addison — 102
- Ann Buxton — 100
- Dorothea G. Campbell — 100
- Eve Capps — 100
- Anita DuMars — 102
- Audrey Fenton — 101
- Lowell Fisher — 101
- Walter A. Hammersley — 101
- Margaret Johnson — 104
- Marjorie Knowlton — 100
- Daniel Krinsley — 101
- John Leeper — 101
- Pauline Lynch — 100
- Charlotte Neborak — 100
- Ada Nelson — 102
- Ann Samuel — 103
- Jane Sara — 103
- Alice Schmidt — 103
- Catherine Sevick — 106
- Helen Smith — 101
- Eva L. Sorenson — 100
- Edith Tillotson — 100
- Barbara Weadon — 100
- Frances Webb — 103
- Ruby Wells — 101
- Virginia Wirtz — 100
- Mildred Youso — 102
Alexandria and Arlington officials celebrated the ribbon cutting for the renovated West Glebe Road bridge today.
The nearly 70-year-old bridge suffered severe deterioration over the years and fully closed last summer, and partially reopened in March.
“For nearly 70 years, this bridge has played a critical role linking people to jobs, to resources, to emergency services and their loved ones that exist across boundaries in this Arlandria region of the National Capital Area,” Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said.
Dorsey continued, “And now with these improvements, we can look forward to another seven decades of this bridge, serving as both a metaphorical and an actual connecting of our two communities. And they will do so in a way that is much safer, much more accommodating of all modes.”
Mayor Justin Wilson said that the jurisdictions will need to come together to finish another connecting bridge between Alexandria and Arlington over the course of the next year — the Arlington Ridge Road/Mount Vernon Avenue Bridge.
“We look forward to coming back in a little while and celebrating the next one (bridge),” Wilson said. “I live close to both of these bridges, so I feel the pain that everyone is feeling. But we look forward to celebrating both of the bridges when they’re both done and in this great partnership between the two jurisdictions.”
Artist Vicki Scuri designed the arc and bubble patterns on the bridge.
“Enjoy the crossing, enjoy the moment and celebrate your communities,” Scuri said.
Despite an earlier error that saw a hole dug into a lane of the track, the city says a light pole at the Hammond Middle School field is exactly where it’s supposed to be.
Last week, Alexandria Living Magazine broke a story that new poles were blocking track lanes at Hammond Middle School. Jack Browand, division chief of Parks and Cultural Activities, said a mistake caused a hole to be dug onto the tracks, but said that damage has since been repaired and the current light pole is where it’s located in the approved plans.
“The lights are exactly where they were approved to be,” Browand said. “There’s been no deception, no rogue staff decisions: the approved documents per the [special use permit] are 100% where the light poles are.”
Earlier documents showed the light pole located outside of the track, but Browand said the version ultimately approved by the City Council had the light pole installed inside the track.
Seminary Hill Association President Bill Rossello said some of the community frustrations come from a feeling that those changes were not clearly communicated.
“If you go to page 179 of the City Council staff report on Nov. 12 you will see the pole location is exactly where the poles are now,” Rossello said. “In eight public meetings, the poles were presented as being outside of the track. No one at the city ever verbalized [that change] to City Council. They did not verbalize that to the community and the ACPS resolution endorsing the project was based on the original location on the original [Special Use Permit].”
While there’s been some discussion of the current pole being located in the middle of a lane, the city said the area where the pole is located is not part of the track.
There's a commentary on government to be made out of an Alexandria, VA middle school installing new lights for its athletic field and track… right in the middle of the track, in running lanes 2 and 3.
— Jared Walczak (@JaredWalczak) August 17, 2023
“It’s absurd on its face,” Rossello said. “Who would put poles on a track?”
Browand said the area where the light pole is located is not a marked lane and the lines on the track note that the area outside of the pole is considered lane one. The fence around the field also bumps out into the track.
“Plans for the Hammond expansion do not demark that area as a lane, which is where the fence post is currently today,” Browand said. “The fence post, where the lights are now, were never labeled as a lane… The first full lane is the first unobstructed lane existing there. People presumed that the area against the fence was a lane but it’s not a lane.”
