Arlington agreed to match $935,000 in state funds — a total of $1.87 million — for four “priority transportation projects.” The projects include:
“The transportation projects that the Board is authorizing today reflect the County’s policy of building infrastructure to support many types of travel,” County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said in a statement over the weekend.
(Updated at 4:00 p.m.) When we last visited the site of the future Long Bridge Park in March, it was still a vast expanse of dirt and construction equipment. Now, the park, on Old Jefferson Davis Highway near Crystal City, is a vast expanse of dirt, construction equipment and artificial turf.
The Sun Gazette reports today that the park is “definitely” on track to open at some point this fall, according to County Manager Barbara Donnellan.
Cafe Caturra, a Richmond-based coffee shop/wine bar/soup-salad-and-sandwich restaurant, is now open in the Arlington Ridge Shopping Center. The 3,400 square foot eatery, which features a decor partially made from reclaimed materials, officially opened its doors to customers on Friday.
Located at 2931 S. Glebe Road, Cafe Caturra offers specialty coffees, 24 boutique wines, two draft beers, and 20 bottled beers. The restaurant is offering mimosa specials on Sunday and is planning to eventually offer a weekday happy hour, according to marketing director Melissa Kirkpatrick.
The board voted unanimously on Saturday to approve the complex, which includes a 13-story building and a 6-story building connected via an elevated glass skywalk. The complex will be located on the block currently bordered by Wilson Boulevard, Fairfax Drive, N. Kansas Street and N. Lincoln Street. The block is currently home to small low-rise office buildings and surface parking lots.
The new complex, tentatively dubbed Virginia Square Towers, will include nearly 13,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, 630 underground parking spaces and a central public plaza with benches and a water feature.
The annual wine and food festival known as Vintage Crystal: A Taste of Wine and Jazz was held Sunday afternoon in Crystal City.
The event featured tastings of more than 30 types of Spanish and South American wines, as well as free food samples from local eateries like Jaleo, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Kora. There was also live performances of Latin jazz, rumba, salsa, and samba music — complete with dancing.
Car Runs Into Apartment Building — A car ran into an apartment building on Lee Highway over the weekend. The impact punched a big hole in the side of the brick building, located at 4343 Lee Highway in Waverly Hills. [WUSA9]
Chorus Performances Relocated — The Potomac Harmony Chorus has announced that its 35th anniversary show, Melodies, Memories and Magic, will be relocated to the Washington-Lee High School Auditorium from the earthquake-damaged Thomas Jefferson Community Theater. The all-woman chorus is also seeking a new venue for its December holiday concert and sing-along. [Potomac Harmony Chorus]
The restaurant will be built on the ground floor of 1735 N. Lynn Street, which is also home to Chipotle, Starbucks and Chop’t. It’s not clear where exactly Perfect Pita will be located, but one possibility is the recently-cleared space along Wilson Boulevard that was once Tomo Sushi.
Perfect Pita’s menu includes homemade hummus and homemade meat and vegetarian pitas, as well as salads, appetizers and pizzas.
The stage area of the theater was damaged during the 5.8 magnitude earthquake that shook the D.C. area on Aug. 23, school officials say. The theater is expected to remain closed to all school and cultural events until Feb. 2012, while the damage is repaired
Numerous plays and other cultural events will be disrupted as a result of the closure. Among the scheduled events at the theater this fall are The Arlington Players production of Nine and the Encore Stage production of Robinhood.
The outdoor installation is Arlington’s entry into Park(ing) Day, “an annual, worldwide event that invites citizens everywhere to transform metered parking spots into temporary parks for the public good.” A sign posted on the sidewalk invites passersby to “relax, hang, be Zen.”
Despite the chilly weather, a few people have taken refuge in the space, which was designed by Apartment Zero, a “multi-disciplinary design and curatorial studio.”
Arlington Central Library (1015 N. Quincy Street) was evacuated around lunchtime today due to an odor of gas in the building.
Firefighters investigated the odor, but have since left. Library spokesman Peter Golkin says the library was back open as of 1:45 p.m.
We’re told that a coffee shop recently approved for construction at 2450 Crystal Drive, near Buffalo Wild Wings, will be a Seattle’s Best Coffee franchise. The owners are hoping to open around mid-November.
The coffee shop will be located on a block that sits between two Starbucks — one at 2600 Crystal Drive and the other at 2231 Crystal Drive. Seattle’s Best, it should be noted, is a subsidiary of Starbucks.
The County Board is expected to vote in October on a request to advertise an ordinance change that would no longer require massage therapists to obtain a permit from the county’s health department. Instead, local massage therapists will only have to be certified by the state.
Arlington County’s massage regulation started decades ago, in response to a proliferation of prostitution operations masquerading as massage parlors. County officials say those days are largely past, and its time to look at massage therapists in a new light.
