Alexandria’s 273rd birthday celebration has been postponed due to rain to Sunday, July 10.
Visit Alexandria announced that inclement weather forced the fireworks show to be held off.
The event, which includes a performance by the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra, kicks off at 6 p.m., and ends with a grand finale fireworks display at 9:30 p.m.
The celebration was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, and scaled back last year.
Visit Alexandria recommends these vantage points to see the best fireworks:
- Canal Center Plaza (Center Canal Plaza)
- Rivergate Park (2 Montgomery St.)
- Oronoco Bay Park (100 Madison St.)
- Founders Park (351 North Union St.)
- Waterfront Park (1A Prince St.)
- Windmill Hill Park (501 South Union St.)
- Fords Landing boardwalk (99 Franklin St.)
- Jones Point Park (Jones Point Dr.)
- George Washington Masonic Temple (101 Callahan Dr.)
Alexandria is developing a request for proposal (RFP) to potentially sell a tiny parcel of land at 2 King Street on the Alexandria waterfront.
The 1,825-square-foot property is between Waterfront Park and The Strand Street, and has been rented out as a parking lot for neighboring businesses since it was acquired in the 2014 land swap with the Old Dominion Boat Club.
On June 28 (Tuesday), Council unanimously declared it surplus property and authorized the city manager to issue an RFP for its sale and redevelopment. Once created, the RFP will go through a public review process.
The property holds eight parking spaces, seven of which were leased on a month-to-month basis. The city took in $15,000 per year renting out the spaces, until they were terminated on May 27 to coincide with the temporary closure of The Strand Street to vehicular traffic.
“Surface parking lots are not a desirable use in this area, and are non-conforming with the current zoning, since the intent for strand Street is to become pedestrian oriented,” Al Coleman, deputy director of the city’s Department of General Services, told Council. “The limited depth of the property makes it difficult to develop independently.”
In June 2019, the city received an unsolicited offer for the property, opening the possibility of its potential sale, Coleman said.
City staff will draft an RFP this summer and fall, and City Manager Jim Parajon will provide the final document to Council in the winter.
Via City of Alexandria
Music, local food and beer is on tap this weekend for the Portside in Old Town Summer Festival at Waterfront Park.
This year, the event is merging with the 44th Annual Alexandria Jazz Fest, and the free events will be held on Friday (June 17) from 6 to 9 p.m. and Saturday from 1 to 9 p.m.
The Portside Festival is organized by Visit Alexandria and the City’s Office of the Arts.
“New this year, the event merges with the on Friday evening to showcase jazz performances and readings by Alexandria poets,” Visit Alexandria said on its website. “Saturday the festival continues with an eclectic musical lineup, local food, hands-on art and history activities and more.”
Food will be provided by Borinquen Lunch Box, Chalkboard Wings & BBQ, Dolci Gelati and The Italian Place.
Additionally, Port City Brewing Company will provide these beers:
- Optimal Wit (Belgian-style white ale, 4.9%)
- Beach Drive (Golden ale, 4%)
- Downright Pilsner (Bohemian style pilsner)
- 4.8%; Monumental (IPA, India pale ale, 6.7%)
Friday schedule
- 6 to 6:15 p.m. — Opening remarks
- 6:15 to 7 p.m. — Cubano Groove
- 7:15 to 8 p.m. — VERONNEAU
- 8:15 to 9 p.m. — Eric Byrd Trio
There will be poetry read between sets by:
- Zeina Azzam, Alexandria’s Poet Laureate
- KaNikki Jakarta, Alexandria’s former Poet Laureate
- An up-and-coming Alexandria youth poet
Saturday Schedule
- 1 to 1:15 p.m. — Opening remarks
- 1:15 to 2 p.m. — Eli Lev (folk rock)
- 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. — La Unica (Irish Latin rock)
- 3:45 to 4:30 p.m. — ilyAIMY (folk rock)
- 5 to 5:45 p.m. — Rob Curto’s Forró for All (Brazilian forró)
- 6:15 to 7:15 p.m. — Ras Band (Ethiopian reggae, jazz and funk)
- 7:45 to 9:00 p.m. — Pablo Antonio y La Firma (salsa, merengue and bachata)
Six months after Lady Camellia Pastry and Tea Room first announced it was looking to move into Alexandria, the owners seem to have found their new waterfront home.