The issue has also divided city leaders. Vice Mayor Amy Jackson said the position of the pole was vague in the report:
It’s unfortunate that the city has put our youth and community in this position when it comes to the installation of the new field lights at Hammond Middle School recently. I walked the track with community members last week who were frustrated with the city’s inability to install these lights in a way that did not detract from the safety and usability of the track and, honestly, the field.
The contractors the city hired to install the lights made several adjustments and corrections while trying to follow the city’s approved guidelines, so that the angle of the lights were specific to night field use and not bother neighbors, but in the midst of these adjustments, the poles needed to be installed on the inside track lane on one side. I want to make clear that the contractors are not to blame for this. I spoke with our city staff and the contractor’s foreman at length. It’s challenging with little clarity in the SUP regarding the placement of the poles on the track. Honestly, the SUP does not clarify in writing that the installation is taking away a track lane and the discussion did not highlight this element of the installation when it came before Council.
If you scrutinize the drawings depicted in the SUP, the drawings are also not detailed to the point of the location of the set back of where the poles are supposed to be, whether inside the field fenced area or outside, and questions if the distance met all requirements. Since the corrections it may [be fixed], but it has destroyed one if not two middle school track lanes that tax payers subsidized over 10 years ago because we needed a nice West End track… It would help minimize confusion, frustration, and incongruities in the future for our city’s staff to be more specific in their written explanations of what exactly the plan is for field lights installation that may affect track usage for our youth and the community.
Jackson said she hopes to see thick padding added to the poles for safety, similar to padding added to goalposts.
Mayor Justin Wilson said the location of the pole is a reasonable, if imperfect, solution:
Both my kids run track, and my son is now running in college, so I’m sensitive to the issue.
I went out there on Saturday with my daughter to inspect. The fence already obscructs the lane. It’s ‘Lane Zero’ as my daughter called it. It’s not a usable lane.
It was a reasonable, albeit not perfect, accomodation to reduce the light spillover for the neighbors on that side.
After years in development, Alexandria leaders and students cut a blue ribbon and toured the rebuilt Douglas MacArthur Elementary School today.
“It feels like I’m floating through the school and marveling at each and every new feature that has been brought from design to full construction,” Principal Penny Hairston said at the ribbon cutting. “The only thing that’s missing are all of our students, and they will be here soon to enjoy this modern and welcoming school building.”
There remains work to be done, including the installation of a turf field and a courtyard playground for young kids, but the school will open for the first day of classes on August 21.
It took three years to rebuild the 154,000-square-foot school at 1101 Janneys Lane. MacArthur first opened 80 years ago, and during construction its students used the old Patrick Henry Elementary School as swing space. The project was initially planned to wrap in January.
“The 1943 building only had eight classrooms and one common area,” said Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt. “Very different than this new three-story, very innovative space where there’s natural lighting coming into each classroom, there are restrooms accessible to the classrooms that give students more privacy, I think we’ve come a long way.”
MacArthur’s three-level “Forest” plan sets the school back from Janneys Lane, putting classrooms at the rear of the building and providing a view of nearby Forest Park.
“This new school building represents our city’s commitment to educating and empowering all of our students to thrive in this diverse and ever- changing world that we live in,” said School Board Chair Michelle Rief. “I know that this new school building is going to positively impact the lives of children and families in this community for generations to come.”
The new school has an 840-student capacity, and the current student population is at around 650, according to ACPS. Those numbers are expected to change as the School Board will engage in a redistricting process over the next year.
The new school has one set of boys and girls restrooms, and a number of individual restrooms to accommodate gender fluid students — directly going against the recommended policies of Governor Glenn Youngkin’s administration.
“Amazing things are gonna happen in this building,” said Mayor Justin Wilson. “Kids are going to come out of this building prepared to take on the world, and that is through an investment that we all made as a community.”
(Updated 8/11) After years in development, City and Alexandria City Public Schools leaders will cut the ribbon of the refurbished Douglas MacArthur Elementary School next Friday (August 18).
The project took three years of planning and two years of construction, and the 154,000-square-foot school at 1101 Janneys Lane will open for the first day of classes on August 21.
During the last two years, MacArthur students used the old Patrick Henry Elementary School as swing space. The new school has an 840-student capacity and ACPS projects the student population to stay at around 775 students over the course of the next decade.
