Wednesday, November 4, 2015 Serving Burleith, Foxhall, Georgetown, Georgetown Reservoir & Glover Park Vol. XXV, No. 14 The GeorGeTown CurrenT L I TTLE HEROES Agency outlines stormwater plans runoff into the and of sewage overflow tunnels. ■ Infrastructure: Residents Rock Creek. Residents have generally been Planners shared details for the supportive of green infrastructure raise concerns about impacts latest iteration of the D.C. Water and measures that have multiple envi- By KELSEY KNORP Sewer Authority’s $2.6 billion plan ronmental benefits, as opposed to Current Correspondent at a community meeting Oct. 7. The costly and disruptive tunnels. But agency, also known as DC Water, permeable streets in Georgetown The latest phase of the D.C. evaluated several options for the will need more care than many resi- Clean Rivers Project will require federally mandated project and dents are used to — sweeping is street sweeping in parts of George- determined that the most cost-effec- necessary to prevent growth of town and Glover Park following the tive option would be to install pervi- weeds from below and potential installation of “green infrastructure” ous pavement on various streets to clogs from above, planners said — to minimize harmful stormwater complement a long-planned system See Green/Page 4 GU Hospital plans win nod from ANC By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer

A new $560 million building planned at MedStar Hospital’s campus won signifi- cant community support Monday following an agree- ment governing traffic, construction and noise impacts on the surrounding neighborhoods. The Georgetown advisory neighborhood commission unanimously supported the hospital’s certificate of need application, in which MedStar must persuade city health officials that a major investment is valuable to the Dis- Current file photo trict and doesn’t duplicate other hospitals’ offerings. Community leaders said the existing hospital is Commissioners also generally supported an Old George- outdated and support the planned expansion. town Board application for the project, governing the Brian Kapur/The Current proposal’s compatibility with the neighborhood’s histor- The project comprises a new five-story “surgical The Georgetown Library’s annual Halloween party on Thursday ic district. pavilion” building that will replace above-ground park- featured games, snacks, a parade, crafts, bingo and a movie. “MedStar has made, in my view, a very strong case ing adjacent to the existing 1940s hospital building at that this is needed,” said commission chair Ron Lewis. 3800 Reservoir Road NW. Construction is slated for late “It’s really in need of renovation.” See Hospital/Page 8 Officials, movie buffs Confucius grant lets Hardy celebrate Exorcist steps offer new Chinese program By MARK LIEBERMAN By MARK LIEBERMAN Friday at 6:45 p.m. “This is defi- Current Staff Writer Current Staff Writer nitely a strategic language for our students and one that’s needed,” The year was 1973. Michael Queen stumbled out of Patricia Pride, principal of Hardy Pride said. Blues Alley in Georgetown late one night, heading Middle School, has long wanted to Hardy’s application was devel- home. A few blocks away, he saw a peculiar sight — a bring a Chinese language program to oped by Jonathan Jou, a friend and camera crew surrounding a steep staircase and the neigh- her students. colleague of Pride’s who moved boring house at 3600 Prospect St. NW. That goal is now on track to from China to the U.S. as a teenager “I didn’t know what was going on,” Queen said. “I become reality in the 2016-17 school and now teaches English as a second thought there was some horrible accident because there Brian Kapur/The Current year, thanks to a new partnership language. The approved proposal were police cars and everything.” A Friday ceremony honored the steps between M with George Mason University’s includes instilling in the current mid- Queen quickly learned that he was actually seeing the and Prospect streets NW for their role in the film. Confucius Institute, a program that dle school curriculum a reverence filming of “,” which would go on to win an funds Chinese language and culture for Chinese cultural traditions, part- Academy Award and become one of the most revered DVD. programs at schools across the coun- nering with feeder elementary Hollywood horror films of all time. When the movie The self-proclaimed “Exorcist junkie,” now a Gaith- try. The first phases of the Confucius schools and Wilson High School to came out, Queen saw it once, then twice, then 12 more ersburg resident, was just one of several hundred Classroom program will kick off make the program a broader educa- times in theaters, and countless more on video and See Exorcist/Page 7 with a ceremony at the school this See Chinese/Page 8

