The Friends of the Soldiers Home and the Armed Forces Retirement Home will be hosting their Fall Fun Fest this Sunday, October 2nd. The event runs all day with a variety of events to choose from. The full flyer is below.
Archive for the ‘Armed Forces Retirement Home’ category
Fall Fun Fest at Old Soldiers’ Home This Sunday, October 2nd
September 29, 2016Century Old Photos of the Soldiers’ Home Lakes
August 24, 2016Recently I came across the following two photos of the lower Lake at the Soldier’ Home. The lakes are located just east of the no closed Park Road gate. Judging from the other photos in the collection, I believe the images date to around 1913. I especially like the geese/ducks/swans on the water and the houses on the small island for them.
The Tiber Creek Seeps Are Active If You Want to See Them
June 15, 2016I’ve posted about Tiber Creek before, and how a few of the seeps that are located just inside the Soldiers’ Home’s fence along the Rock Creek Church Road are still visible if you know what you are looking for. Right now they are active and you can see the water draining into the brick gutter that was created years ago to drain the water down towards the pond near the old Park Road gate to the southwest.
Below are two short videos showing two of the three active seeps.
Armed Forces Retirement Home Repairing Its Fence
July 9, 2015The old Soldiers’ Home is in the process of repairing its fence along Rock Creek Church Road again. There are currently two areas with damage. I recall that down trees caused this round of repairs, although it has been more common for damage to the fence to occur from car accidents that trees.
Great Old Stereoview of the Old Soldiers’ Home
May 22, 2015To ease into the holiday weekend on a lighter tone, here is a great old stereoview of the old Soldiers’ Home. Interestingly, it shows the original Scott Building with the third floor addition but before the mansard roof was added to the tower. I haven’t dug into the building’s history yet to pinpoint the date, but the image is early.
Lincoln’s Last Ride — 150th Anniversary Commemoration at the Lincoln’s Cottage
May 7, 2015On April 13, 2015, as part of the ceremonies celebrating the 150th anniversary of President Lincoln’s death a horse procession commemorating “Lincoln’s Last Ride” began on 15th Street near the White House and concluded at Lincoln’s Cottage. A riderless horse represented the fallen president. President Lincoln last visited his Washington, D.C., cottage retreat on April 13, 1865, the day before his assassination.
As the procession and following ceremony occurred in the middle of the day, I’m providing the link below for those who may have missed it.
Soldiers’ Home 3rd Annual Spring Fling is this Saturday, May 2nd
April 30, 2015The third annual Spring Fling on the grounds of the Soldiers’ Home is this Saturday. The annual event has become a popular local way of enjoying the grounds of the Soldiers’ Home, meeting neighbors, and welcoming in spring. Last years event was attended by over 800 residents. You can read more about last year’s event on the Friends of the Soldiers Home Website.
Creative Minds International Public Charter School Planning Move to Old Soldiers’ Home
February 10, 2015Yesterday, February 9th, Congresswoman Norton’s Office announced that she was a featured speaking at the lease signing ceremony at the Armed Forces Retirement Home with Creative Minds International Public Charter School (CMI). CMI is currently located at 3224 16th Street, NW. Beginning in the 2015-2016 school year, CMI will move to the AFRH’s Sherman Building.
Norton to Commemorate Opening of Creative Minds International Public Charter School at Armed Forces Retirement Home, Today
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today will speak at the lease signing ceremony marking a partnership between the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH), a federal institution, and Creative Minds International Public Charter School (CMI) at the Armed Forces Retirement Home Sherman Building South (140 Rock Creek Church Rd. NW) at 2:00 p.m. Norton will be joined by CMI Founder/Head of School Dr. Golnar Abedin, D.C. Public Charter School Board Executive Director Scott Pearson, AFRH Chief Operating Officer Steven McManus, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense-Military Community and Family Policy Rosemary Williams, and a host of parents and friends.
Sherman Building.
In December, Norton met with AFHR and requested that AFRH submit its notification of the lease to Congress, as required by law, by the start of January so that CMI could sign the lease this month and open in time for the start of the school year. Norton helped secure $15 million for D.C. Public Charter Schools in the fiscal year 2015 appropriations bill.
“The partnership between CMI and AFRH is not only innovative but increasingly necessary in a city where land is scarce and the unoccupied space is often on federal land,” Norton said. “We appreciate how hard CMI and AFRH have worked together so that hundreds of students will have the opportunity to learn and grow in an excellent charter school surrounded by green space.”
“The Creative Minds International Public Charter School community is enthusiastic about our upcoming move this August to the historic Sherman Building, on the beautiful grounds of the AFRH campus,” Abedin said. “We look forward to growing a long-term partnership with AFRH, and are grateful for this wonderful opportunity.”
“This new space will be a big improvement to the learning environment of the 250 students that will attend Creative Minds this fall,” Pearson said. “It is particularly exciting that they will be in a facility close to where so many of our nation’s retired veterans live.”
“We are very pleased that Creative Minds International Public Charter School will be opening in the fall of 2015,” McManus said. “This will be a wonderful partnership for many years to come, and this partnership will assist AFRH in continuing to grow ties with the Washington, D.C. community.”
The school will lease 32,000 sq. ft. of space for 16 classrooms at AFRH in its North Sherman and Annex buildings. Beginning this fall, 250 CMI students will attend classes at the AFRH campus.
Development of Old Soldiers’ Home’s Zone A Moving Forward
February 4, 2015
AFRH plan including Zone A, from Armed Forces Retirement Home Town Hall Presentation related to the original development plan, August 19, 2008
Yesterday, both the Washington Post and the Washington City Paper published articles announcing that the Old Soldiers’ Home will begin seeking a private partner capable of developing up to 80 acres of its campus — often referred to as Zone A — as early as next month. The Zone A property is in the southeast corner of the campus bordered by Irving Street and North Capitol Street.
The Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) has been planning to develop this portion of their campus for nearly a decade. After the original development plan fell apart, the first attempt to restart the development of the parcel began in 2010, but didn’t get any traction. There was another false start in 2012, followed by news in October 2014 that the development process could begin in early 2015, which seems to be panning out based on yesterday’s articles.
The AFRH’s intent to redevelop Zone A should not come as a surprise to many. The Home has long desired to develop Zone A as part of their plan for long-term financial stability. After weathering the recession that originally derailed development at the AFRH, the conditions finally appear to be favorable for them to achieve their goal.
Process Restarted for Development of Armed Forces Retirement Home’s Zone A
October 23, 2014
From Washington Business Journal, The Armed Forces Retirement Home is planning to seek developers to remake part of the Old Soldiers Home in Northwest D.C.
According to an article published in the Washington Business Journal on October 21st, the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) could be ready to select a team in 2015 to redevelop the southeastern area of its campus near the intersection of Irving and North Capital Street.
The AFRH has been interested in developing this area of their campus for about a decade. Despite a few false starts, it seems the AFRH is now in a good position to get things moving again. The area open for development is about 80 square acres and the original concept was to develop it with a mix of residential, retail and public park space.
"The territory comprising Park View extends from Gresham Street north to Rock Creek Church Road, and from Georgia Avenue to the Soldiers' Home grounds, including the triangle bounded by Park Road, Georgia Avenue, and New Hampshire Avenue" (from Directory and History of Park View, 1921.)
Park View, D.C. 