MacArthur’s three-level “Forest” plan sets the school back from Janneys Lane, putting classrooms at the rear of the building and providing a view of nearby Forest Park. The $75 million project was initially planned to wrap in January, and construction delays elicited criticism from Vice Mayor Amy Jackson.
Jackson has one child who graduated from MacArthur in the swing space and another who will attend the refurbished school.
“I was concerned that construction wasn’t getting off the ground fast enough,” Jackson told ALXnow. “My children wanted to see the school one more time before they started, but I realized that we could still get on the property. So I took a video, as much as it caused angst with the community and school board, but when I’m asking staff several times and can’t get an answer, I took it to the public and sure enough the ball then got rolling the fencing was put up on the perimeter and they got the ball rolling.”
The event includes a brief tour and will be held from 9:30 to 10:15 am. Remarks will be made by Mayor Justin Wilson, School Board Chair Michelle Rief, ACPS Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt, ACPS Chief Operating Officer Alicia Hart and MacArthur Principal Penny Hairston.
ACPS will share the event on Facebook Live.
City-approved plans for the future of the Torpedo Factory Art Center are drawing serious concern from resident artists.
The Torpedo Factory Artists Association (TFAA) says it’s hopeful the plan will work, but that the city’s vibrancy initiative threatens to reduce rental space available to artists.
TFAA President Cindy Lowther says that the effort to make the art center more vibrant could “could result in a significant reduction in rental space available to visual artists.”
“This would change the character of the Art Center and risk damaging its hard-earned reputation,” Lowther wrote in an opinion piece published today on the TFAA Facebook page.
An estimated half-million people visit the Torpedo Factory on Alexandria’s waterfront every year, according to the city. The art center is home to more than 150 artists working in 82 studios.
In 2021, City Council unanimously endorsed the Action Plan for Vibrancy & Sustainability at Torpedo Factory Art Center. Council also directed the creation of a city-led task force (which includes two artist members) to direct implementation of the plan over the next five-to-ten years. In February, the city put out an open call for artists and announced a new governance structure for the art center. The city also announced three-year lease agreements for new resident artists.
Lowther said lease agreements should be five years instead of three. She also said that public plans to celebrate the art center’s 50th anniversary next year should be presented.
“We also appreciate his (City Manager Jim Parajon) and Council’s desire to fund and orchestrate a 50th anniversary celebration for the Art Center in 2024,” she wrote. ” Concerningly though, no planning process for this has been announced yet. If this is a perfunctory exercise rather than a full out effort by our City, it will miss a wonderful opportunity to introduce the Art Center to new visitors and energize tourism and the economy in Old Town.”
Mayor Justin Wilson wrote in his August newsletter that the discussion over the Torpedo Factory has been exhausted.
“Candidly, the future of the Torpedo Factory has been studied to death,” Wilson wrote. “We have used the divisiveness of this issue as an excuse to avoid making a decision on its future. Unfortunately, inaction is a decision in and of itself.”
Alexandria assumed “caretaker leadership” of the Torpedo Factory seven years ago, and Wilson wrote that the diversity of arts and artists is a priority.
“Since that time, the City provided leases to the existing artist tenants, and has been providing day to day management,” he wrote. “I am pleased we are now making decisions and creating a sustainable structure for the governance of the Factory so that it can flourish in the future.”
Lowther said that more artists need to be involved in the art center’s direction.
“The TFAA agrees that we need a diverse group of artists and more creative programming to increase the vibrancy of the Art Center,” she wrote. “At the same time, unless the new governing entity involves the resident artists/business owners in decisions over such issues as a five-year lease and a specialized marketing plan to promote the Torpedo Factory Art Center, its future will remain in jeopardy.”
The city’s action plan for the art center focuses on these principles:
Re-establish the Art Center’s Identity for a 21st Century Audience
- Curate a roster of public events/programs to evaluate initiatives of varied offerings to include community favorites, family friendly, media worthy, and new artistic media that promote the core role of the arts in human-wellness and creative expression, as well as championing lifelong learning.
- Expand the artist studio program to better reflect contemporary best practices, diversity, and public interaction.
- Expand role and impact of Target Gallery, the Art Center’s critically acclaimed contemporary art gallery the promote the core role of art in human wellness as expressed in Action 1 above.
- Establish new Art Center attributes towards a refined identity, maintaining an independent and unique marketing strategy and tools within the larger City framework.
