The Old With The New @ New U Street

Cognitive that in order to move forward or simply to gain a better understanding of the present one most know something about the past, in the process of my ongoing Cityscape, Architectural & Industrial Photography I've always made it a point to capture, document and record The Old With The New. It is with that understanding and hindsight that Out With Old & In With The New - Near Southeast DC Development represents the first installment of my Fall 2006 exhibition series.

The above photo of the Visio Condos was taken on Monday evening, 25 September 2006. I began my documentation of the Shaw area of Washington DC on 21 June 2005. Since then there have been so many changes in the area, it is my hope that I will return in the next few weeks to capture more of the old with the new.

Capitol Quarter emerges from the former Capper/Carrollsburg Projects

I began my Capper/Carrollsburg documentary project on Thanksgiving Monday, 29 November 2004 when during a photo assignment that I'd meet with Anu Yadav pertaining to a subsequent article in the 30 December 2004 issue of the Washington Spark by Judy Lem entitled Resisting a Local Diaspora: The Fight for Housing and for History in Arthur Capper and Carrollsburg.

Anu Yadav had written, produced and performed in a one woman play Capers at www.CapersThePlay.com which and not unlike my documentary project "This is for Black Men Who've Contemplated Suicide When That Rainbow ... Was Just Too Much!" was developed in a similar style as have been the plays developed and produced by Anna Deveare Smith.

A few days after my Yadav collaboration when I would return to the Arthur Capper to deliver photos to some of the subjects that I had captured just a few days before ... I was a bit taken back ... when I'd find them in the midst of moving. And had I arrived a half hour later I would have missed them, in accordance with the Capper Carrollsburg tenant relocation program.

And though I would not return to the Capper/Carrollsburg Community until June 2005 seldom have I passed through or have thought of the Arthur Capper Projects without reflecting on that Thursday or Friday evening, after Thanksgiving, when I found Brenda, Mechelle and Kia in the midst of moving. Or the many times, over the years before, that white friends would ask me if I could fetch drugs for them from 'The Projects'.

On Saturday, 14 October 2006, the Arthur Capper Projects would emerge from the gound as Capitol Quarter.

Connecticut Avenue Dupont Circle Underpass Revitalization

Since the first week of May 2006 revitalization of the Connecticut Avenue Dupont Circle Underpass has been underway. Construction on the roadway and tunnel occurs Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m and sometimes on Saturday. Revitalization of Connecticut Avenue between N and R streets, in Northwest, including upgrades in electrical and sewer lines is scheduled for completion in February 2007, weather permitting.

Q14, One Year Ago Today

It was one year ago today on 4 October 2005 that I began documenting the construction process of the then future condominiums at the northwest corner of Q and 14th Streets in the Logan Circle area of WDC. Which some months later I'd come to know as the Q14. One year later on Wednesday morning, 4 October 2006, and in the process of curating a Logan Circle Under Reconstruction Photographic Exhibition I'd return to The Q14 and capture the architectural development as opposed to Men At Work. Since then I've taken more than a passing interest in the architectural style of The Q14 Residences as well as other projects of Fred Bahrami and as a result will now embark on an ongoing pictorial project that will focus on the Fred Bahrami Collection.

The Blaine Mansion & The Massachusetts Avenue Historic District

Though 22 September represented the start of fall it was just hours after Richard's departure on Tuesday that, in connection with my ongoing project, In the Fall of the Year 2006, I would visit the Dupont Circle area to collect more images for my ongoing Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets and Dupont Circle Historic District projects.

Located just west of Dupont Circle the bold, monochromatic brick and terracotta building at 2000 Massachusetts Avenue is the Blaine Mansion built in 1881 for James G. Blaine, a Republican from Maine and three-time loser in his try for the White House. In 1901 George Westinghouse, of the electric company fame, bought this house and lived here until his death in 1914. This is the last standing Dupont Circle mansion of those homes that surrounded the circle in the earliest period of the area's development. Its newly renovated interior provides a historic setting for several firms.

As Chester A. Arthur settled into the White House in 1882, roofers a few blocks away were driving hand made nails to secure a new slate roof on a Dupont Circle mansion. Although the Arthur presidency hasn't weathered well (who even remembers President Arthur?), the roof on the Blaine Mansion lasted 115 years.

A new roof that was installed, in 2001, by Moisture Infiltration Consultants. Inc should last through an equally impressive number of presidencies. With 12,000 slate shingles weighing more than 27 tons, the roof is not only beautiful but extremely durable.

When searching the internet pertaining to the Blaine Mansion I'd learn that it is amongst the Massachusetts Avenue Historic District which includes buildings fronting on Massachusetts Avenue from 17th St., NW to Observatory Circle.

Currently, the Blaine Mansion houses several law offices including Phillips and Chohen, Mesirow & Stravitz, PLLC - DC Personal Injury Lawyers and Spencer, Graham and Holderman.

Cooper Lewis Condos @ 14th & P merges the past with the future!

The Cooper Lewis Condominiums are named after the two families that shaped city life at 14th and P Streets for over half a century. A pharmacist, Dr. Samuel E. Lewis, lived and worked on this corner for most of his life. In 1897, Dr. Lewis commissioned architect Paul Pelz to design a new building at 1502 14th Street. Pelz was renowned for having designed the Library of Congress and Healy Hall at Georgetown University.

In 1925, Lewis leased the building to Edward and Jenniw Cooper, who operated the Cooper Hardware store in the Pelz Building for over 50 years. Through creative preservation, the Cooper Lewis fuses the historic Pelz building with exciting new construction, creating a fresh urban architecture for the 14th Street of the 21st Century.

Asman Photo Prints Historic Images for Window Displays at 20 CVS Stores

Having just visited Eastern Market during my 27 August 2006 Sunday Photo Walk I'd head back to the Eastern Market subway. And while waiting for the traffic light to change at the northwest corner of 7th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue I'd observe, from a distance, that the historic images displayed in the windows of the CVS across the street, on the southwest corner of 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue, were different than those that had been there before.

Having observed similar displays in other CVS stores in the WDC area, in recent years, it was then that I would decide to embark on an ongoing documentary project that would focus on the Historic Images Window Displays at CVS Stores. At a closer inspection, I observed that the enlargements had been the work of Asman Custom Photo Service, Inc.

Having observed that some ... but not all ... CVS Stores displayed historic images in their windows and those that did displayed images that were reflective of the surrounding neighborhood I'd project that the historic images exhibitions were in collaboration with the respective neighborhood historic and/or preservation societies.

A week later, on Labor Day Saturday I'd observe a photo exhibition in the windows at the CVS located just off McPherson Square Park. Images in this exhibition had a more modern feel. While one was a depiction of Franklin Square Park another was of bicycle shadows on 10th Avenue in NYC. After taking a few photos I'd step inside the store and inform the manager of my ongoing project. He would inform me that in most cases, including his store, the window displays were the work of the lessor and that CVS had little, if anything, to do with the historic image displays.

Having visited Saturday night's closing reception of the Ledelle Moe's (Memorial) Collapse installation, on 14th Street, and while engaging in Night Photography I'd head back to the Dupont Circle South Station. Crossing P Street just west of the circle I'd observe, from a distance, that the historic images on display in the windows of the CVS Dupont Circle store were different than those that had been there before.

At a closer inspection, I'd observe that the enlargements were the work of Asman Photos. Barry Asman has printed historic images for more than 20 CVS stores which, according to CVS HQ, has resulted in a 15% increase in sales at respective stores.