According to a special use permit, Macaron Bee is applying to move into 225 Strand Street. Restaurant owner Deborah Kim said while the name on the special use permit is Macaron Bee, the location will be Lady Camellia Pastry and Tea Room.
The tea room, once described by Washington City Paper as “a six-year-old’s tea party fantasy“, had been located in Georgetown before it closed last year.
Kim said plan is to open late this year.
“[We’re opening] towards the end of the year; sometime in the fall,” Kim said. “We’re trying to serve British-style afternoon tea and high tea dinner.”
Image via Lady Camellia/Facebook
The Alexandria Police Department has closed several streets near the waterfront due to flooding.
“The street closures run from King and Union Street To Prince and Union Street,” the Alexandria Police Department said in a tweet. “Cars parked in the area may be relocated.”
The tide is rising in Alexandria with high tide expected at 3:15 p.m.
Notification:: There are temporary road closures in Old Town due to flooding. The street closures run from King and Union Street To Prince and Union Street. Cars parked in the area may be relocated. Street closures may expand if deemed necessary for safety reasons. pic.twitter.com/UBE3lEoYkf
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) May 9, 2022
High tide isn’t expected until after 3 p.m. so please avoid the area if possible. pic.twitter.com/Kk3piByyA1
— Alexandria Police (@AlexandriaVAPD) May 9, 2022
The flooding comes after a fairly rainy weekend for the region.
Tidal flooding is a fairly common problem along Alexandria’s waterfront. A flood mitigation plan to combat future flooding is in the works, albeit with a reduced budget.
Image via Google Maps
Alexandria’s annual budget process wrapped up this week with a $839.2 million fiscal year 2023 budget approval and special tax relief for car owners.
Meanwhile, an uptick in opioid overdoses among children has Alexandria City Public Schools considering adding Narcan to schools and city officials issuing warnings about counterfeit Percocet.
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The city of Alexandria is getting ready to drop $102 million to fix flooding along the waterfront.
A proposal by the Waterfront Commission’s Flood Mitigation Committee, pitched to the Waterfront Commission at their April 19 meeting, outlined the potential pump stations, underground stormwater detention chambers, and streetscape and other stormwater infrastructure improvements for the ongoing efforts to implement the Waterfront Small Area Plan.
“This scenario has an estimated cost of approximately $102 million, consistent with the CIP funding allocated to Waterfront Small Area Plan implementation,” the draft plan said. “According to City staff, estimated costs are accurate at the level of detail appropriate for this stage in the planning process. Affordability will continue to be evaluated during the design-development process as construction and material costs continue to escalate in excess of historic average rates typically used to account for inflation.”
The cost is scaled back from earlier plans with cost estimates ranging from $170 million to $215 million.
Its proposed features include pump stations in Waterfront Park and the Queen Street right of way, south of Founders Park, underground stormwater detention chambers under Waterfront Park and Founders Park, and retention of the recent improvements in northern Waterfront Park at the foot of King Street,” the plan said.
The plan indicated areas where costs were cut, like using a cost-effective paving material in the streetscape improvements, but other bigger costs were averted by shifting the focus from ideal improvements to restoring the existing waterfront bulkheads.
This would maintain the existing bulkhead rather than replacing or encapsulating it in its entirety. This approach will provide the intended level of flood protection at a reduced capital cost. Both staff and the committee acknowledge that deferred investments in eventual bulkhead replacement will still be required, and not precluded, by this approach.
The plan also notes that some of the improvements cut back in the plan should still be pursued in later budgets:
CIP funds allocated by City Council to Waterfront Small Area Plan implementation were originally intended to complete a full slate of waterfront capital projects, including parks and flood mitigation improvements. Given recent changes in program scope and high capital cost escalation, the budget is no longer sufficient to accomplish all anticipated elements. The committee recommends that additional budget be reserved in future year CIPs to finish parks as envisioned in the plan, or that alternate revenue streams be adopted to fund park and public space improvements. In addition, the City should continue to proactively pursue funding from federal and state grant programs, private philanthropy, and other sources to fund improvements that realize the City’s vision for the waterfront.