Curate the Building, with a Focus on the First Floor, for Improved Visitor Experience and Artist/Studio Program
- Re-design and evaluate first floor as a space to be a more exciting, interactive, hands on, accessible, and ever-changing experience for visitors.
- Re-design and evaluate third floor to afford better use of space for a greater audience, more programs, and income potential.
- Re-design and evaluate building to create opportunities for diversity and increasing the Art Centers role in Waterfront Small Area Plan.
Establish Policies and Procedures that Identify the Art Center as a High Performing Organization and Rebuild the Art Center’s Role as a Leader in the Country
- Develop a clear and compelling Mission and Vision for the future of the Art Center.
- Update the Art Center’s policies, procedures, and standards, to fit external facing direction and be in line with a 21st century Art Center and allow for Art Center to operate as an entrepreneurial and fundraising organization to ensure vibrancy and sustainability within the larger City framework.
- Plan for the next five – ten years.
After another pair of shootings last week, one that resulted in a death and one in a life-threatening injury, Mayor Justin Wilson said the multi-pronged response includes more police officers in Alexandria.
In his monthly newsletter, Wilson said the uptick in violence in Alexandria is disturbing.
“This spate of violence is a continuation of a disturbing uptick in violent crime that has been plaguing our City and our region,” Wilson wrote.
Last year, Part 1 crimes — the most serious crimes like homicides, rape, robbery and more — increased by 4.7%, primarily driven by upticks in robberies, larcenies and auto theft.
According to Wilson:
So far in 2023, our Part 1 crime trends are deeply concerning:
- Robberies are up 49%
- Burglaries are up 17%
- Stolen automobiles are up 69%
- Larcenies are up 21%
- Aggravated assaults are up 53%
Overall Part 1 crime has increased nearly 28% from this period last year.
While Alexandria remains a safe community, this cycle of violence must be ended to maintain our quality of life. That requires that we prevent crime where possible and ensure that those committing violence in our community face justice.
Wilson said there are multiple approaches to addressing the uptick in violent crime, including boosting police staffing and combatting attrition in the Alexandria Police Department. Alexndria gained 18 new police officers and 15 new sheriff’s deputies earlier this year, which Wilson said is one of the largest classes Alexandria’s put through the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy in recent years, but the department has said last year that short-staffing has required it to reduce its community services.
According to Wilson, the city’s approach needs to include:
- Restoring Police Staffing/Reducing Attrition
- Expanding “upstream” investments (family supports, mental/behavioral health, housing, re-entry programs, etc) proven to reduce violence
- Expanding community policing
- Continue advocacy for new laws in Washington and Richmond to slow the flow of dangerous firearms into our community
“Coupled with new investments in preventative (upstream) investments, we can buck national and regional trends and reduce violence and property crimes in our City,” Wilson said.
It’s been a scorching week in Alexandria, punctuated by two major crime events.
Someone was shot multiple times in an alley several blocks east of the Braddock Metro station last Saturday, followed on Monday afternoon by the city’s fifth homicide this year — the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man on W. Glebe Road in Arlandria.
It is not believed that the incidents are connected.
The Alexandria Police Department is now looking for a silver Nissan Rogue allegedly linked to Monday’s shooting.
No arrests have been announced from either incident, and this week Mayor Justin Wilson, City Manager Jim Parajon and Police Chief Don Hayes asked for the community’s help in identifying the suspects.
Top stories this week:
- Alexandria ditching ‘pay and display’ parking meters citywide (32618 views)
- Notes: Many federal employees who report to work Alexandria are still mostly remote (7448 views)
- Del Ray Gateway project construction to start before end of year, city says (6510 views)
- Construction suspended for Holiday Inn Express at former Towne Motel site in Old Town North (5346 views)
- ACPS ignores Gov. Youngkin’s recommended policies on treatment of transgender students (4829 views)
- DEVELOPING: Man transported to hospital in critical condition after shooting in Arlandria (4747 views)
- Pupatella Neapolitan Pizza opening before end of year in Old Town North, owner says (3857 views)
- Duke Street affordable apartment complex ‘Witter Place’ could be ready by late 2025, developer says (3598 views)
- Arlington man busted for allegedly selling stolen car to Alexandria man on Facebook Marketplace (2509 views)
Have a safe weekend!