NEWS SPORTS NEWS INDEX Calendar/18 Police Report/6 Mayor honors local Wilson tops rival Starbucks modifies Classifieds/25 Real Estate/15 District Digest/2 School Dispatches/12 artists at annual Walls for DCIAA Georgetown alcohol Exhibits/19 Service Directory/23 In Your Neighborhood/16 Sports/13 awards ceremony girls soccer title plans after concerns Opinion/10 Week Ahead/3 — Page 3 — Page 13 — Page 7 Tips? Contact us at [email protected] 8 wednesday, november 4, 2015 g The CurrenT CHINESE: Thanks to successful grant, Hardy Middle School will add its language offerings From Page 1 the start of next school year. how to run a Chinese class,” said Wang. “They D.C. Public Schools chief of teaching and Chinese will be a new language option for are autonomous in deciding how they run their learning Brian Pick praised the new program tional effort, and hiring a new Chinese teacher Hardy students, who currently choose between classroom.” in an email statement. who’s also a native speaker. Spanish and Italian. Between 40 and 60 stu- Instead, the institute will focus on providing “The Confucius Classroom at Hardy Mid- The institute is providing $20,000 in startup dents will enroll in the inaugural full-year resources, as well as connecting the school to dle School is a great example of how DCPS is costs and an additional $15,000 to $30,000 in Chinese course, and that number will increase artists like the two-dozen natives of mainland creating rich cultural opportunities for students annual operating funds. Those sums will pay to as many as 135 in future years, Pride said. China who will perform at Friday’s event. through global education, specifically Chinese for textbooks and classroom resources as well Plans are also in the works to send several Price had originally expected that Hardy’s language,” Pick wrote. as curriculum updates on Chinese cultural tra- Hardy teachers to China this summer to acquire application would be accepted for a future Looking ahead, Pride hopes to grow the ditions, but they won’t cover a full-time teach- firsthand experience in a nation they’ll be year. She credits Jou (who declined to be inter- program into a fleshed-out organism that dis- er. Pride and her staff are instead working with expected to understand come next school year. viewed) for the earlier timeline, saying he tinguishes Hardy from other schools in the the Hanban Volunteer Chinese Teacher pro- Lihong Wang, resident director of the Con- worked tirelessly to meet the initial April dead- area. Unlike the German class she took in high gram, which will bring an instructor from fucius Institute, said there are no strings line and several subsequent dates for new school — which hasn’t helped her much in her China once his or her visa application is attached with participation in the Confucius drafts throughout the summer. “He’s phenom- daily life and career — Pride thinks Chinese is approved. Pride expects the volunteer to begin Classroom program. enal,” Pride said. “When he puts his sights on a valuable addition to a young student’s reper- teaching three sections of first-year Chinese at “We don’t have particular requirements for something, he makes it happen.” toire.

     HOSPITAL: ANC supports bulk of project proposal From Page 1 between the hospital and the neigh- regarding design,” Worley wrote in     borhood commission. Commission- an email. ers unanimously asked the Old Aside from the garage, neighbor-  2016 until 2020. MedStar pledges to include a Georgetown Board to reject the hos- hood commissioners are enthusiastic  !!'%&$( *$&' modern emergency room, state-of- pital’s proposed entry and exit for about the concessions made by the $!!( $#"((&'#$#(&( '%)(' the-art operating and treatment the underground parking, which hospital, outlined in a four-page rooms, rooftop helicopter access and would involve a driveway in a trench agreement drafted by a group of $#*# #(!,!$( #$&($+# other hospital amenities, plus three disappearing under the lawn. Georgetown, Burleith and Foxhall !+$& &#& #%&$'' $#!#%&'$#!+, levels of underground parking. Addi- The commission said garage community leaders. tionally, parking areas not needed by access should be relocated as to not Among other terms of the agree- &(  #' #  the medical building will become disrupt the green space, though it ment, MedStar promised to: green space, with cars moved under- didn’t request a specific alternative. ■ use traffic-demand management      ground. Existing hospital buildings Lewis said he envisions that measures to reduce peak-hour vehic- (($&#, will remain. green space as an amenity for the ular trips to the hospital by at least 5 Details on the green space are the campus and the community that percent despite the expansion;  ((&(' #($#     primary point of contention thus far would rival the beauty of George- ■ ensure that helicopters generally town University’s Healy Lawn. “It fly over Georgetown University would be unthinkable to put parking rather than the neighborhood; ramps in the middle of that,” he said. ■ designate off-site parking during Lewis said the matter has been the time construction diminishes the discussed in community negotia- hospital’s parking; tions with the hospital but the parties ■ prohibit construction trucks from haven’t yet reached an accord. Hos- idling on Reservoir Road; and pital representatives didn’t attend ■ continue working with the com- Monday night’s neighborhood com- munity on various issues. mission meeting, but spokesperson The Zoning Commission reviews Marianne Worley said MedStar has these issues, as part of the George- worked productively with neighbors town University campus plan. for more than a year on the project. “We all agree that with the pro-   “We look forward to continuing tections in that agreement, we should our discussions and working closely support that certificate of need,” EDCBA with the community throughout the Lewis said. E@@?>=C< ;:=9E8<E@@=CCAA review and approval process, includ- The Old Georgetown Board will ing the Old Georgetown Board, to consider the design issues at its 7655A;DE8?>;A8 address any concerns they may have monthly meeting tomorrow. BAAE84A69B=>4CE>>=:A89=C<9 3221E44< ECCE@6@0?956>

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