The document said that, where possible, the plan has built-in options for future investments. In other cases, like at Waterfront Park, future improvements could cost more in the long-term as a result of having to redo parts of the park.
While Gen Z has decided, correctly, that Alexandria is superior to D.C., at least one local attraction is headed to the further shore for much of this year.
The Tall Ship Providence is planning to move to The Wharf for the “2022 cruise season” while construction is ongoing at the Senator John Warner Maritime Heritage Center in Old Town.
“The ship will spend most of the 2022 sailing season at The Wharf in Washington, D.C.,” the Tall Ship Providence Foundation said in a press release. “Providence will be in Alexandria, VA for select events throughout the summer and return home early November.”
The new center will eventually be the permanent home for the Tall Ship Providence and will allow the ship to host new educational programs and increase the number of visitors — though the Foundation did have to scale back some ambitions for the site.
“The Maritime Heritage Center will continue to serve as an economic development attraction attracting visitors from across the country and the world,” the Foundation said.
In the meantime, Tall Ship Providence Foundation President and CEO Clair Sassin said the move to The Wharf can help boost the ship’s profile.
“Providence’s visit to The Wharf gives us the opportunity to increase the awareness of the ship and the new Maritime Heritage Center to different audiences while generating ticket sales in a high foot traffic area,” said Sassin. “Our goal was to keep Providence in the DMV for the 2022 season and we are delighted to be working with the team from The Wharf.”
Almost exactly four years after archeologists recovered three 18th-century ships from under the Old Town Waterfront, Alexandria is planning on sending at least two of them back to Davy Jones’ Locker.
Three ships were discovered under the Robinson Landing construction site in March 2018. While the most intact of the trio was sent to Texas A&M for study and will get a new Torpedo Factory exhibit next month, the other two have sat in water tanks in the DASH bus barn. At a meeting of the Waterfront Commission, City Archaeologist Eleanor Breen said that sometime this year the city will start moving the ships out of their 12×24-foot tanks and out to Ben Brenman Pond (4800 Brenman Park Drive).
“Based on [an] assessment, the recommendation was that [the ships] be stored at the bottom of Ben Brenman Pond; at the south end of the pond,” Breen said. “Jack [Browand, division chief of Parks and Cultural Activities] summarized it perfectly the other day: ‘We’re resinking three ships in a pond five miles west of where they were found.”
Breen noted this isn’t the first time rediscovered ships from this time period have been resubmerged. A Revolutionary War-era barge was discovered then re-submerged near Baltimore. Breen said the pond was chosen because it was the least risky to the timbers and would be the easiest to access. The “ponding” project received funding in the FY 2021 CIP.
“We’re finalizing the project schedule, including a date for pre-construction meeting on-site,” Breen said. “It will begin in April and last 4-6 months. We will offer a family-friendly event during ‘ponding’ process and in the future will be installing site interpretation.”
Meanwhile, Breen said a feasibility study for a potential new waterfront museum could start later this year with the idea of the museum eventually being home to the most intact ship. The study will look at potential funding and business models, as well as reviewing the sustainability of a waterfront museum.
The new kitschy “I Love You” public art installation at Waterfront Park (1 Prince Street) is scheduled to be unveiled on March 25.
The new installation by Miami artists Roberto Behar and Rosario Marquardt features illuminated neon pink lights spelling out “I Love You” mounted on a 15-foot high display and will “bathe visitors in a soft pink hue,” a press release from the city described with an unusual touch of sensuality. The color scheme had earlier been described by Office of the Arts Director Diane Ruggiero as “Pepto-Bismol pink.”
“Below, a hand-painted ground mural of a pink and white carpet will define the space as an open room welcoming everyone,” the release said. “The unexpected and luminous social space will invite visitors to get lost for a few moments in this fictional realm.”
“I Love You” will be the fourth public art display in the park since the Mirror Mirror exhibit opened in 2019. The release noted that the City will be working with regional artists for more public art activations this spring that “respond” to “I Love You,” no word yet if any of those activations will say “I Know.“