The price of riding on the Metro might go up and so could your tax bill.
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson said that the region will experience collective pain by bailing out the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority from its projected $750 million budget deficit.
Wilson said there are no solutions that the city can afford to take off the table.
“We will have to determine ways to reduce the cost structure, the stakeholders will have to chip in and riders will likely bear some of the cost,” Wilson told ALXnow. “It’s going to involve some pain all around.”
WMATA gets billions annually from Alexandria, D.C., Maryland, other Northern Virginia jurisdictions and the federal government. Alexandria’s commitment this year is $56.6 million in operating dollars and $16.6 million in capital contributions.
“Following the exhaustion of federal relief funding in FY2024, Metro expects an operating deficit of $750 million in FY2025,” Metro announced in a budget presentation. “This is more than a one-year challenge. The deficit is projected to continue its growth through FY2035 even with continued ridership recovery.”
Metro Board Chair Paul C. Smedberg, a former member of the Alexandria City Council, said that the region needs a reliable transit system.
“Customers would see longer waits, constant gridlock, higher fares and reduced operating hours and the region’s economy could stagnate,” Smedberg said.
Without a funding increase from Alexandria and its neighbors, WMATA reported “unprecedented operating deficits” will force it to make drastic cuts to rail, bus, and paratransit services across the region.
“Balancing the budget with service cuts would require eliminating two-thirds of Metro’s existing service, with no service after 9:30 p.m.,” WMATA announced last month. “All but 37 of 135 bus lines would no longer operate, customers would wait 20-30 minutes for trains on all lines, and MetroAccess would serve a much smaller area with less hours.”
In his monthly newsletter, Wilson said a “reckoning is afoot” for the transit system now that federal subsidies have dried up and ridership is inching toward pre-pandemic levels.
As of May, Metrorail and Metrobus ridership was 50% and 88% of pre-pandemic levels, respectively, according to WMATA.
“Transit is essential to our region’s economy and our quality of life, but the financial model that has supported its existence for a generation is upside down,” Wilson wrote. “The work ahead requires defining a new model to sustain transit for another generation.”
Metro laid out these drivers for the $750 million deficit:
- Jurisdiction Subsidy Credit: At the onset of the pandemic, Metro provided support to jurisdictions in the form of a subsidy reduction and forgone three percent increases. Had Metro not provided this support, the jurisdictional subsidy would be $196 million higher in FY2025.
- Decreased revenue since the pandemic: Overall ridership is forecasted to be approximately 25 percent below pre-pandemic levels in FY2025. In addition, shorter distance and weekend trips, which result in less revenue than long distance weekday trips, have seen the fastest recovery. These changes and related impacts to parking and advertising revenues are expected to continue to keep revenue below pre-pandemic levels in the short and medium term. FY2025 total revenue is expected be approximately $288 million below pre-pandemic levels.
- Inflation and collective bargaining agreements: Historic inflation caused by the pandemic and related supply chain impacts made everything more expensive, raising Metro’s personnel and non-personnel costs. The vast majority of Metro’s workforce which operates and maintains the system participates in collective bargaining. Metro must comply with mandated annual increases under the terms of the respective collective bargaining agreements, which indexes compensation levels to inflation. This cost growth is responsible for $266 million.
There’s a new mural in Old Town.
Last week, Los Angeles-based muralist El Mac put the finishing touches on his new mural outside 901 King Street. The piece depicts a bespectacled woman looking south.
The artist did not provide a title or themes behind the mural with his client, building owner Windmill Hill Design Build. Still, Windmill Hill founder Mike Dameron said he was thrilled with the result.
“”I think the striking pose and scale really compliment the corner and we had an amazing experience getting to know El Mac and his family,” Dameron told ALXnow. “He works mostly at night and it was amazing to see the progression each morning. He brought museum quality public art to Alexandria and we are super excited about it.”
El Mac, the professional name for Miles MacGregor, is known for creating large photorealistic murals. He did not respond to multiple calls for comment.
Got to chat with El Mac, a nationally-acclaimed artist from Los Angeles as he completes his new mural on the corner of Alfred and King in Old Town.
So exciting to have new public art in our City! pic.twitter.com/hpmqhTtAbL
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) June 19, 2023
