Arlington Funeral Home Closes to Make Way for Development
After 55 years in business, Arlington Funeral Home in Virginia Square (3901 Fairfax Drive) has closed its doors to make way for a new office development.
Once called “the most modern funeral home in Northern Virginia,” the business has transferred its remaining operations to the Murphy Funeral Home at 4510 Wilson Blvd in Bluemont. Both funeral homes are managed by Service Corporation International under the Dignity Memorial brand.
The Arlington Funeral Home building and its surrounding surface parking lot was purchased by developer Crimson Partners in 2010. The developer is expected to bring a site plan before the County Board next month that calls for the property to be redeveloped as an office building with 173,700 square feet of office space, 3,200 square feet of retail space and a 9,900 square foot black box theater.
If the site plan is approved, a groundbreaking can likely be expected at some point next year.
Donna’s Debt Increasing On Overdue Meals Tax List
The latest version of Arlington’s meals tax delinquency list was released earlier this month and it looks like bad news for chef Roberto Donna.
Donna, whose Galileo III restaurant in D.C. closed in September, now owes Arlington County $167,366.79, up from $150,715.96 in June, according to the list. The debt stems from the failure of Donna’s Bebo Trattoria restaurant in Crystal City, which closed in 2009 amid a mountain of debt and a federal lawsuit. Prior to the closing of Galileo III, Donna had been making small court-ordered payments on his meals tax debt.
(Meals tax delinquencies are often accrued when restaurants collect a required tax on food from customers but then fail to pay the collected funds to Arlington County.)
While the delinquency list includes many restaurants that have gone out of business, some of the establishments on the list are still open. Among them:
- Extra Virgin in Shirlington: $54,568.51 (down from $65,098.93 in June)
- Quiznos Subs (various locations): $36,095.49
- Las Delicias Restaurant in Nauck: $27,422.02 (up from $23,906.53 in June)
- Caribbean Breeze in Ballston: $22,078.84 (up from $8,419.87 in June)
- Texas BBQ Factory in Pentagon City: $21,080.85 (up from $8,814.02 in June)
- Tortoise and Hare Bar & Grille in Crystal City: $16,794.49
- Village Bistro in Rosslyn: $10,110.26
iPhone App Points You to Interesting Local History
(Updated at 3:45 p.m.) Wondering where exactly the Deep Throat parking garage is in Arlington? There’s an iPhone (and Android) app for that.
A recently-updated app called It Happened Here detects your location and tells you interesting things that happened around you. Currently the app has information on six metro areas, including Washington. Among the interesting waypoints it will tell you about in Arlington:
* The strip mall parking lot where the founder of the American Nazi Party was assassinated in 1967
* The parking garage in which Washington Post reporters met in secret with “Deep Throat” in 1972
* The high school where Sandra Bullock became a cheerleader
* The place where Orville Wright “invented” the airline passenger in 1908
* The place where one end of the first trans-Atlantic voice communication took place in 1915
It Happened Here was developed by Ken Dodelin, an Arlington resident, with the help of some students in an Entrepreneurial Journalism class he teaches at Georgetown University’s Clarendon campus.
In addition to Washington, the app is also available for New York, Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia. Dodelin says he plans to add two more cities early next year.
It Happened Here is available from the iTunes App Store for $2.99.
Arlington Resident Creates Web Video Series
An Arlington resident has created a new web-based video series.
Mike Kravinsky, 57, was working as a video editor and technical editor for the ABC News D.C. bureau when, in 2010, he decided to take a buyout package offered by the company. After 29 years at ABC, Kavinsky now found himself pondering what to do next. In the end, he decided to pursue a passion for filmmaking by creating a six-part scripted video series.
“The Nextnik,” as the series is called, follows the trials and tribulations of Larry Zimmerman, a 55-year-old upper-middle management type who is abruptly fired and has a year to find a new vocation before his severance money runs out.
The series — which is described as part drama, part comedy — was filmed in Arlington, at locations like Java Shack, Restaurant 3, Silver Diner (Clarendon) and several residential locations. Additional filming took place in the District and at Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Kravinsky says The Nextnik is especially topical given the current state of the job market.
“As the economy improves, many people are exploring starting over professionally, whether by choice or layoff,” Kravinsky said. “‘The Nextnik’ will focus on both professional and personal reinvention.”
The first episode of the series will premiere on the web on Jan. 1.
Rainbow, Sunset Produce Spectacular Photo Op
Mother nature treated us to some spectacular sights last night.
Following a prolonged period of rain yesterday, the sun came out just in time to produce an extraordinary golden sunset and a vivid double rainbow.
Photos courtesy Brendan Lilly (top), BrianMKA (left), and Rich Thomasson (right).
