An unnamed alleyway through a Braddock neighborhood could soon be named after recently-retired Alexandria Judge Nolan Dawkins, the first Black judge in the city’s history.
The alley runs between the 400 blocks of N. West and N. Peyton streets, where Dawkins grew up. Kimberly Dawkins, Judge Nolan Dawkins’ daughter, said the renaming was originally intended to be a surprise (sorry) celebration for the retired judge.
A series of new improvements to Alexandria’s Union Station — a Virginia Railway Express stop — proposed late last year are moving forward toward city approval.
The plan is to create new Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant access with a grade-separated pedestrian tunnel and elevator access. The expansion will also allow the station to take two trains at any given time, with one at each platform. The change is part of a regional effort to reduce the system’s bottleneck around the D.C. area.
The coronavirus pandemic has put some of Alexandria City Public Schools’ plans on hold — like the redevelopment of T.C. Williams High School — but the fully developed plans for the modernization of Douglas MacArthur Elementary School are still moving full-steam ahead.
In the new plans, the current building from 1943 will be demolished and replaced with a new elementary school. The new school will be three stories with a synthetic playing field and outdoor play areas.
Beyer Doubles Down on Trump Stance on School Reopenings — “Trump has again overruled the nation’s leading public health officials for political reasons, this time on guidance for reopening schools. He is intentionally endangering American children because he believes it will help him get reelected.” [Twitter]
Planning Commission to Evaluate Increasing School Density — The Planning Commission’s September 2 docket has been posted to the city’s website, and it includes a discussion to allow for an increase in density for public school sites. Since last fall, the city and administrators have been coordinating on a plan to co-locate affordable housing on school grounds. [City of Alexandria]
The Old Dominion Boat Club’s (ODBC) plans to reform the waterfront portion of its Old Town headquarters last fall, but after being lost at sea amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the plans are finally headed back to harbor at the Planning Commission in September.
The ODBC has used its various waterfront headquarters since 1880 as launching points for aquatic activities. The pier outside the current location — which the ODBC was more-or-less forced into in 2014 under threat of eminent domain — is a ramshackle bundle of pillars that only vaguely resembles the L-shaped pier that local commercial vessel The Dandy was docked at for a number of years.
Catholic University of America (CUA) is planning to open up a new branch in Alexandria’s Carlyle neighborhood.
According to an application headed to the Planning Commission in September, CUA is hoping to renovate the second floor of 2050 Ballenger Avenue to create a new location specifically for students in Alexandria, Arlington, and other Northern Virginia locations.
As Alexandria starts to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the city’s long term planning priorities are shifting to meet needs exposed by the health crisis.
In a presentation to the Planning Commission last week, city staff said some projects that were in the planning stage will be pushed back, including:
It was a busy week in Alexandria, and there is plenty to talk about.
The city is moving forward with phase three of reopening its economy on July 1, and the news comes as the death toll from the coronavirus moved up to 50 and the number of cases steadily rise.
After years of inaction, a new applicant is hoping to take a crack at converting the vacant Waterfront Center office building in Old Town at 801 N. Fairfax Street into a residential development.
“Interest in converting the nearly 50-year-old office building dates back to at least 2015, when the property owner for both office buildings approached the City about converting the 801 N. Fairfax Street building to residential,” said the applicant, A & A Limited Partnership. “The property owner demonstrated that floor area ratio (FAR), setbacks, parking and open space requirements could be satisfied in a ‘by-right’ conversion from office to multifamily residential.”
A local nonprofit is planning to renovate an office building in Old Town into a facility dedicated to helping individuals with special needs get access to job training.
The Joey Pizzano Memorial Fund (JPMF), an Alexandria based nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of children with special needs and their families, is planning to build a Community Integration Center — a facility aimed at providing adults with disabilities with training and resources for their personal and employment goals — at 919 Prince Street. The facility will also include two accessory dwelling units.
A suite of new improvements could be coming to the Schuyler Hamilton Skate Park and Luckett Field just off Duke Street at 3540 Wheeler Avenue.
The Planning Commission is docketed to review the new safety improvements at the park at the June 2 meeting.
